Glenn Pollock to receive 2024 Hagie Heritage Award

By Joe Jayjack on September 27, 2024 in Press Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe Jayjack, External Affairs Director, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
jjayjack@inhf.org, 515-288-1846, ext. 19

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has selected “super volunteer” Glenn Pollock to receive the 2024 Lawrence and Eula Hagie Heritage Award. Endowed in 1989 by Jan Shindel and Ila Jeanne Logan in honor of their parents, Lawrence and Eula Hagie, the award is given annually to a person who has demonstrated extraordinary personal service and commitment to improving the quality of Iowa’s natural environment while encouraging others to do the same.

"Glenn epitomizes the spirit of the Hagie Heritage Award," said Joe Jayjack, external affairs director at INHF. "He has used his time, expertise and passion to care for Iowa's prairies and to educate others about their importance. We're grateful for the work he has done as a volunteer to make our world a better place."

Glenn grew up in Denison, where many residents were able to recall a time when Iowa still had large, unplowed prairies. Their stories, along with fishing trips in the Loess Hills with his father, sparked Glenn’s interest in conservation. “Protecting Iowa’s natural environment is simply a part of who Glenn is,” said Chad Graeve, a Natural Resource Specialist at Pottawattamie County Conservation and a 2011 Hagie Award recipient. Glenn was nominated for the award by Graeve and Lance Brisbois, deputy director at Golden Hills RC&D.

Glenn spent his career working in biomedical engineering, but he spent a lifetime volunteering to protect and restore the natural world.

In 1990, Glenn was a founding member of the Iowa Prairie Network, which advocates for and spreads awareness of Iowa’s prairie heritage. In that role, he has led countless prairie walks, coordinated education events and personally taught hundreds of people about remnant prairies and native plants. He also helped found the Loess Hills Preservation Society, is a former chair of the Loess Hills Alliance Stewardship Committee and is very active on the planning committees for the Iowa Prairie Conference and Loess Hills Prairie Seminar.

As one of Pottawattamie County Conservation’s longest serving volunteers, Glenn has led prairie walks, conducted plant surveys and helped with prescribed burns since 1991. He has been instrumental in the protection of multiple nature preserves, including Hitchcock Nature Center near Honey Creek and Vincent Bluff State Preserve in Council Bluffs, where he has been the Stewardship Coordinator since the late 1990s. He is also active in the Audubon Society of Omaha, which serves southwest Iowa. With ASO, he was instrumental in the acquisition of two remnant prairies that he now stewards, often with his own equipment and funds.

“Volunteering has long been a part of Iowa,” Glenn said. “When a neighbor was struck down, you volunteered to help them back up. You volunteered to serve your country. When I returned from the Army in 1969, it was an easy choice to volunteer to save and protect something I learned to love as a child in the fields, rivers and forests of Iowa. I never expected a thank you. It was just what you did.”

Throughout his time as a volunteer with numerous organizations, Glenn always manages to put his unique interests and passions to use for the greater good. One such personal project has been preserving remnant prairie fragments that are found in Midwest pioneer cemeteries. In addition to single-handedly restoring and maintaining these remnants, he keeps a catalog of their locations and raises public awareness of their existence.

Glenn also spearheaded the installation of Motus Wildlife Tracking stations at several parks including Hitchock Nature Center, Waubonsie State Park, Willow Lake Recreation Area, and Yellow Smoke Park. He even designed and installed interactive exhibits to engage visitors with real time tracking data.

Alongside Glenn’s clear dedication to protecting and restoring Iowa’s nature, he shows just as much care and commitment towards mentoring the next generation of stewards. Chad Graeve credits Glenn for serving as an inspiration and actively providing opportunities that led to his career. “Glenn’s work to preserve the delicate, vital beauty of Iowa’s natural resources is creating a brighter future for all of us,” Graeve said.

Glenn will be honored as the 2024 Hagie Heritage Award recipient at the Iowa Nature Summit in Des Moines on Thursday, Oct. 10. He will also be celebrated at a small reception following a prairie seed harvest at Hitchcock Nature Center on Sunday, Oct. 13. All are welcome to attend both events. Glenn will receive $1,500 and a hand-carved acorn sculpture made by Iowa artists Dennis and Linda Schlicht, who have volunteered their time and talent to make the Hagie Award for decades.

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit conservation group that works with private landowners and public partners to protect and restore Iowa's land, water and wildlife. Since its founding in 1979, INHF has helped protect more than 190,000 acres of Iowa's natural resources.

Help us honor Glenn Pollock at these events:

Iowa Nature Summit: Oct. 9-10 at Drake University in Des Moines. Glenn will be presented with the Hagie Heritage Award during a luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 10.
Loess Hills Prairie Seed Harvest: Pottawattamie County Conservation and Golden Hills RC&D will host a volunteer prairie seed harvest at Hitchcock Nature Center on Sunday, Oct. 13. The seed harvest will take place 3-5 p.m., followed by a reception for Glenn at the Nature Center beginning at 5 p.m.

Learn more about the Lawrence & Eula Hagie Heritage Award