Conservation Champions

Story and photos with a spotlight on land donor Judith Bechtum

This was originally published by Dan Cohen on his Nature Communications substack and republished here with permission

“God Bless America. Let’s save some of it.”
~ Edward Abbey

Conservation champions walk among us. They walk as individuals and as groups; they are among the silent and the loud; they are on the front lines and behind the scenes; they are volunteers, paid conservation staff, educators, scientists, writers, and yes, at times, they are elected into government. Although there is a lot more work to do, conservation champions are the reason why we have some meaningful protections for our air, water, and soil, and why we have local, state, and federal parks and wildlife areas.

Most projects involving permanent land protections result from past and ongoing efforts of conservation champions. While serving as executive director for the Buchanan County Conservation Board, I worked to acquire, protect, and make available to the public many important places for wildlife habitat, parks, outdoor recreation, and improved water quality. Nearly all these projects relied on past and present conservation champions as the process often involved:

• Many meetings of the conservation board and partner groups;
• Work with natural resource professionals to better understand the property;
• Partnership with Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to more quickly acquire and hold the property while funds were sought for re-purchase;
• Grants from established state and federal programs that exist because of hard-fought legislation, often involving key legislators, conservation organizations, and many dedicated individuals;
• Funds from donors and nonprofit conservation organizations;
• Dedicated conservation staff to manage the property for its important natural features and public use, now and into the future;
• AND… the most fundamental conservation champion of all – a landowner who wants to see their precious property permanently protected for the benefit of wildlife, natural resource protection, and people. When their financial situations allow, these people sometimes donate or sell their land below appraised value to make sure this will happen. Without a willing landowner, projects never happen.

I recently attended the Gift to Iowa’s Future Day held by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to thank landowners who championed permanent conservation land protections for their property, and to share their stories. There were a variety of individuals and families in attendance who had gifted land or land value — some because they wanted to help create new areas for Iowans to visit and enjoy, others because they wanted to safeguard natural and open space through conservation easements on privately-owned land, but all because they cared deeply for the land they love.

In 2025, 22 landowners donated land or land value to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation — a statewide nonprofit conservation organization that works with private landowners and public agencies to protect and restore Iowa’s land, water and wildlife — to protect 2,247 acres in Iowa. For many of these people, and their families, the decision stems from a realization expressed well by the great author Barry Lopez:

“The land gets inside of us; and we must decide one way or another what this means, what we will do about it.”

During the event, Judith Bechtum spoke passionately about how the land got inside of her; how she came to understand what that meant, and how she decided what to do about it. The following is Judith’s statement with only slight edits. It represents the thoughts and actions of a conservation champion, reflected in 160 acres permanently protected as Bechtum’s Oakwood Farm in Mitchell County, Iowa, for the purposes of providing wildlife habitat and improved water quality.

As told by Judith Bechtum

In 2020, I became the sole/last survivor of my nuclear family. Blessed and privileged beyond words, I grew up enjoying our family farm of 160 acres, purchased post-WW2 with money mom and dad dug up somewhere, along with a farm loan. The burr oak, basswood, cherry, elm, apple, plum, and ironwood trees made up much of our land. In the neighboring 80-acre oak woods grew gooseberries, violets, and bluebells. My brother and I spent hours in those woods as well as in the oak savannas on our property. The trees shaded the cattle and the wildflowers. The creek provided water and fishing, and skating in winter. We built dams in the creek, rode the pony, learned to identify birds, and lived our best lives. There was also a stagecoach trail running through these woods.

As a teenager, my dad and I clashed on his harvesting of the trees for furnace firewood, access to more tillable land, and more board feet to build a barn and corn crib. We especially disagreed while sawing wood for the furnace. The WD45 Allis Chalmers was equipped with a band saw and it was a family job to cut and load wood. I still remember the smell of the cut cherry wood.

As a child, it never occurred to me this Eden could end. The passing years brought oak wilt, loss of the huge maple bee tree and the massive oak shading our kitchen. There was extensive cattle grazing. While I was away at college, the 80-acre woods across our fence was timbered. Tears still flow when I think of this tragedy. We lost the stagecoach trail, the May apples, geraniums, hawthorns, gooseberries, and blackcaps along with the oaks. It was like my heart was torn out.

Because my career led me to Minneapolis, it was difficult to do the daily and annual care and weed control necessary on the Iowa farm. I rented out the land to neighbors and came home every summer. The struggle with yearly weed control and acknowledgement of the deteriorating woodland, plus the loss of my family, gradually brought me to an unavoidable question: Who would protect these lands when I was gone? It felt like it was my destiny to come up with the answer. I eventually found Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF). This nonprofit land protection organization could guarantee adherence to my wishes for care and permanent protection of the entire farm for its wild assets. There would be no selling of the property. Instead, the 160 acres would be donated to INHF as Bechtum’s Oakwood Farm.

The next decision I had to make was when to make the donation. I chose to move forward with the protection last year, with a reserved life estate, meaning I retain control of the property until the time of my passing. This has given me peace of mind and gratitude. Now, when I travel to my Iowa farm, I know the backup plan. The newly planted 75 acres of prairie and the re-emerging native plants appearing in the woods and along the creek bank – the hen-of-the-woods, Jack-in-the-pulpits, and violets - will be permanently protected by INHF as per my wishes. The rental alfalfa field and farm buildings will provide income for INHF for use in land management on my farm and other projects.

The final “ah-ah moment” came for me last fall, while driving to my farm with some INHF folks. As we had barely turned off the gravel road into the hayfield on our way to see the new prairie, INHF senior land protection director Ross Baxter said, “There’s a harrier!” I knew right then that the harrier, bobolinks, meadowlarks, turkeys, deer, oaks, and wildflowers would receive care and protection for the future.

 

Note: Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation will be the long-term owner and steward of Bechtum’s Oakwood Farm as per Judith’s agreed-to wishes. Photos contributed by Dan Cohen