Our First Sunday collection recipient for April is the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). INHF was founded in 1979, in part because important, threatened natural lands were being offered for sale and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and county conservation boards, who protect recreational land and nature preserves in the state, could not act quickly enough to purchase them.
Today, INHF works with partner organizations to preserve and protect more than 200,000 acres of Iowa’s natural resources. Landowners interested in protecting their land either donate or sell property to INHF, who will work to conserve and/or restore its natural features.
Stacey Courvillon, INHF Planned Giving and Major Gifts Officer, will talk with us about INHF as well the Brenton Slough project located between Polk and Dallas counties in a fast-growing urban area. INHF says in addition to the slough, the area “is a unique place where forest, prairie, river and wetland systems intermingle.” Altogether the slough area measures 1,114 acres. Plans for the project call for the slough to remain a relatively untouched wildlife and conservation area while some of the land will be open to the public with primitive trails for walking, hiking, and birdwatching. A future addition may be a paved recreation trail that connects Grimes and Granger through the slough.
For more information about INHF, visit http://www.inhf.org.
Write checks either to “DMIEC” with “First Sunday” in the memo line or to “INHF.” Checks should be placed in the April 6th Collection Basket or mailed to DMIEC, P.O. Box 30065, Des Moines, IA 50310
First Sunday checks must be received by DMIEC by April 20th; if you elect to contribute to the First Sunday recipient after that date, please mail your check (made payable to the recipient with “DMIEC” in the memo line) directly to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, 505 Fifth Ave., Suite 444, Des Moines, IA 50309-2321