Abstract
The cultural landscape of Iowa has changed significantly in the last thirty years, coincident with larger changes in the national and global economies . The Loess Hills–a geologic landform consisting of eroded 15,000-yearold deposits of eolian glacial silt spanning seven counties in western Iowa–have become a political and discursive battle ground for postindustrial restructuring . The State of Iowa sought to create a tourism- and recreationbased economy for western Iowa as a response to rural population loss and unemployment . In 1997, the state’s largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, started an editorial campaign to advocate for a national park in the Loess Hills . While the effort was ultimately unsuccessful, in this analysis I examine the role of the newspaper in promoting federal involvement in the Loess Hills landscape, and their participation in the discursive production of a post-rural landscape that aestheticizes the politics of preservation and development
Recommended Citation
Mayberry, Blake L.
(2011)
"Framing Iowa’s “Fragile Giants”,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 52:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol52/iss1/2