| 06/10/2006 |
| Adding heritage |
| By: Bob Zientara |
That's why Klaas and other volunteers who led the local effort to create the park are pleased to see nine large, granite boulders placed around the paved walking trails at the park. Placed on May 17 by city workers, the boulders are engraved with the images of nine luminaries in the history of the environmental movement in Iowa. Ada Hayden, a former Iowa State University professor who championed the preservation of the state's native prairie (and is the namesake for the park), is featured in a place of honor, on a boulder at the north parking lot. It's surrounded by a garden planted with native prairie species. "We first thought about this four years ago," said Klaas, who helped form the Friends of Hallett's Quarry, a citizen's group that led the effort to create the park. "After the park was finished, we discovered that we had about $2,000 left over, and we thought about placing memorials along the trails." At first, the idea was to affix bronze plaques to the stones - until the group found out how expensive bronze is (as much as $2,000 per plaque, according to Klaas), and that bronze is a favorite target for thieves. It turned out to be much less expensive to have the boulders sandblasted by Nevada Monument. Joe Ackerman, the company manager, said the process involves computer-scanning original images and sending the data to an automated sandblasting machine. The next question was whom to commemorate? Jim Pease, ISU Extension wildlife specialist and another member of the citizen's group, was quick with an answer. He's a member of the Iowa Association of Naturalists, which recently published a booklet recounting the lives of nine significant figures in the history of Iowa environmental preservation. "The booklet includes folks like Aldo Leopold, who's internationally famous, and Iowans like Ada Hayden, John F. Lacey and 'Ding' Darling," he said. "We decided it was worthwhile memorializing them." Pease's son, Jesse, 35, who works at Imed Studios, a medical imaging firm in the ISU Research Park, did pencil drawings of the nine naturalists for the state booklet. "Those originals were used for the engravings," Jim Pease said. "They were reproduced in greater detail and delivered to Nevada Monument." Klaas said he and Pease took on the job of figuring out what to inscribe on the boulders. "We talked about using a quote from each of them, but we soon found that there's only so much room on a boulder," he said, laughing. Klaas said he would like to see more interpretive programs at the park. "Our next step is to create a brochure, which could be placed at the park and made available for downloads on the Internet," he said. "It's part of an interpretive program for the park. It's been slow in developing, and it will be expensive. But we're working on it."
The conservationists Ada Hayden Heritage Park's nine "memorial boulders" commemorate key figures in Iowa conservation history. Below are capsule biographies of the nine, condensed from the booklet, "Important Iowa Conservationists," published in the late 1990s by the Iowa Association of Naturalists. Dan Cohen did the original writing, with editing by Jim Pease and other Iowa State University-based members of the association. John F. Lacey John F. Lacey, May 30, 1841-Sept. 29, 1913, grew up in Keokuk, was a Civil War veteran, practiced law, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1888 and, in 1894, wrote enabling legislation to establish Yellowstone National Park. Bohumil Shimek Bohumil Shimek, June 25, 1861-Jan. 30, 1937, whose family moved to Iowa to escape political persecution in Europe, loved the outdoors as a child, earned an engineering degree at Iowa State College (now ISU), left that career to teach natural sciences, ran the Lakeside Biological Lab at Lake Okoboji and is considered the state's first environmental educator. Louis Pammel Louis Pammel, April 19, 1862-March 23, 1931, grew up around La Crosse, Wis., earned a doctorate degree in botany from Iowa State College, taught bacteriology, mycology and plant pathology, published 10 books, served as first Iowa State Conservation Board president and helped establish 38 state parks. Pammel State Park, Winterset, is named in his honor. Jay Norwood 'Ding' Darling Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, Oct. 21, 1876-Feb. 12, 1962, grew up in Sioux City, pre-med major at Beloit College, Wis., went to work for the Des Moines Register in 1906, was a political cartoonist in Iowa and New York until his death, Iowa Fish and Game Commission member, proposed the first state biological survey (later conducted by Aldo Leopold), persuaded Franklin Roosevelt to create the federal Bureau of Biological Survey (now the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), and was the artist for the first Federal Duck Stamp. Ada Hayden Ada Hayden, 1884-1950, born in Ames, raised on a farm where her parents preserved native prairie, mentored by Louis Pammel before earning a doctorate from Iowa State College, earned $100 grant to survey Iowa's native prairies, promoted the study of prairies as complete and elegant ecosystems, and provided the foundation for the modern prairie preservation movement. Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold, Jan. 11, 1887-April 21, 1948, born in Burlington, attended Yale, U.S. Forest Service employee, completed Iowa's first statewide biological survey, created the nation's first department of wildlife management at the University of Wisconsin, author of world-famous journal, "A Sand County Almanac," considered the father of modern ecology. Paul Lester Errington Paul Lester Errington, June 14, 1902-1962, South Dakota native, attended University of Wisconsin, a specialist in the study of predator-prey relationships, worked at Iowa State College, published "dozens of books," learned Scandinavian languages to communicate with European colleagues. Sylvan Runkel Sylvan Runkel, 1907-Jan. 2, 1995, Jacksonville, Ill., native and 1930 Iowa State College graduate in forestry, CCC camp superintendent at Albia, World War II veteran, biologist for Soil Conservation Service, and, in retirement, "led countless natural history hikes," a believer in "teaching the teachers" to spread love for the environment. John Madson John Madson, 1924-April 19, 1995, Ames native, Iowa State College graduate, Iowa Conservation Commission employee, edited the "Iowa Conservationist," worked for Des Moines Register and Winchester Firearms company, a longtime collector of stories depicting how events in the natural world affected the lives of people, author of two books on Iowa outdoors. | |||||||
