Pick candidates who care about Iowa’s environment

Yellow River State Forest is our own wonderful driftless corner of Iowa. A valuable economic resource, with spectacular vistas, great hiking, backpacking and equestrian trails, camping, fishing, birding, mountain biking. We have a gem here in Allamakee County, that draws visitors from all over the country. They bring much needed business to our communities.

With all these people and activities, there’s bound to be accidents, mishaps, maybe some not so legal activities. Then there are the spring/summer rainstorms which can cause flash flooding, putting campers along the river in danger. Unfortunately, there is no ranger at the forest to attend to these issues.

The short-budgeted Department of Natural Resources, whose director, Kayla Lyon, was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, has determined that this forest has no need of a ranger. This is despite it being a huge attraction. The campsites are full all season, the equestrian camps as well.

Lyon, unlike past DNR directors, has no education or experience in Forestry or wildlife management or biology, nor environmental studies or conservation. Her degree is in agricultural communications and she’s Reynolds’ past legislative liaison and policy adviser on agriculture and natural resources. Before that, she was a lobbyist for big Ag.

If you treasure our forest, think about this when you step into the voting booth. The majority party in our state government seems to care less about standing with its citizens in protecting our rivers, streams and forests, and more about pleasing their big contributors.

Ann Klees

Waterville