Whiterock Conservancy

CONTACTS: Liz Garst, Whiterock Conservancy, www.farmresort.com, gresort@pionet.net, home/office 712-684-5240 (map and photos available); Rachel Garst, rgarst@netins.net, home/office 712-651-2015; Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, leopold1@iastate.edu, 515-294-5588; Mark Ackelson or Cathy Engstrom, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, www.inhf.org, 800-475-1846 or 515-288-1846, Cathy after hours, 515-331-7709.

IOWA GARSTS CREATE LARGE PRESERVE, LARGER VISION

(Jan. 7, 2005) The Garst family of Coon Rapids, Iowa, once made famous by hosting Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at their family farm in 1959, have donated that farm and surrounding lands to create a land conservation area in west-central Iowa that will eventually total over 5,000 acres.

When completed, this will be one of the largest land donations ever made in the Midwest, but the project’s vision -ranging from prairie restoration and sustainable agriculture to ecotourism and new forms of public-private partnership— is also extensive.

In the middle of a heavily agricultural state, the donated lands are mostly hilly pastures, river-side bluffs and timber, wetlands, native prairie, and rare oak savanna areas. What little crop ground that is included is mostly enrolled in the CRP and not currently tilled.

An initial land donation of 1,290 acres was made Dec 28th to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF), a nonprofit conservation group that has worked with numerous landowners to protect over 80,000 acres throughout the state. INHF has leased the property to Whiterock Conservancy, a new nonprofit formed to manage the entire Garst land donation. INHF will transfer ownership to Whiterock once the new conservancy receives its nonprofit status from the IRS.

Whiterock’s mission is to protect and restore the area’s diverse habitats, as well as its special geologic features and dark night skies. It will also engage in research and modeling of ecologically and economically sustainable methods of land management, such as ecotourism, alternative pasturing methods, paid hunting, and conservation-friendly farming practices. Finally, it will provide for low-impact public recreation and environmental education.

Whiterock Conservancy will also be an experiment in public-private partnership. It was formed in November in coordination with the nonprofit INHF, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture of Iowa State University and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, furthering their missions of land preservation, biodiversity, environmental education, outdoor recreation and sustainable land management.

Each group is represented by a seat on the 7-person Whiterock board. Initial board members are Fred Kirschenmann of the Leopold Center (president); Mike Brandrup, head of the DNR Conservation and Recreation Division; INHF president Mark Ackelson and Robert G. Riley, Jr., of Des Moines, IA. The Garst family will be represented by Liz, Rachel, and Jennifer Garst. Liz will initially help staff the new organization as volunteer director, and Rachel as volunteer outreach coordinator.

This innovative conservation project reflects the Garst family’s evolving relationship with the land. Roswell Garst founded the Garst and Thomas Seed Corn Company in 1929. A firm believer in the green revolution, the colorful Roswell promoted his theories worldwide and hosted Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at his family farm in 1959.

Roswell's son Stephen continued the promotion of high-input high-yield agriculture, but was also an active outdoorsman. He was an early supporter of erosion control measures such as waterways and no-till farming, and was a leading force behind a local conservation board and bike trail. He also dedicated himself to purchasing numerous tracts of timber and pasture in the Middle Raccoon River Valley where he hunted deer and wild turkey, and built and stocked dozens of fishing ponds.

His daughters, who grew up picnicking on and hunting the land, have shifted their central focus from creating hunting habitat to promoting biodiversity and sustainability. Liz has been running an ecotourism business (Garst Farm Resorts) from her home on the wooded property, and has slowly been trying to restoring some of the valley’s native prairies and wetlands.

A 5,000-acre tract of conservation and recreation land is extremely rare in Iowa, with its history of small family farms. So when Stephen died in 2004, his heirs unanimously decided to donate their beloved conservation lands, extending eight miles along the Middle Raccoon River and worth $6 million, to ensure their long- term protection.

The family believes that turning control of the land over to a non-profit is the best way to protect the valley from any potential actions of their heirs and also to ensure a more coherent and professional restoration process.

Principal donors are Mary Garst and her daughters Liz and Rachel of Coon Rapids; Sarah Garst of West Des Moines, IA; Jennifer Garst of Ames, IA and Kate Garst of Seattle, WA. Stephen’s sister Antonia (Garst) Lee of London, England, is also a donor.

“We are hoping that the protection of such a large contiguous area can help sustain ecological diversity, including wildlife and bird habitat, in this heavily farmed state,” notes Rachel Garst. A botanist mapping plant communities on the property has already found several remnant native prairie and savannah communities, as well as unusual side-hill seeps.

The Garst family has long allowed local residents to freely picnic or fish on the property, and the Conservancy will continue this tradition by opening parts of the preserve for varied public uses, including education, research, and low-impact recreation such as hiking, fishing, camping, and bird watching.

Once Whiterock Conservancy obtains non-profit status, the family will also be donating their current ecotourism business, including the historic farmhouse (now a B&B) where Roswell Garst once hosted Nikita Khrushchev. They expect visiting tourists and researchers to bring significant economic benefits to Coon Rapids, population 1,200.

Board president Kirschenmann adds, “Our hope is that Whiterock Conservancy’s long-term impact goes far beyond its boundaries. We envision extensive research in ecological and environmental sustainability. An important mission will be to allow researchers, from ISU and elsewhere, to study which restoration methods work best on working lands and to explore how all landowners can make conservation land pay for itself in environmentally-friendly ways.”

The project has been endorsed by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for “contributing to the environmental and economic diversity of our state.”

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CONTACTS: Liz Garst, Whiterock Conservancy, www.farmresort.com, gresort@pionet.net, home/office 712-684-5240; Rachel Garst, rgarst@netins.net, home/office 712-651-2015; Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, ISU, leopold1@iastate.edu, 515-294-5588; Mark Ackelson or Cathy Engstrom, INHF, www.inhf.org, 800-475-1846 or 515-288-1846.