Grantee Profile

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

The Mississippi River blufflands are shared by four states, each with its own magnificent views. But one thing these states have come to see the same way is this: the blufflands are endangered.

The 20-year-old Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation works to protect Iowa's natural resources through public education and land conservation. Its Blufflands Alliance program has united five groups — the Minnesota Land Trust, Wisconsin's Mississippi Valley Conservancy, the Western Wisconsin Land Trust, Illinois's Natural Land Institute, and the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation — to safeguard the scenic, fragile bluffs that border 400 miles of the Mississippi River between Red Wing, Minnesota, and Dubuque, Iowa.

Formed in 1994, this alliance has protected more than 21,000 acres of land valued at $25.5 million. It has also reached out to more than 1,200 individuals and community groups and raised nearly $20 million in governmental and private funds. McKnight Foundation support will help it to protect 3,000 to 5,000 additional acres using voluntary conservation approaches. The alliance also seeks partnerships with other organizations, to raise new public funding for greater blufflands protection. That way, the views will remain as magnificent as ever, from any perspective.

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