Homer D. Calkins (August 30, 1911 – March 19, 1996) was an American environmentalist who became a leading voice in the effort to save native habitat in Hardin County.

[4] In a folksy style similar to Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, Calkins would speak about natural scenes observed locally.

Calkins also wrote weekly newspaper columns for the Iowa Falls Times-Citizen,[5] the Ackley World Journal,[6] and the Eldora Herald-Ledger.

Homer Calkins and his wife Ruth donated their 76-acre (310,000 m2) farm to the Ellsworth Community College Board of Trustees in 1981.

In the late 1990s, students in Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University worked under Professor William Grundman on site and development plans for the Calkins Nature Area.