Longtime Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Chuck Gipp has decided to retire, effective Tuesday next week. Gipp has been prominent in agricultural and environmental circles for decades. He traced his environmental interests to his days of running a dairy farm in the Decorah area, where he still lives. He did not disclose how many sets of tires he went through driving back and forth from Decorah to Des Moines all these years. Gipp previously was a legislative leader and worked as a top lieutenant of former Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. He took the DNR job in August 2011 and ran the department during a time of intense debate of regulations surrounding water quality and steep cuts to the budget and staff. DNR Deputy Director Bruce Trautman will serve as acting director.