The Whiterock Conservancy is a 5000 acre reserve in the Middle Raccoon River Valley a few miles south and east of Coon Rapids, Iowa. Surrounded by an area that has been converted almost entirely to cropland, the Garst family has protected and preserved this island of bluffs, woodland, wildlife, native prairies, and wetlands for generations to come. They have also opened it to ecologists, environmentalists, biologists, and the general public for environmental education, low impact public recreation, research and modeling of ecologically and economically sustainable methods of land management. This diverse area is a place of great inspiration to me and it is my hope that the work that I have done in expressing its beauty will help to promote and preserve it for future generations.