Johnson County combines ample cultural benefits with natural features that improve our quality of life and provide “ecological services” that broadly protect life on earth. Many of these features are located in the wilder lands north of Iowa City, near the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. The future of these lands and their ecological services depends in part on who is elected to fill the late Kurt Friese’s vacant seat on the County Board of Supervisors.
One example: This past summer, the County Board of Supervisors adopted an updated Johnson County comprehensive plan. The new plan addresses (among other things) the development of portions of the North Corridor east of the Iowa River. This plan would not prevent residential land development; it simply recommends that when applications to rezone these lands are submitted, the Planning and Zoning Commission add consideration of the land’s natural features to the decision-making process.
The Board of Supervisors is now developing ordinances that will implement this new plan.
On Tuesday, November 20, the county’s Democratic Central Committee will nominate a candidate to run in a Special Election on Dec. 18. That candidate, if elected, may or may not reflect Friese’s strong support for the new County Plan other environmental issues, such as revision of the Sensitive Areas Ordinance.
In the last few months, we’ve had news reports on the acceleration of climate change, the magnitude of climate-induced oceanic warming, and global loss of wildlife. Such large problems are addressed day-by-day, by small choices we make as communities and individuals. Our county’s natural lands protect against floods, regenerate soil, store carbon, breed pollinators and birds, provide a respite for the human spirit, and do much more. Their integrity – and their native residents – deserve to be given a chance to survive.
Let’s encourage the county’s Democratic Central Committee to choose a new candidate who supports critically important environmental issues, and in December let’s all vote with these issues in mind.
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Connie Mutel is author of several books on Iowa’s natural environment and frequent speaker on this subject. This editorial in no way represents her current membership on the Johnson County Conservation Board.
[Source: Press Citizen, 16 Nov 2018]