This is slightly dated news that we missed, but is significant enough to still deserve a mention . . .

The amount of land protected in Iowa continues to increase. Over the last five years, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) has permanently protected more than 36,000 acres.

This raises the total number of acres protected by INHF to 123,000.

Iowa is not the only state increasing their protected areas; nationally, 10 million new acres have been conserved since 2005.

For more information, read the press release from INHF here.