By Audrey Posten
Although she’ll continuing advising through completion of the Pony Hollow Trail extension, Jenna Van Meeteren has wrapped up her time as executive director of the Clayton County Conservation Board—a role she’s served in for a little over a decade.
With this long-anticipated project nearing its end, “It’s a good time for me to step back,” shared Van Meeteren.
Van Meeteren first became involved at Clayton County Conservation while a student at Luther College, working as a seasonal naturalist in 2011 and 2012. Originally interested in psychology and social work, exposure to the conservation field prompted her to “jump ship.”
After graduation, Van Meeteren worked three years for Emmet County Conservation. That’s when the director position in Clayton County opened.
“I was encouraged by existing staff at the time to throw my hat in the ring. I felt like I was way too young and dumb, but I did, and the interview went well,” she said.
Van Meeteren was admittedly green, but felt her “Oh, I can do this” attitude was helpful at the time.
“I said, ‘I’m gonna jump in with both feet and see what happens,’” she recalled. “I was pretty lucky at the time I started that there was a transition period where other staff who were pretty young and ambitious were also joining. And we had a really good conservation board to work with, strong partnerships were established and there were very clear vision plans and master plan documents on record.”
“It’s worked out well in the last 10, 11 years,” she added.
Under Van Meeteren’s leadership, the Clayton County Conservation Board has overseen the completion of several capital projects the past decade. This includes the Osborne Shop, Motor Mill Trail, Inn at Motor Mill, Osborne Campground and the Pony Hollow Trail expansion.
“That’s what I take pride in is some of those big projects that we’ve been able to check off, and then maintain other things,” she said. “For example, the animal exhibit is probably everybody’s most beloved, well-known thing when they think about Osborne or Clayton County Conservation. And we didn’t lose it in my tenure, so I’m thankful for that. It’s harder and harder to manage something like that with all the red tape and certifications, and a lot of public perception has shifted.”
Maintaining county parks—and stretching dollars to make them more accessible for recreation—has been another priority.
Through all these efforts, Van Meeteren stressed she didn’t do it alone. She worked with not only her staff and the conservation board, but the Motor Mill Foundation, other Clayton County officials and staff and various regional and state partners.
Van Meeteren listed the Turkey River Recreational Corridor, Turkey River Watershed Management Authority, Iowa Scenic Byways and Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) among those who were influential.
“An organization I was not familiar with before taking on this role was Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development in Postville. I didn’t know they existed,” she acknowledged. “They do a lot of the coordination and planning for several groups we partner with, and they’re highly skilled in what they do and very passionate about natural resource work. I take a lot of inspiration from working with them, and they’ve also been kind of a mirror to our agency, and I think others, to bring fresh ideas and how to make connections and bring funding to Northeast Iowa. We really have a lot of treasures to showcase and they help us do that.”
In the past decade, Van Meeteren feels Clayton County Conservation has done a lot to enhance its image for residents and became more relevant to outsiders.
Through working the campgrounds and checking county parks, staff meet some locals, but largely out-of-county visitors. According to Van Meeteren, those visitors often have high praise for the properties—that they are well maintained, clean and accessible.
“It’s important that public places are kept accessible and are there for the public to enjoy. We didn’t let anything fall through the cracks, I hope,” she said.
As executive director, Van Meeteren has focused on conservation of Clayton County’s natural resources, but also promotion of them. That includes making others aware they exist.
“Even as a seasonal, I didn’t fully grasp how many different areas Clayton County manages. There’s some of the best kept secrets in a lot of ways—unique places people have yet to explore,” she said. “Motor Mill has come such a long way with the Foundation’s help. But even that property, I think people are still a little surprised that it’s a county property. I just feel like we have a lot of gems like that in Clayton County that people, even locally, maybe don’t have an awareness of what exists in their own backyard.”
“But that’s also been one of the challenges, trying to get people out to those places or introduce them or inspire an interest,” she added.
With Van Meeteren’s departure, Clayton County Conservation welcomes Ean Popenhagen as the new executive director. He has worked at Clayton County Conservation since 2021, first as office assistant/director of sales and then deputy director. He became a certified peace officer in the state of Iowa in December. Popenhagen also took on more director duties while Van Meeteren was on maternity leave in recent months.
Van Meeteren is excited to see how the organization moves forward.
“The Clayton County Conservation Board has been incredibly supportive in my tenure. The faces have changed, but they’ve always been reminding me, in a lot of ways, what we need to stay focused on,” she said. “Staffing wise, there’s been a lot of changes, but I think they’re in a really, really good place right now. Our staff are very motivated, very dedicated to conservation and to the public. I’m excited for their future. And I’m really excited for Ean. I think it’s good that they can get a little time here to catch their breath and decide what they want to see going forward, what changes need to happen. I think change is good.”
A new mom, Van Meeteren plans to spend time with her family, as well taking a more active role on her family farm and expanding her private bookkeeping business. She also recently started as part-time director of the Wadena Public Library.
Van Meeteren plans to remain active in the community as a volunteer. That includes eventually spearheading a non-profit friends group to support Clayton County Conservation.
“One thing I heard throughout my tenure repeatedly was this desire for an official non-profit to be able to dedicate funds to,” she said. “We have our endowment through the Community Foundation for Osborne. We have an endowment for Motor Mill Foundation, and Motor Mill’s obviously a non-profit itself. But there still seems to be a desire for a different avenue with Clayton County Conservation. It’s just a lot for one entity to manage all these aspects, and that’s where I think there’s kind of a need for a friends group that covers some general conservation efforts to support and take a little of the workload off some of the staff. ”
“I’m not entirely sure what will take shape,” Van Meeteren added, “but I think there are supporters.”
