Shortly before I retired from the Iowa House of Representatives in 2025, some local advocates, including me, got our band back together. We jump-started the Dubuque Area Land and Water Legacy.
Bluegrass Express and Bill McKibben join us in Dubuque on September 20. Can’t think of a better combination. (Photos contributed by those pictured.)
As a grassroots community-based organization, we support and engage in research, education, advocacy and coalition-building to protect, conserve, enhance and enjoy our natural resources.
I have no hesitation using this forum to make a shameless plug. I invite all my readers to our third annual Land and Water Fest. The event is set for Sunday, September 20, at the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Marshall Park.
Why will it be worth the drive by subscribers far and wide? Because internationally-known climate activist and author Bill McKibben will be our headliner. The next day, McKibben kicks off Climate Week in New York City.
The event is set for 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, September 20, at the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Marshall Park. Music will be provided by Bluegrass Express. The agenda also includes live nature story-telling hosted by the Dubuque Area Writers Guild.
West Des Moines artist Christine Curry will exhibit a selection of her Pure Iowa Pop Up Art collection. She will feature several Iowa Nature Champions, artistic tributes to people who protect the state’s natural heritage.
Some Driftless area conservation groups will display their work advocating for land, water and wildlife protection in the tri-state area.
As an author, educator, and environmentalist, McKibben started 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign. More recently, he co-founded Third Act, a progressive organizing movement for people over the age of 60.
McKibben will discuss his most recent book, “Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization.” The book explores the promise of solar energy to fulfill society’s energy needs and reduce the climate impacts of fossil fuels. He will also discuss the 2026 elections as a pivotal moment for climate and energy policy.
I read the book when it was published in August of 2025. I planned to write a review fot this blog but that was put on the backburner when McKibben offered to find a time to come to Iowa. At the time, Dubuque County supervisors were dithering on a renewable energy siting ordinance, avoiding discussion of the one strategy that harmonizes agronomic and energy production on the same land: agrivoltaics, a practice that McKibben covers in his book.
Iowans should also know about Sun Day, a “rise up for a sun-powered planet” day of action pioneered by groups led by McKibben and others. The first edition was in September 2025. The second edition will be in June 2027. Local groups are encouraged to organize events to “celebrate the power of solar energy and stand up to fossil fuel billionaires.”
With Dubuque’s Mud Lake Bluegrass series suspended this summer, we are filling the musical gap. Bluegrass Express is a band based in northern Illinois, formed by the father-son team of Gary and Greg Underwood. The group has performed extensively from Michigan to Mississippi and all points in between, featuring tight harmonies and superb instrumentation, appealing to audiences of all ages. With over a dozen studio recordings to their credit, the band’s 2024 single “Don’t Say Goodbye if You Love Me” reached number eight on the Mountain Bluegrass top 12 and number 13 on the Hooked on Bluegrass top 50.
A nature story slam will be part of the Land and Water Fest.
Attendees will be asked for contributions of $15 per person or $25 per couple. However, no one will be turned away. The first 50 individuals/couples will receive souvenir mason jar beverage mugs with our logo. People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, picnic baskets and coolers with beverages. Purchases also can be made from food and ice cream trucks on site. Rain or shine. We will be under the pavilion roof if preceipittaion is a problem/
Proceeds will support the Dubuque Area Land, Water and Wildlife Habitat Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. Current projects include continuous water quality monitoring on four rivers and streams in Dubuque and Jackson counties. The Legacy also is working with Julien Dubuque International Film Festival to create a new accolade at the 2027 festival: The Land, Water and Wildlife Impact Award for Best Environmental Documentary. More information about these projects will be announced on September 20.
Individuals can contribute to these projects through this website: dbqfoundation.org/giving-center/dubuque-area-land-water-wildlife-habitat-fund. People making contributions of $25 or more in advance of the Fest will receive two tickets to the event, available at the gate.
If you can’t come, please consider financially supporting our work, anyhow.
Promotional co-sponsors include Iowa Faith and Climate Network and Dubuque International Day of Peace.
Christine Curry art will be part of the Land and Water Fest. (Photo contributed by the artist.)
The Legacy is a driving force to create new public-private partnerships, working together to invest in the natural resources that are the roots of human welfare and quality-of-life. The treasures we have inherited in the Driftless region and from the river that runs through it are jewels and riches that we want to preserve and bequeath to future generations.
The annual Land and Water Fest and the Legacy fund we have established are part of that commitment. The annual celebration is a chance for the community to put money down on nature.
We rely on a broad group of allies to not only get stuff done but also tip us off when we need to raise our voices on local, state and national public policy issues. Those tips also provide grist for the Iowa Public Policy Dude mill.
We do not collect dues or membership fees. Anyone can be an ally, no matter where you live. Just tell us you want to be on our circualtion list by e-mailing us here: allies@dubuquelandandwater.org.
Hope to see you on September 20.
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