Oskaloosa, Iowa Native Named Pheasants Forever’s Newest Farm Bill in Iowa 8-7-2010

Oskaloosa, Iowa Native Named Pheasants Forever’s Newest Farm Bill Biologist in Iowa
Sytsma working roots in Mahaska and Poweshiek Counties
Oskaloosa, Iowa- Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announce Eric Sytsma as its new Farm Bill Biologist covering Iowa’s Mahaska and Poweshiek Counties. The position, created in partnership with Pheasants Forever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Vermeer Foundation, Brownells and Rain and Hail Insurance, will provide conservation and land-use consulting to area landowners - and just in time for the new Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up.Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers - through one-on-one consulting - about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the Conservation Reserve Program), as well as assisting farmers and landowners through program implementation. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has more than 60 biologists working in 11 states - Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted with over 35,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of over 1.34 million acres of land for wildlife.

Sytsma is Iowa’s fifth Farm Bill Biologist, another early result of Pheasants Forever’s Reload Iowacampaign, a three-year statewide effort to improve 1 million acres of wildlife habitat on private and public land in the state. Pheasants Forever plans to establish more such positions across Iowa in the coming years.

“It’s great to have this position in place for the CRP general sign-up this August,” said Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, “Sytsma has experience working with private landowners, and the fact that he’s from the area he’ll now be serving makes him a great fit.”

A native of Oskaloosa, Sytsma earned his degree in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. Prior to joining Pheasants Forever, he worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service as a soil conservation technician. He also has previous conservation experience with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, where he worked as a private lands wildlife specialist. Sytsma will work out of the Mahaska County Farm Service Agency in Oskaloosa and the Poweshiek County Farm Service Agency office in Malcom. He can be reached at 647-673-3476 (Mahaska), 641-528-2065 (Poweshiek) and esytsma@pheasantsforever.org.

PF Farm Bill Biologists in Iowa

Matthew Allen
Harrison, Pottawattamie
IA
mallen@pheasantsforever.org
(712) 328-2489 x306

Tyler Bass
Adair, Madison
IA
tbass@pheasantsforever.org
(515) 462-2961

Josh Divan
Hancock, Winnebago
IA
jdivan@pheasantsforever.org
(515) 708-2371

Robert Patterson
Dickinson, Lyon, Osceola
IA
rpatterson@pheasantsforever.org
(712) 577-0373

For more information about Pheasants Forever in Iowa, visit www.IowaPF.org.