Two Decorah residents presented their statewide conservation awards

(Left to right): Award recipients Mary Lewis and Beth Lynch with Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation representative Brian Fankhauser

Two Decorah residents have been presented statewide awards for their extensive conservation efforts, including the removal of garlic mustard from Decorah area parks.
 
Beth Lynch and Mary Lewis received the awards from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation at a 4:00 p.m. ceremony at Phelps Park on Friday.
 
Lynch and Lewis are current and former Luther College biology instructors, respectively, and have dedicated their time inside and outside the classroom to many causes, including the removal of garlic mustard from Decorah parks. 

Lynch first encountered garlic mustard while living in Dubuque, where she saw it spread rapidly and destroy parks. She later moved to Decorah and started seeing the invasive plant again. This time she started pulling it.
 
Lewis first spotted garlic mustard in 2002, but did not recognize the plant immediately: "It's just like weeding a garden," she told the audience at Friday afternoon's ceremony--"You have to be constantly vigilant."

Lewis and Lynch say the community's efforts have led to a decrease in garlic mustard plants in city parks.  "This award will validate the work," concluded Lewis.

Decorah Park-Rec Director Andy Nimrod was one of the presenters

Another present was ellen Macdonald, who nominated the pair

The award presentation

A crowd attended the ceremony