Besides the IEC Lobby Day today, there is another press conference tomorrow,
sponsored by Rural Advocacy 2002.  Iowa Sierra Club is a member of this
coalition.  Please feel free to attend either activity.

Rural Advocacy 2002
Media Advisory

Contact Tim Kautza, 515-270-2634; [log in to unmask]

Rural groups recommend new environmental and health policies
regarding industrial livestock operations

Rural Advocacy 2002 will present their recommendations for new policy
on the environmental and health impacts of industrial livestock
operations and land use at a press conference February 13, 2002,
10:30 a.m., Room 116, State Capitol Building, Des Moines.  Brief
presentations will be made by farmers and rural residents, then
questions will be taken by presenters and Rural Advocacy 2002
participants.  Presenting at the press conference will be:

Gary Hoskey  -  Gary farms in Tama County raising corn, soybeans,
cattle, and hogs.  He is president of the Iowa Farmers Union.

Don DuBois - Don lives about one-quarter mile from a 3000-head hog
confinement near Madrid.  Doctors attribute his daughter's asthma to
the opening of the hog operation.  Don is a member of Iowa Citizens
for Community Improvement.

Joe Wiesschar - Joe farms with his son in Union County raising corn,
beans, oats, hay, and natural beef.  He is president of the Iowa
Family Farm Coalition.

LaVon Griffieon - LaVon and her family operate a six-generation
cow/calf herd, feeder beef operation, and raise free-range poultry,
corn, soybeans, oats and alfalfa at the city limits to Ankeny.  She
is the co-founder and president of 1000 Friends of Iowa.

Rural Advocacy 2002 is an ongoing gathering of more than 30
religious, environmental, farm, health, and citizen groups committed
to dialogue, social action, and political action to help ensure a
healthy, inviting, and vibrant rural Iowa. Rural Advocacy 2002
participants are: Advocacy Network for Aging Iowans, AgriWellness,
American Association for Retired People, Catholic Archdiocese of
Dubuque Rural Life Office, Catholic Diocese of Davenport, Catholic
Diocese of Des Moines Social Justice Office, Catholic Diocese of
Sioux City Peace and Justice Action Network, Center for Rural
Affairs, Conservation Districts of Iowa, Ecumenical Ministries of
Iowa, Farm Legal Aid Council, Friends of Rural America, Iowa Catholic
Conference, Iowa Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Iowa
Citizen Action Network, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Iowa
Environmental Council, Iowa Faith and Labor Committee, Iowa
Immigrants Rights Network, Iowa Family Farm Coalition, Iowa Farmers
Union, Iowa Network for Community Agriculture, Iowa Public Interest
Research Group, Iowa Sierra Club, Iowa State Association of Counties,
Iowa Sustainable Energy Economic Development Coalition, Iowa United
Methodist Conference, League of Women Voters, Midwest Sustainable
Agriculture Working Group, National Catholic Rural Life Conference,
Social Concerns/Rural Life Department of the Catholic Diocese of
Sioux City; Women, Food, and Agriculture Network; 1000 Friends of
Iowa.

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