(Radio Iowa) – The most recent rains do not figure into the U-S Drought Monitor report this week, which shows nearly 47 percent of Iowa was drought-free. The Iowa D-N-R’s Jessica Reese-McIntyre says things have been heading in the right direction. “When you compare it to a year ago in like mid-May of last year, we are sitting a little bit better statewide,” she says. Reese-McIntyre says this weeks rains will help build up groundwater as we enter a time when the crops are growing and water use overall increases with warmer temperatures. She says it’s not certain if the wetter trend will continue.

“According to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center, the month of June outlook for precipitation looks to be equal chances of precipitation, so there’s no real clear signal, but it will be one way or the other. So we could likely see just normal precipitation, which is good, because May and June are the wettest months,” she says. Reese-McIntyre says one issue looming is the amount of rain the driest areas of the state in western Iowa will get. “It looks like the western third of the state will see the chances of precipitation are leaning below normal more significantly than the rest of the state,” Reese-McIntyre says.

She says that is just a forecast for now, and she is hopeful those areas will get rain to help with their deficits.

Thousands of Iowans will be camping and building campfires this Memorial Day weekend and throughout the summer. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages campers to buy firewood from where they will burn it instead of bringing it from home.

“Moving unseasoned firewood around the state can threaten the health of our forests by spreading insects like emerald ash borer (EAB), oak wilt, and other pests that live in firewood,” explains Tivon Feeley, DNR Forest Health Forester.

Plenty of firewood is available locally to your favorite state or county park. Ask a park ranger or campground host where you can get local firewood. Make sure you burn all of your firewood at your campsite; don’t leave it or transport to a new area.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship requires all firewood sold or acquired in Iowa to have the county and state of harvest location on the label of packages and the delivery ticket for bulk firewood.

Learn more about the importance of using local or certified heat-treated firewood at www.dontmovefirewood.org/.

DES MOINES (Iowa DNR News) – — Fawning season has officially arrived, which means Iowans will see lots of deer on the move. From now until late June, DNR field staff across the state will receive many phone calls and emails regarding “abandoned deer.” But in reality, most of the wildlife reported to DNR field staff are not really abandoned at all. And while the people who attempt to “rescue” these babies have the best of intentions, they are doing more harm than good. Fawning season traditionally begins during the last week of May and peaks in the first couple of weeks in June before gradually tapering off.

Does are secretive about the birthing process and will venture out from normal use areas looking for a secluded spot to deliver this year’s crop of fawns in peace. “These spots can be anything from an open hay field to a field terrace to the flowerbed in your backyard,” says Jim Coffey, forest wildlife research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “This seclusion process is a driving force in protection for the lanky, wavering fawn. Fawns will be left alone while the doe returns only to nurse. This is normal deer behavior,” he said.

“The doe searches out an isolated location where she feels safe and, on occasion, those places may leave us scratching our heads wondering what the doe was thinking. But she chose that location because it made sense to her,” Coffey said. “The worst thing someone can do at this stage is to ‘rescue’ the fawn. The mother is likely nearby and watching you. Leave it be, or if you did handle the fawn, return it to where you found it and walk away.”

Fawning season typically runs from late May through most of June

The Iowa DNR will not be rehabilitating or commingling fawns with other deer to avoid the potential of spreading chronic wasting disease – or other disease – to new areas. This emphasizes the point of leaving ‘abandoned’ fawns be. The spindly legged newborn fawn is designed with a few survival tools built in – its spots are cryptic camouflage that emulates the sunlight spots projected onto leaf litter of the forest floor and its lack of movement the first two weeks helps to reduce scent patterns. This combination is the fawn’s best chance at survival until it is capable of following the doe.

Fawning season also coincides with an increase in deer vehicle collisions. “There is a lot of movement this time of year that relates to the social structure of deer. The doe is on the move looking for the safe isolated place to have the fawns.  Additional movement comes from last year’s fawns that are now isolated teenagers starting to venture out to find new space. These yearlings have to make their own decisions for the first time, encounter other adult deer and build new social structures,” Coffey said. “This movement behavior can occur during all times of the day. Once it settles out, the active movement time will return to dawn and dusk.

“The key to remember is that for the next month deer may not be acting like we think deer should act, stay alert while driving at any time of the day.” Drivers are reminded to drive defensively, avoid distractions, slow down, and provide safe distance between vehicles.  Don’t veer for deer! If a driver does hit a deer, drivers can get a salvage tag for the meat by calling either the local conservation officer or local law enforcement agency. The salvage tag is free and is required to legally possess the meat. Salvaging requires that the entire deer be removed from the roadway.

(Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources) – Officials with the Iowa DNR say the popular Iowa online interactive fishing atlas has been updated to include DNR managed lakes, community fishing ponds, hundreds of miles of Iowa rivers including the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and miles of trout streams. New search features allow anglers to search by waterbody and quickly zoom in to find lake contours, fishing structures, river bends, and trout stream riffles with aerial imagery.

The mobile-friendly atlas will sync with your current GPS location to help you navigate a river segment and find specific lake contours, fish structure locations, and amenities such as fish cleaning stations.  DNR Fisheries Biologist Lewis Bruce says “Anglers preferring a paper map can easily create a custom map with the new print tool. You can print a small area of a lake or an entire river segment to identify fish structures in lakes or a trout stream segment.”

Iowa Fishing Atlas (Screenshot)

Go to https://programs.iowadnr.gov/maps/fishingatlas to plan your next fishing adventure. You can also find the fishing atlas on the free Go Outdoors Iowa App. “Anglers can view the fishing atlas on both desktop computers and mobile devices,” said Lewis. “Making it the perfect tool for every angler throughout all fishing seasons.”

Cass County: Corn $4.26 Beans $10.06
Adair County: Corn $4.23 Beans $10.09
Adams County: Corn $4.23 Beans $10.05
Audubon County: Corn $4.25 Beans $10.08
East Pottawattamie County: Corn $4.29 Beans $10.06
Guthrie County: Corn $4.28 Beans $10.10
Montgomery County: Corn $4.28 Beans $10.08
Shelby County: Corn $4.29 Beans $10.06

Oats: $3.11 (same in all counties)

(Radio Iowa) – The manager of an ethanol plant near Council Bluffs says a bill that would set new restrictions on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline in Iowa would also impact his company’s plan connect to a Nebraska pipeline. Mike Jerke is C-E-O of what’s known as SIRE — Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy.

“SIRE has engaged two different engineering companies to look at expansion of our facility,” he says. “All of that is predicated on the ability to sequester CO2 and the demand pull that would bring.” A nearly 400 mile long natural gas pipeline in Nebraska is being retooled and will start capturing carbon from ethanol plants this fall. Jerke says his ethanol facility plans to start sequestering carbon in mid-2026 and connect to the Tallgrass Trailblazer pipeline in Nebraska.

“We have 100% voluntary easements for our project,” Jerke says. “We have those secured.” Jerke says the bill requires a type of insurance that would violate the permit his company is seeking and the legislation would set a 25 year limit on operating a pipeline transporting liquid carbon dioxide. Jerke says that would be a death blow because his company already negotiated 45 million dollars worth of contracts to buy the equipment needed to sequester C-O-2.

“We’ve probably spent a little over half that because equipment purchases take time and construction will come here in the fall,” Jerke says. “Apparently this is going to be, if this is to stand or be signed into law, something that we would only be able to operate for 25 years…Just extremely problematic would probably be putting it lightly.”

Jerke made his comments during an online news conference hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. The group is urging Governor Reynolds to veto the pipeline bill.

Iowa state parks and forests are gearing up for a busy Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the outdoor summer recreation season.

“Park visitors are excited to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather,” said Sherry Arntzen, chief of the DNR’s State Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau. “Our parks offer a variety of activities for all enthusiasts from hiking the trails to picnicking, fishing and swimming. There’s something for everyone while enjoying the outdoors.”

Campers are urged to plan ahead when visiting Iowa state parks and forests for Memorial Day weekend. Most electrical and full hookup sites in busy parks are already reserved, so campers may want to consider non-electric sites or at “hidden gem” parks a little further away from home. To find site availability and make a reservation, go to https://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/

For an up-to-date list of park and trail closures due to renovations or weather-related alerts, visit the DNR’s Alerts and Notifications web page.

Park visitors can help take care of the parks by cleaning up trash after themselves, and carrying out what they brought in. Please park vehicles in designated parking lots and not along roadways. If visiting beaches, be aware that most swimming areas do not have a lifeguard on duty, and pets must be kept off beaches and be on a leash.

“We hope that campers enjoy their time and make memories while staying in our parks and recreational areas, and do so safely and return again,” Arntzen said.

Tips

• Keep track of the weather and have a plan in case of severe weather
• Be a good neighbor. Observe quiet hours and keep noise levels respectful
• Practice Share the Trail etiquette
• Pack bug spray, sun screen and a basic first-aid kit
• Check the registration kiosk for activities in the area
• Keep pets on leashes

(Radio Iowa) – You may have noticed lots of those helicopter maple tree seeds filling up rain gutters or piling up on the sidewalk this year. State Forester Tivon Feeley says the large amount of seeds created a momentary concern for some homeowners.

“A lot of the silver maples, or the red Maple or red silver Maple hybrids that we planted in this state, it didn’t look like they were going to leaf out in the top third of the tree,” Feeley says. “And then I started getting phone calls from people said, well, it’s turning brown instead, and it turned out it was just a massive seed production.” Feeley says the trees were just adjusting to conditions. “And those seeds are in mass quantities at the top of the tree, and so the tree didn’t put on a flush of leaves. It’s going to wait to do so until the seeds drop and put all of its resources into the seeds,” he says. “But we’re recovering from that, all those trees appear to be doing just fine with new leaves, so I think we should be set for a decent season.”

Feeley says the amount of seeds can depend on the type of tree and also can depend on dry or wet weather conditions. “You know, some of the oaks will produce acorns every year, and other oaks will be every other year or every three years,” he says. “With maples, it’s yearly, and you’ll have a kind of a low, seep crop, especially when they’re dry, or they might even drop that seed crop, really not let it develop all the way. But we get plenty of moisture this year, and so we’re seeing a bumper crop just about every tree species.”

Feeley says there have not been a lot of major issues for trees this year outside of the normal invasive bugs and some storm damage.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa is debating whether to renew its lease on the Macbride Nature Recreation Area, which hosts thousands of students each year for wildlife camps, research projects and educational opportunities.

A special university committee estimates it would cost nearly $15 million to make upgrades to cell phone service and repave the roads. Connie Mutel is a writer and conservationist with previous ties to the university and thinks the estimated costs are overblown. “I don’t think that they need to spend large amounts of money to install that cell phone coverage and pay for it every year. And in terms of Wi-Fi coverage, I have no understanding why they feel that would be required,” Mutel says.

Mutel says she thinks the report exaggerated some of the costs. “The press for complete technological connections with that area kind of astounded me. Field biologists, field scientists, are used to doing research in remote locations –way more remote than anything in Iowa,” she says.

The report was submitted to university president Barbara Wilson, but the University has not said when a decision may be made..

(Radio Iowa) – A coalition of over 100 ag groups is expressing concern about a soon-to-be-released federal report on how chemicals and other factors may be contributing to rising levels of childhood diseases. The “Make America Healthy Again” or MAHA report will come from the agency lead by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who said yesterday (Tuesday) there’s not a word in the draft he’s seen that should worry the American farmer. Scott Henry of Nevada, a fourth generation Iowa farmer, suggests that’s hard to believe because Kennedy has compared farmers to terrorists in the past.

“From my perspective, I hope that the people writing the report have actually come to a farm,” he says. Last year as a presidential candidate, Kennedy said toxic chemicals like glyphosate — the main ingredient in Roundup — are contaminating the U-S food supply. Henry says the impact of anti-agricultural activists like Kennedy could be severe if farmers are no longer allowed to use Roundup to control weeds. “We care about keeping our soils, our water and the staple food we create for the American consumer safe and affordable,” Henry said.

Henry says it’s scary that science may not drive future decision making about Roundup, which has been approved for use by the E-P-A for decades. Without Roundup, Henry and other farmers say yields will drop and costs will rise. “The biggest thing that I want to make clear today is that if the MAHA commission’s report drives future policy decisions, food prices will go up and instead of making America healthy again, we’ll making America hungry again.” Modern Ag Alliance executive director Elizabeth Burns-Thompson says while the report hasn’t been issued yet, the ag community wants to get their concerns about Kennedy on the record now.

“Frankly what he’s talked about not only through the campaign trail, but during his time as secretary continuing to draw attention and speculation around pesticides broadly and specifically certain chemistries,” Burns-Thompson said. In 2020, Kennedy said the company that makes Roundup is the enemy of every admirable American value. Yesterday (Tuesday), during a U-S Senate hearing, Kennedy said the Trump Administration will not do anything that would put farmers out of business.

The Make America Healthy Again report is due to be released tomorrow (Thursday). During an event last week, one of Kennedy’s top advisors said the report won’t forbid the use of farm chemicals, but many of the leading herbicides and pesticides used in the U-S have been phased out or banned in every other country in the world and the report will offer policies to solve the issue of toxins in the environment.