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Iowa's State Parks: A Various Language, Rebecca Conard

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Iowa's state park system is distinctive because academically based natural scientists were instrumental in drafting the 1917 State Park Law, in shaping the initial policies, and in establishing the first parks. The mandate of the 1917 law was broad, but its original intent was to preserve and conserve natural resources; providing recreational enjoyment was secondary. Between 1920 and mid-century the founding vision was recast time and again by compromises that sprang from economic necessity, competing interests, and changing societal values. The ideal of resource protection has remained a guiding principle, however, in large part because strong personalities provided continuity of …