Rural Lands Rural Livelihoods:
Using Land and Natural Resources to Revitalize Rural Iowa
September 20 & 21, 2007
Biographical Information about Speakers
Steve Anderson
Steve Anderson has worked with environmental organizations through Iowa with experience with environmental policy, urban and agricultural concerns, water monitoring, public environmental education and development on new conservation programs. Steve has served as vice chair of the Spirit Lake Planning and Zoning board, advisor to the Okoboji Planning and Zoning board, the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors and Iowa Lakes Community College Environmental Studies Program and is the founding Chair of the Iowa Lakes Association. Anderson assisted with the watershed planning, analysis and management of Dickinson County Lakes watersheds in Iowa and Minnesota.
Carol Bradley
After thirty years at the Department of Education and Iowa State University working in a variety of positions, Carol Bradley returned to her home in Appanoose County. She lives on a tree farm, raises corn and beans, and works part time for the Board of Regents as an educational consultant. In 2003, she was asked to join the volunteer committee, Rathbun Lake Resort, Inc., to work with others in the region on the Honey Creek State Park Resort project.
Tom Buman
Since 1982, Tom has been working with farmers, agricultural businesses, organizations, and agencies to help them organize and implement environmentally sound initiatives.
Raised on a family farm in Southwest Iowa, Tom has a thorough understanding of both livestock and crop production. Prior to founding Agren, in 1996, Tom worked 14 years for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. Tom received both his B.S. in Agronomy and MBA from Iowa State University.
Dick Doak
Richard Doak retired in 2007 as a columnist and former editorial-page editor of The Des Moines Register. His assignments in 42 years with the newspaper included a wide variety of news beats, from city hall to education to a decade covering the Iowa Legislature. He also served as business editor and deputy editorial-page editor.
A native of Newton, Ia., he is a graduate of Iowa State University in technical journalism with a master's degree in economic history. Professional honors include the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi distinguished service award, the Gerald Loeb award for distinguished business and financial journalism, the Education Writers Association best in the nation award, the American Political Science Association award for outstanding reporting of public affairs and the Women in Communication's Claris Award. He led a staff project called "What's Right with Iowa" that was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. He is the 2007 recipient of the James W. Schwartz Award, the highest honor of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State.
Doak is a lecturer in journalism at Iowa State and will teach a course on Iowa history at Simpson College in 2008. He and his wife Mary Lou live in Johnston. They are the parents of four grown daughters and have 11 grandchildren, all living in Iowa.
Marian Riggs Gelb
In the late 1970s, Marian Gelb worked as an analyst in the Iowa Legislative Fiscal Bureau. In the early 1980’s, Gelb moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue her MBA in Finance at George Washington Univerisity. During that time she worked on the staff of Senator Alan Dixon. From 1985 to 1991, Gelb served as Vice President of the commercial loan department, of Bank 2000, in McLean, Virginia. More recently, she has been a consultant to Growing Green Communities, the REAP Alliance and Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Gelb dedicated a significant amount of time to supporting her children’s schools, often taking leadership roles in supporting the staff and the parent/teacher organizations. Gelb also serves as Vice-Chair of the Des Moines Park and Recreation Board, of which she has been a member since 2001. She is a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on Energy Conservation and Environmental Enhancement, member of the Polk County Conservation/DM Parks Task Force; and Chairperson, Urban Conservation Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the Des Moines Park and Recreation Board. In 2006, she was appointed to sit on the North River Basin Study Steering Committee and appointed to the Downtown Des Moines Planning Project Steering Committee.
Lisa Hein
Lisa Hein has been with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation since 1988. Her background is in Landscape Architecture with a degree from Iowa State University in 1984. Prior to working with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, she was with the Ames Planning and Housing Department.
Lisa works with community groups, volunteers, landowners and agencies in several aspects of land protection and trail development including land acquisition, conservation easements, community organizing, proposal writing and technical assistance In her spare time she enjoys gardening, bicycling and is a skating coach with the Ames Figure Skating Club.
The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has helped protect over 95,000 acres of land in Iowa, assisted in the establishment of over 750 miles of recreation trails and has helped raise over $20 million in public and private funds for trail projects throughout Iowa.
Nate HoogeveenNate Hoogeveen is a former award-winning freelance writer and media consultant who now works as River Programs Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, Mr. Hoogeveen is author of the guidebook "Paddling Iowa." In researching that book, he kayaked 1,800 river miles throughout Iowa. He was honored in 2007 as one of the Des Moines Business Record's Forty Under 40 -- young people who are making an impact.
Tolif Hunt
Tolif Hunt is the Executive Director for Whiterock Conservancy, an Iowa non-profit land trust dedicated to protecting the natural resources of the Middle Raccoon River watershed, demonstrating sustainable rural land management, and promoting outdoor recreation and education. Tolif has been with the Whiterock Conservancy for 11 months. Whiterock Conservancy was started in the winter of 2004, with the first acres of what will be a 5,300 acre land gift from the Garst family of Coon Rapids, Iowa, to Whiterock Conservancy. Once the land gifting is completed the Whiterock Conservancy will own and manage the 5,300 acres as a multipurpose landscape where recreation, conservation, and production land management are accomplished concurrently across the landscape. Tolif is tasked with implementing projects that engage the public with conservation through outdoor recreation and education, use agricultural production systems to restore natural habitats while also maintaining a viable level of agricultural productivity, and ensuring that all land uses occurring on the Whiterock landscape protect and preserve Iowa’s diverse natural resources. Tolif came to Whiterock Conservancy from Western Pennsylvania Conservancy where he was Director of Agriculture Conservation Services. While in Pennsylvania Tolif led a 30-member partnership that developed the $150 million western Pennsylvania Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, he developed a multicounty cover crops incentive program, and led a staff of 12 in the implementation of a $1 million agriculture conservation outreach and education initiative.
Tolif earned a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Conservation Biology and a MS in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he specialized in agro-ecosystem conservation. Tolif resides in Coon Rapids, Iowa, with his wife and two young children.
Mary A. Lundby
State Senator Mary A. Lundby is the first woman to be elected Senate Majority Leader in Iowa, a position she held in 2006. She is currently the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate.
Mary has served the citizens of Linn County for three terms in the Iowa Senate and four terms in the Iowa House. She was also the first woman elected Speaker Pro Tem of the Iowa House, serving in that capacity from 1992 -1994.
During Mary’s time in the Legislature, she has fought for Iowa’s families by supporting tax cuts, promoting legislation to protect those Iowans who are victims of domestic violence, working to better our public education system, and advocating for the conservation and improvement of Iowa’s parks and natural resources.
Senator Lundby received her BA from Upper Iowa University. She was named to Outstanding Young Women in America in 1982. Mary was a former staff assistant to Senator Roger Jepsen.
Mary and her husband, Michael, reside in Marion. They have a son, Daniel.
David Lyons
David Lyons is Chief Business Development Officer for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.
In this position, David works to create new business and development opportunities for Iowa’s producers and the communities and rural regions in which they live. Business development focuses on the four focus areas of farmers and agriculture, rural and community development, health and wellness and youth and education.
Prior to joining the Iowa Farm Bureau in February 2000, David was Director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Insurance Commissioner for the State of Iowa and Legal Council with the Iowa Legislature.
David grew up on a family farm near Bernard, Iowa. He received his undergraduate degree from Loras College in Dubuque and his law degree from the University of Iowa.
David and his wife Sandee live in Des Moines with their two daughters.
Joe McGovern
Joe McGovern is the Land Stewardship Program Director for the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF), a statewide land trust that has protected nearly 100,000 acres in Iowa. He is responsible for the management of natural lands owned by INHF and also directs the stewardship on INHF land protection projects. Additionally he manages the Conservation Easement Program for INHF, including landowner negotiations, drafting and annual monitoring. Joe also works with private landowners in project areas and offers technical assistance for the purpose of natural land restoration and protection. Prior to joining the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, he worked five years for Story County Conservation.
Joe received his BS degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University.
Mark Reisinger
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns appointed Mark Reisinger as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa on May 6, 2005.
Reisinger, a native of Eldora, Iowa, previously served as the Chief Agricultural Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley and legal counsel for U.S. Representative Greg Ganske. During that time, he developed and managed numerous legislative proposals related to agriculture, rural development and renewable energy.
As the USDA Rural Development State Director in Iowa, Reisinger is an advocate for rural America, working to enhance the economic opportunities and quality of life for all rural Iowans.
