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We recently took an informal poll of all the staff members of the Wildlife Diversity Program about what we are most thankful for and every single one of us had the same answer.
YOU!
We may be the ones who have wildlife and biologist somewhere in our job description but the people that make the most difference for the conservation of non-game wildlife in Iowa is the community of folks we call friends, partners and supporters.
So, we wanted to send out a short note with a profound and sincere THANK YOU to all of you that care about wildlife in our state.
Who are YOU?
VOLUNTEERS! There are well over 200 of you that put time, energy and mileage into helping monitor vulnerable wildlife species such as the Bald Eagle, Peregrine and Osprey, Frogs and Toads and Bats. You can visit the VWMP website to learn more about the volunteer program and how to get involved.
Photo of volunteers scoping out a Bald Eagle nest.
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DONORS! Thousands of people each year make donations to support the wildlife diversity program through buying a natural resource license plate or donating to the Fish/Wildlife Fund on their state tax forms! These donations add up and help pay for our program's operations as well as specific projects. This past year we even received a very generous donation from Musco Sports Lighting and Diane Crookham-Johnson to completely implement our plan to install Motus towers across the state. These towers pick up and record signals from transmittered birds, which provides crucial information on migration among other things! |
PARTNERS! Iowa is fortunate to have such a vibrant and active community of organizations working towards the conservation of Iowa's nature, like the County Conservation Boards, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and the Iowa Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. They protect and manage land and spread joy and knowledge through environmental education among other things. If you aren't familiar with their work be sure to check them out!
Photo of the Hitchcock Nature Area owned and managed by the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board.
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FIELD TECHNICIANS! Every year the Wildlife Diversity Program is lucky to work with many temporary staff who do everything from battling scorching weather and hordes of mosquitos to collect data in the field to spending hours entering and collating data. They work hard and make a huge contribution to the program. One of our flagship programs, the Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring Program, through our partners at Iowa State university, hires 20-30 temporary field technicians each year to collect data on hundreds of wildlife species leading to millions of data records since the program's inception in 2006.
Photo of a MSIM crew collecting data on small mammals.
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READERS AND ADVOCATES! Last but not least we are grateful for everybody who has subscribed to and reads our Diversity News, plants habitat on their land, makes room for the wildlife we share the land with and speaks up to say that these wildlife matter and should be conserved!
Photo of a Gray Treefrog blending in with its environment.
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In short, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for all you do whether it be small or large. You are all part of the wildlife diversity program, helping achieve our mission to be stewards of ALL of Iowa's wildlife.
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