NICC receives $2,000 grant from Rockwell Collins

The Rockwell Collins Green Communities Program has given the NICC Calmar campus a $2,000 grant to implement a green belt as part of a new campus-wide conservation plan. 

NICC has planted a 1.4 acre area with trees and shrubs to create a shelter belt. The shelter belt project will provide wind protection, improve the campus' aesthetics, provide additional wildlife habitats and reintroduce native plant species to the land. The planting is the first step of a 3-5 year conservation and stewardship plan the college is implementing with the assistance of federal and state agency personnel, said Calmar campus provost Dr. Liang Chee Wee.

"After the college's renovation and construction projects started, we realized we needed to understand the impact of our presence on our environment and neighbors. So I invited Corey Meyer (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resource Conservation Services) and Wayne Peterson (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship) to the Calmar campus for an initial discussion about conservation and stewardship opportunities," said Wee. "They stressed that our campus should serve as a living lab showcasing our projects to groups interested in conservation efforts. The shelter belt is such a project that allows us to do show-and-tell," Wee said.

The one-acre shelter belt is located behind the Child Development Center on campus. Iowa Department of Natural Resources District 2 Forester Greg Heidebrink contributed his input on appropriate plant species for the shelter belt, and Pinter's Garden and Pumpkins in Decorah did the planting.

An additional requirement of the Rockwell Collins Green Communities Program grant states that potential grant recipients obtain a sponsor who is employed at Rockwell Collins. Laurie Christen, an NICC Associate in Science May 2011 graduate, works at the company and served as the college's grant sponsor. Christen both sponsored the project and later gathered a team of 20 volunteers to lend a hand with mulching.

"We are pleased that the shelter belt is doing well. The next project is the planting of 2.2 acres of prairie, funded by Pheasants Forever of Winneshiek County, across the road north of the Darwin L. Schrage Administration building. The area has been prepared for planting next week. Other projects are in the planning stage," said Wee.