MUSCATINE COUNTY, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources law enforcement conservation officers have charged two men after an investigation of illegal netting in an Iowa river.

The DNR received a tip in June about a hoop net in the Cedar River in rural Muscatine County believed to be being used for illegal netting. After DNR law enforcement conservation officers conducted their investigation, on June 2nd, 31-year old Cody Frye, of Nichols, Iowa, and 30-year old Derek Brase, of Wilton, Iowa, were charged with running illegal commercial fishing gear on the Cedar River, among other charges.

DNR officer Joe Fourdyce said the men were intending to catch catfish, “But because of their lack of experience and knowledge of commercial fishing, they did not catch any catfish. However, because they were not attending the net frequently enough, they ended up killing some rough fish and soft shell turtles.”

Both Frye and Brase were each charged with one (1) count of the following:

·         Unlawful use of commercial gear in prohibited water

·         Failure to attend commercial gear

·         No valid commercial fishing license

·         Unlawful take of softshell turtles

·         Unlawful take of buffalo

·         No commercial fishing gear tag.

Each of the men was fined a total of $792. The DNR encourages the reporting of poaching or other illegal activity related to our natural resources by anonymously calling the DNR Turn In Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-532-2020.

• KJAN, Atlantic  .02″
• Massena  .39″
• Anita  .01″
• Oakland  .7″
• New Market  1.52″
• Carroll  .05″
• Clarinda  .9″
• Shenandoah  .99″

w/Kate Olson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A citizen activist group and an environmental organization have filed a petition asking the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to improve the state’s livestock farm permit process. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch say the permit system established 15 years ago fails to give local officials enough control over where large hog, cattle and chicken farms locate.

The petition filed Tuesday asks the DNR for several changes to the master matrix system including stricter pollution requirements and increased distance requirements from schools, homes, waterways and wells. County officials say permits they reject are nearly always approved by a state governor-appointed board. DNR records show only 2 percent of applications have been denied.

Iowa has 9,000 large-scale animal farms producing 22 billion gallons of manure a year.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — An executive for a prominent Iowa seed company is alleging he was wrongly fired by Iowa’s richest man and deprived his right to acquire $80 million worth of corporate stock.

Joseph Saluri filed a lawsuit Tuesday against billionaire Harry H. Stine and Stine Seed Company over his termination after 18 years as general counsel and vice president. It alleges Stine fired Saluri in March as part of a conspiracy to enrich others at Saluri’s expense.

Saluri alleges he was fired after trying to exercise his right to increase his ownership in M.S. Technologies, a Stine company that has agreements with Monsanto for soybean trait technologies. He says Stine officials wanted him to waive his right so the ownership could be acquired by Stine’s former son-in-law, but Saluri blocked the deal.

Union County Emergency Management Coordinator JoAnne Duckworth said today (Monday), that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has identified a microcystin toxin, in Green Valley Lake near Creston, in Union County. Microcystin toxin can make both humans & animals ill.

Persons using the lake should avoid having the water coming into contact with open sores, and the water should not be consumed, either accidentally or intentionally. If swimming in the lake, be sure to shower thoroughly afterward.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An environmental organization is encouraged by the sightings of two endangered snakes in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports the two rattlesnakes were spotted earlier this year.

The Nature Conservancy says that for the first time in 15 years, the group confirmed a massasauga rattlesnake in the Lower Cedar Valley Preserve in Muscatine. They’re also known as “swamp rattlers.” Conservancy spokeswoman Shelly Hiemer says there have been concerns about the survival of the snakes, because of heavy flooding in the area the past two years.

The other endangered snake sighted this year was a prairie rattlesnake in the Broken Kettle Grassland Preserve near Sioux City. More good news: The conservancy says she was pregnant. To the conservancy, the sightings of the endangered snakes means their habitats are survivable.

w/ KJAN’s Bob Beebensee and DNR Conservation Officer Grant Gelle

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Officials with Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) say a planning meeting has been set for 9-a.m. Wednesday, July 19th, at the Oakland Community Center. The purpose of the meeting is to further discuss the creation of a Watershed Management Plan for the East and West Nishnabotna Watersheds.

Project Coordinator Cara Markey-Morgan, says cities, counties, soil and water conservation district representatives, and all other interested parties are welcome to attend to learn more about participating in this important organization.  

For more information about the East and West Nishnabotna watershed meeting, contact Breanna Shea (breanna-shea@uiowa.edu), Kyle Ament  (Kyle.Ament@dnr.iowa.gov) or Cara Morgan (cara.morgan@goldenhillsrcd.org).

• KJAN, Atlantic  .05″
• Massena  .1″
• Elk Horn  .04″
• Corning  .54″
• Missouri Valley  .38″
• Woodbine  1.38″
• Logan  .34″
• Emerson  .83″
• Villisca  .75″
• Glenwood  .6″
• Clarinda  1.75″