ITC donates to Friends of Pool 9 and Centennial Refuge Book ...
Friends of Pool 9, Upper Miss Refuge, Inc. and the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge are literally “making history.” Ric Zarwell, long-time Iowa conservationist and founding board member emeritus of the Friends of Pool 9, is coordinating development of a book, “Century of the Refuge,” which will record key changes, insights and happenings over the past 100 years on the 261 mile-long Upper Mississippi Refuge.
“Century of the Refuge” will trace natural and human history with sections on the first river people, first Euro-American settlers, formation of the refuge, damming the river, protecting fish and wildlife resources, and the future of the refuge. Powerful historical and modern-day photos will add to the informative and inspiring text. Key elements will include inside looks at efforts to achieve long-term and sustainable conservation of fish, wildlife and associated habitats within the refuge. The book will be created by Reggie McLeod, who has written about the Mississippi River for 27-plus years as editor/publisher of Big River magazine. It was recently learned that the book will be the very first 100-year anniversary book for any National Wildlife Refuge in the nation.
“This celebration of our much beloved, very heavily used, and world-famous refuge, will be published by the Friends of Pool 9, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation,” explains Friends of Pool 9 leaders. “Therefore, all donations to aid this undertaking are tax-deductible, and much appreciated.”
To supplement this large effort and get the books project off the ground, ITC (Interstate Transmission Company) has given the project a boost with a $5,000 donation. At a recent Friends of Pool 9 Board of Directors meeting, Dan Hagen and assistant Cydney Lovell of ITC presented Zarwell and the Friends of Pool 9 Board with the check. Pictured above at the presentation of the $5,000 check from ITC at the September 16 board meeting are: Left to right - Front row: Friends of Pool 9 board members Bob Henkel, Mandi Boardman, Kevin Quillin, Sue English and Jerry Boardman; Back row: Friends of Pool 9 board member Alex Galema, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service McGregor Manager Brandon Jones, Friends of Pool 9 board members John Mitchell and Joe Mazanec, Centennial Book Coordinator Ric Zarwell, Dan Hagen of ITC, and Friends of Pool 9 board members Al Wuennecke, Blake Schoh, Larry Quamme and John Verdon. Not pictured Cydney Lovell of ITC. Submitted photo.
