Iowa DNR News
Opinion Survey Sent to
Deer Hunters
Iowa Department of Natural
Resource officials are asking deer hunters for help to determine
if the factors contributing to declining hunter numbers
nationwide are applicable in Iowa. The information will help
define what hurdles hunters face today, and what issues the DNR
needs to address to promote and enhance deer hunting in Iowa.
Research from other states
suggests multiple factors - such as competing interests and
obligations, restricted access, age and lack of hunting partners
-- contribute to declining hunting participation. Iowa DNR
researchers are trying to determine if those same factors apply
to Iowa deer hunters.
"In Iowa, we know that some
hunters hunt deer every year while others hunt only
sporadically," said research biologist Steve Roberts. Since
having a large number of deer hunters hunting deer each year is
important in reducing Iowa's deer population, the DNR needs to
know if the factors that control Iowa hunters' participation is
any different than the factors that drive participation in other
states.
The help comes in the form of a
survey, which examines factors that affect participation in deer
hunting. Roughly 14,000 Iowa deer hunters were mailed a postcard
in early April asking them to respond via the internet. Due to
slow response, those who did not respond were recently sent a
second printed survey with postage paid envelope. Responses via
the internet are still preferred to expedite analysis of the
information and reduce costs; however if a hunter does not have
access to the internet or chooses not respond online, they
should fill out the printed survey and return it in the postage
paid envelop they receive in the mail.
"We knew that several
individuals, but not everyone, had access to the internet and we
knew that some people might rather respond to a printed survey
than a survey that used the internet," said research biologist
Peter Fritzell, who is helping analyze the data. "Either way,
the information is crucial to improving the deer hunting
experience in Iowa
Iowans Gearing Up for
Free Camping Weekend
DES MOINES - Campers across
Iowa are making plans to enjoy a weekend of free camping in Iowa
State Parks, Recreation Areas and Forests May 13, 14 and 15,
2005.
Camping in Iowa State Parks is
on a first-come, first-serve basis with no reservations being
accepted. Iowa campers will need to register as usual with the
exception of paying for the campsite. If Iowans show up on
Thursday before the free weekend to register, they will need to
pay for Thursday night. Nonresidents will need to pay the
appropriate campsite fee during the weekend.
If the weather forecast is
good, many of the popular park campgrounds will fill up quickly.
"Free camping weekend will be handled just like any other busy
holiday weekend in state parks," says Sherry Arntzen, with the
DNR state parks bureau. Arntzen suggests that campers call
before heading out to the park to make sure sites are available.
She also added campers might want to consider trying a new park.
"There are a number of park gems located throughout the state
that highlight some of Iowa's most beautiful landscapes."
Again this year, all
participating state parks will have interpretive programs
offered throughout the weekend. Programs include nocturnal
animals at Geode State Park in Henry County; Gyotaku (ancient
Japanese folk art of painting fish) at Lake Manawa State Park in
Pottawattamie County; bird watching program at Pilot Knob in
Winnebago County; and a fisheries demonstration with the
electroshock boat at Green Valley State Park in Union County.
Campers and local area residents interested in attending the
interpretive program, should either call the park office
directly or visit the state parks website for information on the
program content, times and locations.
All DNR managed state parks,
recreation areas and forest campgrounds with the exception of
Bellevue are participating. Bellevue campground is closed due to
a campground renovation. Lake Keomah State Park will
participate; however, a portion of the campground remains closed
for an electrical upgrade project. For a complete listing of the
state parks, recreation areas and forests participating, and
other information about the weekend, visit the state park
website at
www.exploreiowaparks.com.
Lake of Three Fires is
Filling, Campground is Open
BEDFORD - The in-lake
improvements at Lake of Three Fires are complete and the lake is
filling. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has
invested $3.2 million on lake and park improvements at Three
Fires since 1997.
Largemouth bass and bluegills
were stocked this spring and the DNR will stock channel catfish
and crappies later this year.
All campsites and cabins are
open for campers, but the shower building at the main campground
is closed and will be replaced by a new shower building later
this summer. Campers should use the shower building at the other
campground. The equestrian campground is also open.
Work included installing riprap
to protect the shoreline, a new boat ramp, stake beds and other
in-lake fish attracting structure and 33 structures in the
watershed to prevent stilt from entering the lake. A newly
constructed spillway will prevent carp from re-entering the
lake. The fish population was renovated in the fall of 2004 and
good fishing should return by late 2006 and should be excellent
in 2007. The dredging project removed the 38,600 dump truck
loads of silt from the lake.
The DNR has plans to install a
large wetland in the summer of 2006 in the public hunting ground
above the lake, which will further protect the water quality of
the lake and offer additional hunting opportunities in the area.
Public Comment Sought
for Iowa Comprehensive Wildlife Plan
Following almost two years of
work by more than 100 people, including experts, agency and
organization representatives and other interested individuals, a
new plan for Iowa's wildlife is nearing completion, and a draft
is now available for public review and comment. Copies of the
plan will be available as noted below.
"Securing a Future for
Fish and Wildlife: a Conservation Legacy for Iowans"
is the first attempt ever to enumerate most of the state's
wildlife and evaluate the status of each species. It also
examines stresses on wild creatures or their habitats and lays
out visions and strategies to conserve wildlife over the next 25
years.
Also known as the Iowa
Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan, the document
identifies 999 species of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles,
amphibians, mussels (freshwater clams), land snails,
butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. These groups were
selected for inclusion because there is sufficient data to
identify all of the known species, or because DNR has statutory
authority for conservation and management of the listed groups.
Fully one-third of all species found in Iowa are of concern due
to their decline across the state. Plants are not listed because
it is intended as a wildlife plan. However, plant communities
are an important part of the habitats for most of Iowa's
wildlife and are addressed in terms of habitat throughout the
plan.
Comprehensive Wildlife Plans
are required of any government entity receiving federal money
through the State Wildlife Grants (SWG) program. All 50 states,
five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia and several
Native American tribes receive these annual grants from
Congress. The Iowa DNR has been allocated more than $3 million
since 2001, with funds used to enhance its Wildlife Diversity
Program, through increased research, habitat protection, and
management for "species of greatest conservation need." Iowa
must match the SWG income dollar-for-dollar with non-federal
funds. Should the required comprehensive plans fail to be
accepted by Congress this fall, states may lose their
qualification for funding.
The public is invited to review
the Iowa plan and submit comments to the DNR. Comments will be
reviewed, considered and the plan may be appropriately modified
before a final version is prepared this summer. All comments or
suggestions will be maintained on file with the plan for future
reference.
In order to meet timetables for
review, completion and submission to Congress, the version
available for public review still is undergoing some format
changes. Therefore, the final version may not exactly resemble
the version now available for review. Interested citizens may
find copies of the plan in .pdf format on DNR's website at
www.iowadnr.com. Anyone
without internet access may request a copy on CD-ROM or in print
format. Comments will be accepted through June 6 by mail
addressed to Wildlife Plan, c/o DNR Wildlife Research Station,
1436-255th Street, Boone, IA 50036, or by email addressed to
wildlifeplan@dnr.state.ia.us. Use the Boone mailing address,
or phone 515-432-2823, to request a CD or paper copy.
Spring Trout Fishing
by Joe Wilkinson
The path narrowed. The bank
grew steeper. It took a little effort to get back to this bend
in the stream. There were trout here. And when the last angler
left at the end of the day, there would still be trout here.
The angler count had dropped as
Department of Natural Resources hatchery worker Tom Rohde and I
worked our way back to the upper end of Swiss Valley Park.
Earlier, there were one, two, maybe three anglers at the
familiar holes in the more accessible lower end. For them, it
was just a few steps off the road to reach one of the pools
where trout would be stocked. A couple had a half-pound rainbow
or two in the bucket already, waiting for the truck with 400
more to be stocked in this coldwater stream threading through
the Dubuque County park.
A couple of the regulars asked
Rohde about his homemade bottle cap jigs, or a pickling recipe.
"I get to know them all pretty well throughout the year. It's
pretty enjoyable coming over and seeing them," admitted Rohde.
"There's also the campground nearby, so a lot of new people come
out each week, too."
Each year, more than 300,000
catchable sized trout are stocked in about 50 streams throughout
northeast Iowa. Most are rainbows; hatched at the Manchester
hatchery and raised there or at two other rearing stations
throughout the region. Brown and brook trout, too, about
20-30,000 of each are also stocked through the season, too.
Anglers--30,000 or so--pay an extra $11 fee each year to support
the trout program.
It is a program that provides
trout on a schedule; the regular stocking schedule is posted
online ( www.iowadnr.com)
via phone (563-927-5736) or through a calendar available from
the hatcheries. However, it is the 'unannounced schedule' that
keeps anglers guessing. "Once a week, we come over to Swiss
Valley and stock 200 brook trout unannounced," noted Rohde. "Not
everybody likes to follow the stocking truck. It helps ensure
fish are in the stream when they come out, say a day or so
later."
Manchester stocks three other
streams, too. Another half dozen spots get 'unannounced' trout
from Big Spring and Decorah stock. "A lot of the (unannounced)
sites are more remote; tougher access," explained hatchery
worker Randy Mack. "People have to work to get back to them a
little more. We stock more brown trout in the unannounced areas,
too. They are harder to catch; more likely to be in the streams
longer."
As Rohde and I hit the end of
the line at Swiss Valley, the fishermen didn't seem to mind. At
'Big Rock,' a pool just below a beaver dam with a limestone
outcrop sitting in it, two anglers were flipping light jigs. One
had a fly rod; the other a conventional reel with light line. As
they talked with us, each caught and turned back a just-stocked
trout. They had a good half-mile plus walk to get to the parking
area. Their payoff was in the challenge. And the scenery.
Rolling hills spread before them, surrounded by timber. Except
for the occasional angler wandering through, they could have
been 20 miles from civilization.
Back downstream, the anglers,
the gear and the catch varied. "I come out four or five times a
year; here, Bankston and Brush Creek," offered Steve Saul of
Marengo. He doesn't plan around the stocking schedule.
"Whenever. There's usually fish around. Probably 60 percent of
the time I'll get my limit."
Ron Lanser of Dubuque was a few
bends down. Since he's nearby, he gets out here a lot more. "I
go up above a lot. We had some small brook trout Tuesday,
(biting) up by the beaver ponds. There's a lot of water up
around there."
With license plates ranging
from all over Iowa; Johnson, Polk, Dubuque, Black Hawk, Clayton
counties and more, trout anglers can pretty much dictate their
degree of difficulty. Many streams remain just a couple steps
from the car. You can make it even harder by trying your skills
in one of the put and grow streams, featuring trout released as
fingerlings-whose survival instincts resist being caught.
Or you can split the
difference; put on your hiking boots and get away from the
crowd, but still expect a fairly decent 'return' on your effort.
"A lot of people come walk the trails; maybe bring their fishing
pole and get their exercise while they get in some fishing,"
observes Rohde after dropping the last 15 or 18 trout into a
deep stretch with no one around. "Swiss Valley, for instances,
is an excellent place to fish and get your exercise; and with
beautiful places to get back to Nature."
Tree and Shrub
Seedlings Still Available
Although spring is progressing
fast, there is still time to order trees and shrubs for
reforestation, wildlife habitat or to control soil erosion on
acreages or farms. Recent rains are creating favorable planting
conditions and it is best if plantings are completed by mid to
late May.
"There are excellent supplies
at the State Forest Nursery of native red, white, bur and swamp
oak, walnut, silver maple, dogwood, wild plum and many other
species," said John Walkowiak, chief of the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources forestry bureau. These native trees and shrubs
are adapted to Iowa's extremes in weather, to Iowa's soils and
provide superior wildlife habitat, he said.
Conservation trees and shrubs
are for sale by the State Forest Nursery at the cost of
production. Prices range from $25/100 plants for evergreen
species, such as white pine, to $45/100 plants for hardwood
trees and shrubs like the oaks and redosier dogwood. The minimum
order is 500 plants.
Several specialty packets
designed in cooperation with the Iowa Chapters of the National
Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever and Audubon Iowa are
available for conservation plantings as well. "These specialty
packets contain 20 to 200 seedlings and sell from $20 to $90 and
are great for improving wildlife and songbird habitat on your
acreage," Walkowiak said.
For more information or to
order conservation trees and shrubs, call 1-800-865-2477 or
www.iowatreeplanting.com.
