The sketches of a former Des Moines Register cartoonist and wildlife conservationist are now on display at the Brunnier Art Museum.

The museum has approximately 65 etchings by self-taught artist J.N. “Ding” Darling available for public view.

Lynette Pohlman, director of the museum, says this is the largest collection of Darling prints, which were gifted in 1975 by the J.N. “Ding” Darling Foundation.

“These etchings that Darling did were for personal use,” Pohlman says. “If you look at the meanings of these prints they did have political commentary, even within the wildlife pieces.”

Darling was an editorial cartoonist from 1912 to 1962 for the Des Moines Register and was syndicated in 150 newspapers.

“Darling had a tremendous head on his shoulders; he expressed himself through not only cartooning, but writing and speaking as well,” says Kip Koss, president of the Foundation and Darling’s grandson.

Darling first became interested in conservation when he was “a very young man,” Koss says. He grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, and he would often visit his uncle’s farm in Michigan.

Darling wanted to educate others about good use of farmland and wise resource use concerning farmland, Koss says.

Shortly after his death in 1962, the J.N. “Ding” Darling Foundation was formed by friends and admirers of his work. The Foundation’s first project was to consolidate the lands of the Sanibel Wildlife Refuge.

“We also wanted to try to consolidate the Louis & Clark trail,” Koss says. “We wanted a continuous ribbon of reserves.”

As an Iowa resident, Darling worked often with Iowa State. He started a conservation program called the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Program, one that is now active in almost all 50 states and helped to investigate and research conservation.

Koss says there has also been a Darling Scholarship program at Iowa State since the ’60s.

“It has historically given small, modest grants to students involved in conservation programs,” he says.

In order for a student to qualify for the scholarship, they must also be working to improve their communication skills.

“[Darling] was very frustrated that conservation/forestry people, though they knew what they were talking about, they couldn’t communicate well,” Koss says.

Koss noted that one of Darling’s greatest accomplishments was the Federal Duck Stamp Program. It was founded by Darling in 1934 to raise money to buy land for wildlife conservation.

“He was really kind of a visionary in many ways,” says Ryan Booth, the special events and outreach coordinator of the Federal Duck Stamp Program.

Booth says 70 million dollars have been raised to purchase 5.2 million acres of habitats.

“At the time [1930s] wetlands were at an all-time low,” he says. “He knew that there was a connection between the Dust Bowl and the decline of wetlands.”

Nicholas Throckmorton, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, says although a small percentage of the money is collected from import duties on firearms and fines, most of the money toward purchasing these refugees comes from the Duck Stamp Program.

The American Bird Conservancy has a map of “Important Birding Areas” concerning bird conservation, Throckmorton says.

“Many of the IBAs are wildlife refugees bought by Duck Stamps which is kind of cool for us, because then we feel we’re doing our jobs,” Throckmorton says.