(Radio Iowa) – A Solon couple is being named conservation volunteers of the year by the National Wildlife Federation. Joe Wilkinson has spent decades working in conservation in Iowa, while Sue Wilkinson dedicated her retirement to it. The couple advocates for conservation initiatives at the Iowa Wildlife Federation. They’ve been with I-W-F since before 2020, when it only had a few staff members. Joe Wilkinson says they worked with others to develop the federation into what it is today.
“The few of us remaining did work a little harder,” he says, “we found more people who could work harder with us, and that’s paying off.” Sue Wilkinson says they now have a consistent board and staff that offer diverse ideas. The Wilkinsons helped develop many of group’s initiatives, like the Gray Fox project. Sue Wilkinson says they also pushed for I-W-F to get involved with University of Iowa’s School of the Wild, which they’ve seen come to fruition.”It was someone who came up to Joe and said ‘I want to shake your hand,’ and Joe’s just kind of like ‘Okay…’ and he said, ‘You changed my son’s life.’”
Sue Wilkinson says the parent told them his son started fishing instead of playing video games after spending a week at School of the Wild.
