(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says state conservation officers have charged three men with multiple hunting violations in Des Moines County from two separate investigations for illegal activity that allegedly occurred this fall. An anonymous call to State Conservation Officer Paul Kay in October began an investigation into the alleged unlawful taking of a mature white-tailed deer that lead officers to discover additional deer and a turkey were also allegedly illegally taken, as well as, multiple violations for hunting over bait and a felon in possession of a firearm. The individual faces the possible loss of hunting privileges as well as the loss of the firearm used to take the deer and turkey.

The second case grew from an investigation into suspicious activity in northern Des Moines County in November that lead state conservation officers to a machine shed where they discovered three mature white-tailed deer along with several antlerless deer that were allegedly illegally harvested. Officers identified two individuals who were charged with hunting over bait, using firearms and crossbows in archery season and multiple deer tagging violations. Both individuals face the possible loss of hunting privileges as well as the loss of the firearms, bows and crossbow used to take the deer.

Potential fines and civil damages from these cases could exceed $100,000. All individuals are considered innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – The Loess Hills wildlife management area in western Iowa’s Monona County is shifting its conservation strategy. A forest stewardship plan is proposed, which means techniques would be used like forest thinning and timber harvesting to protect and attract new species. Forester Joe Herring says, in the past, wildlife areas would acquire property and leave the area to grow, but ecologists are pushing for a more hands-on approach.

This kind of active management is vital, Herring says, to solve major forestry issues in Iowa, like the decline of oak tree populations and the rise of invasive species. Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist Doug Chafa says there’s a need for greater age diversity in the western Iowa woods. It’s a way to make sure a whole range of species can thrive in the 26-hundred acres spread across Monona County.

Similar plans have been developed statewide for many of Iowa’s wildlife areas already, but state foresters say much more active management needs to be done to protect Iowa’s woodlands.

(by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Mark your calendar on January 4th, 2022, for the annual “Soiree with the Swans” event, sponsored by Cass County Conservation. Lake number 4 at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic is the site for 10-minute presentations pertaining to the Trumpeter Swans that arrive at the SRA every year. The presentations take place every half-hour beginning at 11:00 a.m., with the last one being presented at 2:00 p.m.

There will also be time to view the swans through spotting scopes and witness random swan feeding sessions. Hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks will be provided free of charge with donations being accepted (for swan care). The Schildberg Recreation Area is located on the northwest edge of Atlantic, Lake 4 is on the north side of Highway 83. Atlantic is celebrating 22 winters of the Trumpeter Swans wintering here. This event is not to be missed!

IF THE WEATHER IS “BAD” OR THE SWANS ARE NOT AT THE PARK…the program will be at the Atlantic Public Library from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. with hot chocolate, cookies, and other snacks available. This event is being sponsored by the Cass County Conservation Board, Atlantic Parks and Recreation, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

(Radio Iowa) – While the harvest of corn and soybeans was taking place across Iowa’s fields, D-N-R Fisheries employees were conducting a harvest of their own. Northeast Iowa regional fisheries supervisor, Mike Steuck, says they collect the eggs of the brown and brook trout in October and November from Iowa streams. “The brown trout are doing so well we don’t need very many of them anymore. We actually only have one stream that we are stocking fingerlings in. Almost all of our streams have naturally reproducing brown trout in them now,” he explains.

They do collect the eggs from the naturally reproducing brook trout from streams, and also have rainbow trout kept at the hatcheries to be used for stream stocking. “They typically spawn in the spring, but we have them pushed back so that they spawn in the winter — so that by the time we grow them up to be that half a pound apiece to be stocked they are ready for the streams. We stagger those spawns so we have the fish ready and we don’t have to hold them any longer than we have to,” according to Steuck.

The growing fish from all three types of trout are kept at the hatcheries and fed and raised to be stocked.  He says it takes about 15 months from the egg stage until they get to be about 15 inches and then they get stocked. Steuk says efforts to improve the water quality in Iowa’s streams have been paying off. “They are, we are seeing more and more natural reproduction as we work with our conservation partners in the watershed to reduce sedimentation and nutrients into our system,” Steuk says. “We stock fish with the right genetics, and the stream has suitable habitat and good water quality, then they do just fine.”

Trout thrive in the cooler waters of northeast Iowa, and they are a fish you can seek out any time of the year. “We don’t close the trout season in Iowa where they do in Minnesota and Wisconsin. You can fish year-round for trout,” Steuck says. “And because those streams are spring fed, that water is 50 degrees coming out of the ground, they never freeze in the winter. So you can fish on a day that is around 30-32 degrees. If the sun is shining that line doesn’t ice up — and you can still go trout fishing and catch some nice fish.”

You need an Iowa fishing license and a trout stamp to fish for trout here. You can find out more about trout fishing on the D-N-R’s website.

(Radio Iowa) – Cow-calf producers hit by this year’s drought in northwest Iowa are dealing with a host of challenges. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has scheduled a series of drought recovery meetings next month to offer advice on pasture repair and what financial assistance is available. Iowa State Extension beef specialist Beth Doran says the big question is how quickly pastures will recover after cows grazing on the land ate grasses nearly down to the roots. “We know that in some cases maybe those pastures, there’s been some grasses and legumes like clovers and alfalfa that may die out this winter,” she says, “so they might have to go back in and do some reseeding come this spring.”

Dustin Puhrmann says his 20 cows grazed his O’Brien County pastures down further than he would’ve liked to see this past summer. The grass didn’t get enough moisture to grow back. Puhrmann says many farmers he worked with had to give their cows and calves supplemental proteins and feed to get through the summer months. Now, farmers buying hay in the winter are paying more. “To feed those cows is going to cost me a lot more money this winter to get them back to where they’re grazing again next summer,” he says. According to Iowa State University extension, there are about six-thousand cattle feedlots in Iowa where STEERS are fed and sold, but thousands of other Iowa farmers raise cows and calves on pasture ground, selling the calves when they’re around a year old.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is partnering with a Chicago-area company to reduce harmful emissions from its equipment by replacing diesel fuel with ethanol. Quad Cities-based John Deere is working with ClearFlame Engine Technologies of Geneva, Illinois, where C-E-O B-J Johnson says their initial work was on a Cummins X-15 engine from an on-road semi.  “The partnership with Deere and the investment from Deere is going to allow us to move that over to one of their engine platforms, to use across a range of applications like agriculture and construction, do an engine demo with them,” Johnson says, “and then towards the end of next year ideally translate that into an actual field demo of the technology on a piece of equipment.”

The goal will be to migrate the technology into tractors, combines, excavators and other heavy equipment. Johnson says the next step is for Deere to supply an engine that’s used in a range of its equipment, which ClearFlame will modify in its lab.  “It changes only about 10 or 15% of the parts of the engine. The largest change is just making the fuel injection system compatible with a different fuel, like ethanol, and the rest of it is optimizing the engine to run at a higher temperature,” Johnson says. “Basically, if you get a diesel engine to run a little bit hotter, then you’re freed to use a whole wider range of fuels.”

Johnson says using corn-based ethanol instead of diesel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45 to 50 percent, with even bigger reductions possible in the future. The word “burning” doesn’t always have to be bad, Johnson says, as it depends on what you’re burning.  “If you’re burning a fossil fuel, yes, that is absolutely bad, but we’ve got liquid fuels today that are 50% cleaner than that because they come from renewable sources,” Johnson says, “and the Renewable Fuels Association has a goal to get to carbon-neutral ethanol by 2035.”

Johnson says this research could help boost the rural economy, especially in Iowa, the nation’s number-one ethanol producer. Today, the U-S is producing about 17 billion gallons of ethanol a year, and every one-percent of trucks converted to burning ethanol can result in the need to produce another billion gallons of the fuel.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Atlantic, Iowa) -Officials with the Cass County Conservation Service report the sponsors of the Trumpeter Swan arrival contest have determined the official arrival of the swans as November 22nd. On that day 22 Trumpeter Swans arrived at the Schildberg Recreation Area. They stayed there  for more than twenty-four hours.

The person who that picked that date was Mary Lou Hoskins. The School contest was won by Mrs. Zaiger’s Science class in Griswold School District. They will receive a Trumpeter Swan prize pack from the Cass County Conservation Board.

Cass County Conservation thanks to all who participated!

LENEXA, KAN. – (DEC. 17, 2021) – BNSF Railway Corporation has agreed to pay $1,513,750 to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), BNSF released approximately 117,500 gallons of heavy crude oil when one of its freight trains derailed outside of Doon, Iowa, in June 2018, resulting in discharges to the Rock River, Little Rock River, and Burr Oak Creek.

EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister says “Illegal discharges of oil into streams, rivers and wetlands present a significant threat to human health and the environment. EPA is committed to protecting our nation’s waterways and will ensure that Clean Water Act protections are upheld.” The EPA says the derailment occurred during heavy flooding in the area. Impacts from the oil spill included an evacuation order for nearby residents, elevated levels of hazardous substances within the affected site, closure of nearby drinking water wells, destruction of crops, and deaths of at least three animals.

BNSF, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America. Discharges of pollutants, including oil, into federally protected waterways are violations of the Clean Water Act.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Valley Business Park Board held a sale for the land at the Cass County Community Center, Thursday. The property sold for $16,000 per acre. The Board made the decision to sell the property back in October, 2021. The Park contains 156 acres of property located at the intersection of I-80 and Highway 71 in both Cass County and Audubon Counties. Iowa Land Co handled the auction.

Valley Business Park aerial outline (Via Atlanticiowa.com/cadco)