The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) is a statewide non-profit natural conservation organization based in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. The organization has protected more than in 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties and worked on hundreds of different project sites since its inception in 1979. INHF is donor-supported and has a membership of roughly 7,000. The current president of INHF is Joe McGovern, with former President Mark Ackelson serving as the President Emeritus.

Projects

INHF works with partner organizations to preserve and protect

natural landscape A natural landscape is the original landscape that exists before it is acted upon by human culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the kn ...

s throughout the state. Landowners interested in protecting their land either donate or sell property to INHF, who will work to conserve and/or restore its natural features. In most cases, INHF takes ownership of land temporarily, while public conservation agencies (local, county, state or federal) raise funds to purchase the property. During this time, INHF will lend technical and professional assistance to these agencies, as well as work to restore native ecosystems.
INHF works directly with landowners to make sure that the transaction meets their wishes. INHF staff will meet with landowners to negotiate the sale or donation of their land, as well as the transfer to whatever agency will retain permanent ownership.
In most cases, project sites that INHF assists with will become public land, open for exploration, hunting, fishing, camping and other activities, depending on the site. INHF also works with landowners to protect their land through

conservation easements In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...

, in which a landowner relinquishes certain rights to all or part of his or her property (e.g. farming or mining), while still retaining ownership. INHF and the private owners develop a legally binding agreement regarding which property uses will be allowed or restricted. This agreement applies to the current owner and all future owners.Donation of a conservation easement
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References

{{Reflist Environment of Iowa Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1979 Non-profit organizations based in Iowa 1979 establishments in Iowa