Bill Duey named Honorary Rathbun Lake Protector ~ Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Northey applauds landowners At their 6th

Annual Protect Rathbun Lake Meeting held Thursday in Allerton, Iowa, the Rathbun Land and Water Alliance (RLWA) named Bill Duey, of Albia, Honorary Rathbun Lake Protector for his contributions to protect Rathbun Lake. In presenting Duey with the award, RLWA President and RRWA CEO, John Glenn said Duey made exceptional contributions to Rathbun Lake protection efforts. "I could give a very lengthy introduction to describe the many accomplishments of this individuals career, said Glenn. However, I believe that it is most appropriate to simply state that no other single person has ever done more for the promotion, development, and protection of Rathbun Lake than this honorary Rathbun Lake Protector," continued Glenn. Duey served as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operation Manager for Rathbun Lake from the early 1980s until he retired in April, 2010. Also recognized during the annual meeting were Rathbun Lake watershed landowners who were selected as the 2011 Rathbun Lake Protectors. These landowners who have exhibited extraordinary stewardship to protect the lake were nominated by Soil and Water Conservation Districts located in the Rathbun Lake watershed and include the counties of Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne, explained Glenn. The Rathbun Lake Protectors Program is part of RLWAs Protect Rathbun Lake Project a project whose aim is to reduce the contaminants that enter Rathbun Lake by implementing best management practices. A total of seven Protectors were selected from a field of nearly 1,000 landowners in the Rathbun Lake Watershed. Rathbun Lake Protectors and the counties they represent are as follows: Appanoose County, Dale and Barbara Sievers; Clarke County, Bob Trisler and his daughter, Stephanie Mendenhall; Decatur County, DAN-D-FARMS II; Lucas County, Pat and Amy Evans; Lucas County, Jeff and Jayne Miller; Wayne County, Gerald and Geraldine Becker; and Wayne County, Brian and Lisa Moore;

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, was the featured speaker for the evening and applauded the actions of landowners in the Rathbun Lake watershed to protect the lake and the land.

No other state has what we have, said Northey. The soil in this state is more productive than the soil in any other state in the nation and better than any other country in the world, explained Northey. The rest of the world is counting on you to protect this soil and to keep the land productive, he added. The action you take to keep the soil on the land says more than any words you can say. Thank you all for what you are doing, he said. Protect Rathbun Lake Project Coordinator, Velvet Buckingham, told those in attendance that nearly 500 landowners in the watershed cooperate with the Protect Rathbun Lake Project by implementing conservation practices on their farms. Since the project began in 2004, this cooperation has stopped the annual delivery of sediment to Rathbun Lake by nearly 32,000 tons and by almost 140,000 pounds of phosphorous, said Buckingham. Additionally, of the more than $22 million in support given by more than a dozen organizations and agencies since 2004 nearly $3 million came from cooperating landowners to install conservation practices, she added. Rathbun Lake is the water supply for Rathbun Regional Water Association, which serves 80,000 people in southern Iowa and Northern Missouri. Rathbun Land and Water Alliance members and partners include the following individuals, agencies and organizations: Landowners in the Rathbun Lake Watershed; Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardships Division of Soil Conservation; Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Iowa State University; Iowa Watershed Improvement Review Board; Southern Iowa Development and Conservation Authority; US Army Corps of Engineers; US Environmental Protection Agency; USDA Farm Service Agency; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Appanoose, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, and Wayne Counties; Iowa Farm Bureau at the state and county levels; and Rathbun Regional Water Association. For more information, visit rlwa.org.