One last call needed this morning! Call Governor Branstad 515-281-5211.
As of last night, we had over 700 of you who signed our petition to Save Leopold Center. Our website has data and testimony on it that you may use to help inform your calls to Branstad, and to inform your letters to the editor and calls to legislators. It is CLEAR that Iowans value this center. This push to eliminate it took many by surprise, but it is part of a long history of attempting to silence research and work studying sustainable ag in Iowa.
Thanks to those of you who called, wrote, showed up, and spoke in so many ways in support of the Center.
Now the real fight begins. We will need to hold ISU leadership accountable to protect these funds that are being moved to ISU’s Nutrient Management Center. We will need to find ways to leverage support for the many programs the Leopold Center supported that are not part of the Nutrient Management Center’s mission. And we will need to protect the integrity of the ISU Grad Program in Sustainable Ag, which relied heavily upon the Leopold Center for mentorship, funding, and research/professional training. Most importantly, we need to continue to fight for the original intent of the land grant mission.
To that end, we’re committed to maintaining our website and will continue to post actions here. Those of us maintaining it all work full time elsewhere, so thanks for your patience–but as alumni of ISU’s Sustainable Ag program, we refuse to watch the legacy of the work of so many be denigrated by partisan politicking and private interests in our state.