REAP Public Participation

There are many ways to become a public participant in REAP which include:

• Buying a Natural Resource License Plate
• Being active on a County REAP Committee
• Attending REAP Assemblies
• Becoming a REAP Delegate
• Becoming involved in outdoor recreation or conservation organizations
• Talking to others about REAP

Every interaction with REAP and it's message is vital to sustaining the program.

Becoming a member of your county committee is a great way to introduce yourself to REAP and all the benefits that the program offers for your county. making the program all that it can be. The law says that REAP county committee members generally are to be members of some county organization which include:

• The chair of the county board of supervisors, or its designee
• The chair of the county conservation board, or its designee
• The chair of the county soil and water district, or its designee
• The chair of a school board, or its designee
• The mayor of each city in the county, or its designee
• Head or designee member of a recognized county farm or farm commodity group
• The chair or designee member of any recognized wildlife, conservation, environmental, recreation, conservation education, historical-cultural, nonpartisan governmental research group, study group of the League of Women Voters that has a county organization.
• A historic preservation commission or similar entity established by a county or city in the county.
• A private organization that provides recognition and protection for historic buildings, structures, sites, and districts in a county or a city.
• A historic museum or organization that maintains a collection of documents relating to the history of a county or a city.

Despite this law, anyone of the public can and should be encouraged to attend and participate in the meetings.

You can make the plan as simple as your committee wants, or it can be quite detailed. It just depends on your group, but it's a good idea to start simple. At a minimum, the plan should contain:

1. List of the county committee members and the officers
2. A list by the following groups on: what they would like to accomplish with REAP funding in the next five years:
   • County conservation board
   • Soil and water conservation district
   • Cities
   • Historical groups
   • Conservation and wildlife groups
   • Roadside vegetation management
   • DNR state parks, forestry, wildlife areas
   • Conservation education
3. A list of those same groups on: approximately how much REAP money they have to spend in the coming year and on what projects will the money be spent.
4. A list of the county committee's top priority projects.
5. If the county board of supervisors is not represented on the county REAP committee, a copy of the plan should be sent to them, for their information.
6. You can add more to the plan if it is relevant and important to the members of the committee

Once the above is completed, make sure your newspaper gets a copy, then please email a copy of the 5-year plan and 1-year expense plan to the REAP Coordinator. Examples:

• Dubuque County Plan
• Polk County Plan
• Story County Plan

REAP Assemblies are locally led public meetings at which information is given out and ideas are taken in by the attending state officials. The REAP law requires the following things happen at each assembly:

• The DNR provides those attending with information regarding REAP expenditures. The overall REAP budget is presented and projects in the region are listed that have been funded with REAP dollars.
• People attending the assemblies shall identify opportunities for regional REAP projects. Examples that have frequently come up are trails, river corridor protection, wetland restoration, soil erosion prevention, conservation education, and resource inventories.
• People attending the assemblies shall also review and recommend changes to REAP policies, programs, and funding. This is the portion of the meeting that people speak out on anything they want regarding the inner workings of REAP.
• And last but not least, the people at the assemblies are responsible for electing Four individuals to serve on the REAP Congress. In addition to the Four delegates, 3-5 other people are elected as alternates to the delegates. In the event that one of the delegates cannot attend the Congress, an alternate fills that spot.