Gov. Tom Vilsack, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman are among a few of the officials attending the National Conservation Summit, held today in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The summit is the climax of five recent listening forums that were held at different locations throughout the United States.

Summit officials hope to discuss issues that were brought up at previous meetings, helping shape the conservation’s agenda for the next farm bill.

Lynn Betts, communications officer for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), said Glickman called this summit in order to identify key issues facing private landowners.

A range of topics, from soil erosion and improving water quality to the future of private forest land, will be discussed. Betts said the summit is “kind of a conservation kickoff for the next millennium.”

Private lands comprise more than 70 percent of the total land in the United States today, and nearly all of the land in Iowa. Conservation of private lands is a concern for many of the people who are attending the summit, Betts said.

“I think these are pressing issues,” Betts said. “People think of national forests and national parks when they think of conservation, but real everyday conservation happens on private lands.”

Paul Johnson, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the issues that will be discussed are important for the state of Iowa.

“If we are going to have healthy land, private landowners are going to have to be involved,” he said.

Johnson said today’s meeting will bring in people from all over the country to talk about what the Department of Agriculture is doing now. Johnson also said he hopes the summit will educate Glickman on problems Iowans are facing.

“We’d certainly like the secretary to hear some of the things going on in Iowa,” said Leroy Brown, state conservationist for NRCS. “It’s very pressing; it’s very important for our state right now.”