1775 Mackenzie Drive, Cedar Rapids, IA 52411

(515) 963-9582

IACCB@mycountyparks.com

mymymymycountycountycountycountyparksparksparksparks.com

Volume LVI November 21, 2014 Issue XIII

IMPORTANT DATES:

* Nov. 30 – Habitat Grant

Applications Due

* Dec. 9 – IWILL Activist

Training in Des Moines.

* Dec. 10 – IWILL Activist

Training in Cedar Rapids.

* Dec. 10 – District 3 Mtg.,

Ida CCB

* Dec. 11 – District 5 Mtg.,

Lucas CCB

* Dec. 17 – District 6 Mtg. ,

Jackson CCB

* Jan. 20-22 -WINTERFEST

2015, Waterloo

* Jan. 26 – IWILL Day at

the Capitol, Des Moines

* Feb. 17 – REAP Day at the

Capitol, Des Moines

* Mar. 11 – County Day at

the Capitol

The IACCB Newsletter is

produced on a periodic basis, and

provided in digital format as a

membership benefit to IACCB

Members and stakeholders.

PLEASE forward or make copies of this communication for your Board Members.

Since 1959

Iowa’s County Conservation System

1.

4.

DISTRICT VI ELECTS WILSON TO I.A.C.C.B. BOARD Larry Wilson, a member of the Johnson County Conservation Board has been

elected as the District VI board member representative to the IACCB Board of

Directors. Larry has served on the JCCB for the past two years, and currently

serves at the President. He will serve a three-year term through Sept. 2017, and

replaces departing District VI representative, Amy Bouska (Johnson CCB). We

welcome Larry to our statewide leadership team, and look forward to his sharing

a wealth of talent and expertise with our Association. CONGRATS, Larry!

60th Anniversary of

County Conservation!

Sept. 17 – 19, 2015

Cedar Rapids

Happy

Thanksgiving!

CURRENT IACCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITION NAME / CCB REPRESENTING TERM EXPIRES

President Richard Harms, Bremer CCB District 2 9/2015

Vice Pres. Mike Runyan, Monroe CCB District 5 9/2017

Treasurer. Curt Weiss, Muscatine CCB CCDA 11/2015

Secretary Darrell Frerichs, Clay CCB District 3 9/2016

Member Mike Brandrup, Hamilton CCB District 1 9/2015

Member Chris Ruhaak, Pottawattamie CCB District 4 9/2016

Member Larry Wilson, Johnson CCB District 6 9/2017

Member Dan Heissel, Clay CCB IACCBE 12/2014

Member Tom Buckley, Lee CCB IACCBE 12/2016

WINTERFEST 2015 – REGISTRATION PACKET! Registration materials are NOW AVAILABLE for the 44

th Annual IACCBE

Workshop, WINTERFEST. The conference is scheduled for January 20-

22, 2015 at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo,

and is sponsored in part with a grant from the Waterloo Convention &

Visitors Bureau. Registration materials can be found via the WINTERFEST

link at the bottom of any page on our MyCountyParks.com website. Also

available is the “Collegiate Day” information and registration form for

regional colleges. Thank-you for your early registration efforts!

HABITAT STAMP GRANT REVIEW COMMITTEE POSITION With the retirement of Dean Mueller (Worth), there is an opening on the DNR’s

Habitat Stamp Review Committee. Applicants are reviewed by the IACCB Board

of Directors, and a recommendation is made to the Director of the DNR for

appointment. Letters of application may be sent to IACCB at the address above,

outlining an individual’s qualifications to serve. There is no defined length of

service on this committee, but individuals must be able to travel around the state

twice a year for 2-3 days at a time during the review process(es), and have

previously participated in the Habitat Stamp Grant Program. Deadline for letters

of application is January 2, 2015. Additional info. – IACCB@mycountyparks.com

ACTIVIST TRAINING – Natural Resouces & Outdoor Recreation Fund (IWILL)

The IWILL Executive Board is sponsoring a couple opportunities for you to receive training in order to

better advocate for this important issue. These one-hour sessions will focus on contacting your legislator

during the 2015 legislative session, and engaging with the coalition efforts. Training will be held on adjacent

evenings from 6:30 – 7:30 PM in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids as follows:

December 9th

Metro Waste Authority, 300 E. Locust Suite 100, Des Moines, IA

December 10th

Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, Classroom A, Toddville, IA

Reservations are requested for these training opportunities via the following email address – we look

forward to seeing you there! TO RSVP: ddonaghu@ls2group.com

REAP CERTIFICATION INFO. & FY2016 IACCB MEMBERSHIP LEVELS AVAILABLE

With our acquisition of the current 2014 Reap Certification Reports this past week from the DNR,

IACCB has two new pieces of budgeting data available to you – released this past weekend:

1. FY2016 IACCB Membership Level Information

2. FY2014 REAP Certification Report data – 99 CCB revenues, expenditures, levy, etc.

This information was sent to our 99 CCB Directors – for questions, please inquire locally – thanks.

(Information is also available via the FILES tab in the IACCB Portal)

CHICKADEE TAX CHECK-OFF FOR 2014 TAX SEASON

Since 1982, when the Iowa legislature created the Fish and Wildlife Fund Tax Check-off, Iowans have been able

to bring a little wildness into the tax season. The Fish and Wildlife Tax Check-off, affectionately called the

Chickadee Check-off was created to allow people to make a charitable donation to wildlife conservation in Iowa

out of their tax refunds or by tacking a few dollars on to any taxes owed. When filling out the state income tax

form, just look for the contribution line (usually somewhere between lines 55-60) and write in any dollar amount

next to Fish/Wildlife. All the money contributed through the chickadee check-off helps support the Wildlife

Diversity Program at the Iowa DNR. This program has statewide responsibility for all the wildlife that can’t be

hunted, fished or trapped from Peregrine Falcons to Poweshiek Skipperling butterflies. You can learn more

about the program on their website: www.iowadnr.gov/wildlifediversity Please consider donating to the

Chickadee Check-off this tax season and supporting wildlife conservation in Iowa!

ARCHERY & SHOOTING RANGE EQUIPMENT GRANTS AVAILABLE

The application for the 2015 Archery and Shooting Range Equipment Grant cycle is now available

at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/ShootingSports.aspx The grant is open to Iowa based

shooting organizations, Iowa primary and secondary public and private schools, Iowa public and

private colleges and universities, Iowa nonprofit corporations, city park and recreation agencies,

county governments, and public ranges not owned by the state. Grant Applications must be

received on or before 4:30pm on February 2, 2015. The grant funds are to be cost shared with

eligible applicants for the purchasing or improving of shooting range equipment. A 50% local cost

share is required and grant funds for the 2015 Equipment Grants must be expended by June 30,

2015. Development Grants which have cost shared construction of facility improvements and

additions are not available in the 2015 grant cycle. Please contact Chris Van Gorp, Shooting

Sports and Range Coordinator at 515-313-8048 with any questions.

2015 IACCB USER FEE SURVEY

Perhaps the second-most-requested survey from IACCB is the periodic “User Fee Survey” – done every couple

of years, and focusing on the myriad of fees that we have for our facilities, services and programs. Historically,

this has been a 6-8 page document mailed out across the state – my hope is to morph it into an electronic

product via Survey Monkey. If there is a specific/particular question you would like to be sure to have in this

survey – NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Send it on in to: IACCB@mycountyparks.com I hope to get this survey out in

early December – so anything you would like to have added – please get it sent in at your earliest opportunity!

NEW POLLING DATA is currently being released, and will be shared with you all in an upcoming statewide email. My inclination

is to set up a PARENT FILE in our IACCB Portal for current and future IWILL resources so that they will be at your fingertips

should you need them for local presentations, networking, etc. Though we have 30+ CCB Directors that have stepped up with

interest in being locale advocates/activists – it will be good to get as many of you “in-the-know” as possible as the mosey into the

2015 legislative session picks up speed. I will be seeing many of you at upcoming district meetings over the next couple of weeks

where we will have the opportunity to converse on these subjects – as well as all that is happening in our great system of county

conservation boards. Stay-tuned….the grande charge forward is just around the corner!

EQUESTRIAN TRAIL LISTING UPDATE – COMING YOUR WAY! Whitney Davis, DNR State Trails Coordinator has forwarded me her 2012 listing of equestrian

trails available in the state and county park system. In a separate email, I will be sending this out

to all 99 CCBs with instructions for reviewing & updating. We will receive a final copy of this

information once the updates are compiled. Stay tuned – perhaps early next week!!

WOODLAND LEGACY SYMPOSIUM – from Trees Forever, December 4th Join us on December 4 for the annual Our Woodland Legacy Symposium to

explore Placemaking: Love Where you Live. Featured keynotes are Dr. Kathy Wolf, on

“Green Cities for Health and Delight”, and Dr. Doug Tallamy, on “Why We Need Life Where We

Live.” The day will feature local examples of “placemaking in progress” and help us identify our

place in creating communities we love - Cedar Rapids Country Club, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

More information & Registration: http://www.treesforever.org/Symposium_Registration

DISTRICT 4 MEETING – Clarke County – 11/20/14

Thanks to Chris Duncan and his staff for hosting the District 4

Meeting yesterday @ Clarke CCD Headquarters near Osceola.

In addition to the District 4 Business Meeting, participants were

treated to presentations about the Clarke County Reservoir Project

by Dave Beck; and a program on public lands violations by Michael

Miller, DNR Conservation Officer – with an emphasis on the surge of

baiting violations that are being encountered.

KUDOS to the CCBs

with representation at

the meeting: Clarke,

Harrison, Shelby,

Guthrie, Adams,

Pottawattamie,

Madison, Union &

Decatur

Located at the bottom of each and every page

of the MyMyMyMyCountyCountyCountyCountyParksParksParksParks.com.com.com.com website.

http://www.mycountyparks.com/Jobs/Default.aspx

1. BREMER Co. – Roadside Vegetation Manager

2. KOSSUTH Co. – Office Manager

3. BOONE Co. – Operations Manager

4. DUBUQUE Co. – Park Ranger

5. LOUISA – Conservation Aide

6. LOUISA – Summer Rec. Intern

7. LOUISA – Naturalist Intern

8. JONES – Campground Host

9. HAMILTON – Campground Hosts

10. BUENA VISTA – Campground Hosts

Full Time Employment

Seasonal/Part-Time

THANKSGIVING – A chance to say THANKS!

The holidays give way to a brief respite - in between the positive chaos of fall conferences and

workshops, and the looming head-long sprint into the 2015 legislative session - PLUS just a new year

in general! ☺ In a few short weeks, it will be 39 years ago that I walked into the Linn County

Conservation offices for the first time – hitching on to this 4-decade ride that has just been the BEST!

There are a handful of you that are able to reach back to the mid-1970s by virtue of your longevity too,

adding credence to the fact that these are really the best jobs ever! The fortune has been ours to have

known most of those first CCB Directors and staff, the great staff of the

CCB ALUMNI CORNER? Seems that we have inadvertently launched a small section of

our newsletters for featured pictures or notes from CCB Alumni

from across the country. Having recently featured Bob Walker,

Don Peak and Garry Brandenberg – looks like this week it is

Brian Holt (retired Director from Hamilton CCB) – with the end

result of his encounter with a bull elk! ☺ Engaging with our

alumni is a good thing! If you become one, or know of one – be

sure that we have a good email address for you/them so that we

can get our newsletters to them, and keep them in the growing

county conservation loop! IACCB@mycountyparks.com

County Conservation Activities Office within the Iowa Conservation

Commission, and most the trials and tribulations of Iowa’s young county

conservation system. There are many great folks too, that have come

and gone in the intervening years – filling a niche in time, and then perhaps on their way to chase

another dream. I came across this original 1959 hand-drawn artwork in the archives this week of

IACCB’s very first logo - sparking just a bit more pride inside for those that have gone before. You

must know, that we are fortunate, each of us – to have the privileges that we do – to be able to

nurture and pay forward the collective historic resources that have been entrusted to our visions and

energy. We do what we do best, and we do it for those who will be here tomorrow – long after our

footprints have faded. We continue to be blessed statewide with tremendously talented staff,

dedicated board members and untold thousands of volunteers that somehow pull it all together –

day after day, decade after decade. Cheers to ALL of you….and thanks – it would not have been

this great of ride were it not for each of you choosing US ☺ Tom Have a Grrrrreat Thanksgiving!