Gain Some Conservation Knowledge

Iowa’s natural landscape has dramatically changed since Europeans first came to the state in the early 1800s. Some native animal and plant species were greatly reduced or eliminated within a handful of decades of settlement. In response to the decline in Iowa’s native landscape, conservation and wildlife management practices for the state were first developed in the 1930s. Supporting the conservation of what’s left of our state’s wildlife and natural resources has been part of the Gilchrist Foundation’s mission since the beginning.

The Foundation was started by Jocelyn Gilchrist to honor her family, whose special interests included wildlife and conservation. The Foundation continues on today in her memory and supports the philanthropic interests of the Gilchrist family.

Learning About Iowa’s Environmental Efforts

The Iowa Association of Naturalists, founded in 1978, is a great place to read about conservation efforts in Iowa. The association has produced a seven-booklet series that gives readers a clear, understandable overview of topics concerning the Iowa environment and conservation. PDFs of the booklets can be downloaded from the association’s website. Printed versions may be ordered through the Iowa State University Extension Distribution Center.

The series includes:

• Iowa Biological Habitat Loss and Disappearing Wildlife (IAN101)

• Iowa Air Pollution (IAN102)

• Iowa Water Pollution (IAN103)

• Iowa Agricultural Practices and the Environment (IAN104)

• People, Communities, and Their Iowa Environment (IAN105)

• Energy In Iowa (IAN106)

• Iowa Waste Management (IAN107)

Pairing Conservation and Art

Creature Conserve is another great institution that not only promotes wildlife conservation but pairs with artists, creative writers and scientists. The organization provides the funding, expertise and oversight needed to establish, sustain and promote art/sci collaboration. The organization features resources on its website that allow visitors to learn about its conservation efforts. Subjects include:

• Arctic Birds

• Ray Conservation

• Orca-Salmon Conservation

• Bee Conservation

• Wolf Conservation

• Salt Marsh Conservation

• Pangolin Conservation

• Tiger Conservation

Discover the Loess Hills

The Loess Hills are a 15-mile-wide land formation that stretches for about 200 miles from Sioux City to St. Joseph, Mo. The hills are made almost entirely of windblown soils. Toward the end of the last ice age, winds picked up soils that had been ground as fine as flour and formed dunes along the ancient waterway that became today's Missouri River. The process repeated itself during the thousands of years the ice age took to end, enlarging the dunes. Because the prevailing winds were from the northwest, the dunes on the Iowa side of the river were higher than those west of the Missouri. Although deposits of loess are found across the world, nowhere else but China are those deposits higher than they are in Iowa.

Some great resources about the Loess Hills include:

• Loess Hills National Scenic Byway

• Fragile Giants: A Natural History of the Loess Hills

Organizations that have a mission to protect and conserve Iowa’s wildlife can apply for funding from the Gilchrist Foundation. To be considered for one of our projects, endowment or capital campaign grants may submit a Request For Invitation. Micro-grants of $5,000 or less can be directly applied for any time of the year.