We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation and Public Policy - Book Preview

DRC Sponsor: Jim Morrow

Local sustainable energy advocate Andy Johnson will speak to our members about the new book scheduled for public release next month: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation and Public Policy. The book is a compliation of writings from Andy's late father Paul Johnson with editorial context provided by conservation biologist and writer Curt Meine.

Andy's father Paul hailed from our locale and served as a state legislator, farmer and conservationist. He became a prominent figure in the sustainable agriculture movement. He was a co-founder of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. In his writings he described his hopes and actions to build an American landscape that would produce not only food, but “clean water and air, biological diversity, wildness, and beauty.” Agriculture, he held, “involves more than food and fiber and fuel. It’s the care of all life.” In his public and private life, he pursued that vision through pragmatic steps to bring farming and conservation together. Throughout his career, he wrote regularly about his experiences in the public arena.

Andy is the founding director of the nation’s first Clean Energy District in Winneshiek County, beginning in 2010. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Field Biology and a Master’s Degree in Natural Resources and Ecosystem Management. His work over three decades has spanned sustainable agriculture, private lands conservation, community development, and clean energy, domestically and abroad. He and his family also raise grass-fed beef and lamb and Christmas trees on their three-generation family farm in northeast Iowa.

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**Please complete your noon meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.