THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
11/1/2008 7:00:00 AM
Nonprofit supports farmland preservation
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| LaVon Griffieon, co-founder and interim executive director of 1,000 Friends of Iowa, is just one of three employees who work for the nonprofit. Photo by Duane Tinkey |
| | 1,000 Friends of Iowa |
Address:
3850 Merle Hay Road, Suite 605
Des Moines, Iowa 50310
Phone:
(515) 288-5364
Web site: www.1000friendsofiowa.org
E-mail:
info@1000friendsofiowa.org
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BY MARJORIE SMITH
Staff Writer
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, 1,000 Friends of Iowa is dedicated to preserving farmland, and its co-founder and interim executive director, LaVon Griffieon, has watched Iowa's urban centers sprawl, even from her own front window on the family farm near Ankeny.
Griffieon, who helped found the nonprofit because of her ties to a fifth-generation family farm and dedication to protecting farmland and natural areas, has devoted the past decade to building the organization so that it addresses issues such as sustainable development, protection of natural resources and agriculture, and advocacy of civic engagement.
"When you are driving down the road and you see field after field after field, it doesn't seem like we are in any inherent danger of losing farmland or anything like that," she said.
However, Griffieon claims, looks can be deceiving, especially when factoring in Iowa's small population gains and increasing urban sprawl.
"Iowa isn't growing," she said. "Our growth is very tiny, and so when you look at cities like West Des Moines and Ankeny - the suburbs around the larger core cities that continue to grow - it probably means young people are leaving rural Iowa and moving to the suburbs for the jobs. So we need to look at our economy across the board and figure out how we are going to spread that out evenly."
Griffieon said everyone needs to have an enhanced awareness about how land is being used throughout the state, and how rural and urban development and preservation work together as one unit, especially considering that Iowa has 949 small towns, the second-highest total in the nation behind Texas.
"Rural and urban are codependent on each other, so when you limit the growth to inside the cities and really use the resources that we have, it stops us from spreading out on the farmland," she said. "So protecting farmland and natural areas is part of our mission, as well as revitalizing neighborhoods and keeping communities strong and just improving the quality of life for future generations in Iowa."
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