Three Winneshiek County families to be recognized March 5th by the Iowa DNR for their land donations

Three Winneshiek County families will be recognized March 5th in Des Moines for their donations to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.

Bobby and Paula Jewell and their eldest son, Robby, will be recognized for their donation of an Agricultural Land Easement involving 696 acres of their property.  Their farm, which has been in the family since 1876, features a diverse mix of working lands, woodland and water features, including a small stretch of Ten Mile Creek and three springs. The easement will help promote water quality on the adjacent Upper Iowa River.

Brothers Ace and Jeff Hendricks, along with their wives Judy and Shelley, have donated a conservation easement to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation on their 111-acre century farm north of Decorah. The farm has been in the family since 1871. Limited, sustainable agriculture, water quality and diversity are the brothers' goals for the property. They wished to permanently protect the property from development while still enjoying farming, stewarding and hunting on their family land.

Lyle Luzum's family has farmed their land for 144 years. The family lost ownership of the farm in the 1930s, but still farmed the land and repurchased it in the 1940s. Lyle sold the land to the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) to honor the long conservation legacy of the farm and keep it in sustainable food production as he had done since the 1980s. New farmers can now farm the land, with no down payment or mortgage, for a lifetime and even pass on to their farming children.

The three families will be recognized during a ceremony at 12:45 p.m. Monday, March 5th, in the first floor rotunda of  the State Capitol in Des Moines.  Governor Kim Reynolds and Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg are scheduled to attend.  A total of 48 donors statewide will be honored.