Paul Wesley Johnson

Paul Wesley Johnson (born 10 June 1941[1]) is an American writer, policymaker, and environmentalist.

Early career

In the early 1960s he served in the Peace Corps' Ghana 2 contingent, teaching sheet metal and auto mechanics in the Volta Region. In the mid-1960s he worked for the US Forestry Service in Washington State. In the later 1960s he taught in Ghana again, this time at the Sunyani Forestry School for the Teachers for West Africa Program, then did graduate work on Cordia alliodora at what is now the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center in Turrialba, Costa Rica.[2] In the early 1970s he did doctoral work in (and taught) forestry at the School of Natural Resources of the University of Michigan.

Political career

In the 1980s he served three two-year terms in the Iowa House of Representatives,[1] helping to author, manage, and secure passage of a number of bills supporting soil and water conservation and energy efficiency.[3] One of these bills created the Resource Enhancement and Protection program (REAP), which is still operational over 30 years later and has financed thousands of environmental protection initiatives in Iowa; another created and provided financing for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Iowa.

In the 1990s he served in the Clinton Administration as Chief of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) of the US Department of Agriculture under Secretaries Mike Espy and Dan Glickman.[4] In the early 2000s he served as head of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources under Governor Tom Vilsack.[5] In 2004 he unsuccessfully ran for the US House of Representatives.[6]

He also served on the Board on Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences,[7] as well as on the boards of a number of environmental and conservation organizations such as the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the Winneshiek Energy District, and Iowa's Environmental Protection Commission.[8]

Later life

Since his retirement, he has lived on his northeast-Iowa family dairy, sheep, and Christmas tree farm Oneota Slopes and written essays for the Iowa progressive news site Bleeding Heartland. His wife Pat Johnson taught social work at Luther College. He has three children and six grandchildren.

References
  1. "State Representative". www.legis.iowa.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  2. "A review of Cordia alliodora (Ruiz & Pav.) Oken". www.cabi.org. 1972. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  3. "Leopold Center at Iowa State University Presents Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture". College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 2018-10-08. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  4. "Congressional Record Senate Articles". www.congress.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  5. "Pro H2O to Honor Iowa Conservation Leaders - Iowa Environmental Council". www.iaenvironment.org. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  6. "Iowa's 4th Congressional District". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  7. Read "Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education in the Field: A Proceedings" at NAP.edu. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  8. "Culver appoints strong environmentalist to EPC". Bleeding Heartland. 2001-11-30. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
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