Parks & Restoration

Adams County, Iowa is one of, if not THE, smallest counties in the state. Yet the county conservation department's main park, Lake Icaria, generates over $600,000 annually in direct revenue with a local economic impact of $3-4 million. In this county of less than 4,000 people, 73% of voters in 2016 approved a $1.3 million bond referendum to invest in their favorite county park and economic engine....

Tom Hazelton is to County Conservation what Aldo Leopold is to the concept of a Land Ethic, or what Ding Darling is to political cartoons about environmental topics. Tom has been involved in County Conservation his entire adult life, having served a full career as a Park Ranger in Linn County then "retiring" into the role of CEO of Iowa's County Conservation System in 2011. At the end of 2022, Tom...

Linn County is the third of four counties in Iowa where voters overwhelmingly approved funding to support parks, trails, water quality, and other quality of life improvements via the county conservation department. In this episode, I interview Linn County Conservation Director Dennis Goemaat about Linn County's bond. Enjoy! If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with other colleagues in the fi...

In 2008, voters in Johnson County passed the state's first county conservation bond referendum. In this discussion with Larry Gullett, Director at Johnson County Conservation, we go over how the bond came to be...and almost didn't.  This is the second in a series of episodes focused on county conservation bond referendums that have passed throughout the state over the years.  If you enjoy this pod...

Polk County voters have passed two bonds to be used by the county conservation department for park and trail development, water quality, and other quality of life improvements. The first bond passed in 2012 with over 70% support. The second one passed in 2020 with 81% support. In this episode, I talk with County Conservation Director Rich Leopold about how these bonds came to be, what they learned...

I had a moment of insight while walking a trail today and couldn’t help but share it. Too often we parks and conservation leaders get lost in the job and the day-to-day grind that we forget why we do what we do (at least I do, anyway). In a moment of literally seeing the forest for the trees, I sat along the trail and recorded this as a way to remind myself - and hopefully you, too - not to forget...

After more than 30 years in public service, the last six of which were spent as Deputy Director with Polk County Conservation, Doug Romig decided to leave Iowa to be closer to family and to pursue a new career challenge. Before he left, we had the great conversation that you'll hear in this episode. We talked about the legacy we leave behind as park and conservation professionals, workplace cultur...

Daryl Parker officially retired in 2020 after 28 years leading the conservation department in Jackson County, Iowa. In this conversation, we discuss board relations and how we as leaders can manage them, catastrophic floods, and the Hurstville Interpretive Center, among other topics.  Enjoy!

This was the very first recording I did for what has now become this podcast. This is an interview with Dan Biechler, the then-Director at Linn County Conservation. This was recorded in early 2018, just about a week before Dan retired. He served 42 years with Linn County, 30 of them as Director. At the time I recorded this, I didn’t know what I would do with the recordings. You’ll hear us talk abo...

In this interview from January 2018, I talk with Tom Buckley who had recently retired as the Executive Director after 27 years with Lee County Conservation in Southeast Iowa, which happens to be my neighbor county to the south. This was one of the first retired Director interviews I had ever done. I have several others recorded which will serve as future episodes. During our talk, we touch on Tom'...

Here we discuss the Iowa DNR's Wildlife Diversity Program - what it is and how it's funded - and how we as park and conservation leaders can contribute to it through our state tax form and/or through our vehicle license plates. 

Who is this Outdoor Executive Dad? And what is this podcast about? This short episode answers those questions. 

Dan Cohen, Director at Buchanan County Conservation and Matt Cosgrove, Director at Webster County Conservation, have been the legislative committee leaders in some capacity for the County Conservation Directors Association for more than a decade. In this episode, we discuss the legislative process and how we as park and conservation professionals can better influence legislation at the state level...