Environmentalists claim victory over Menard’s

Central Iowa environmentalists are claiming victory with the announcement of a policy change from a regional home improvement store chain. Protesters chained themselves together at a Des Moines Menards store last fall, bringing 16 arrests. Now the Wisconsin-based chain is putting a new environmental-friendly policy in place at its 150 stores — which is called a salvation for trees by the protest leader. Menards says it’ll no longer sell products made from ‘old growth’ forests, which may be a thousand years old.Marta Anderson is president of the Drake Environmental Action League. She says the centuries-old trees should be preserved — and not hacked down to make wheelbarrel handles.Anderson is a senior at Drake University, majoring in environmental science policy.