Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, along with Iowa Department of Transportation Director Paul Trombino today (Monday), announced the designation of three new Iowa Byways and the modification of three existing byways in the state. The three include: Bridges Byway in Madison County; White Pole Road Byway between Adair and Dexter, and, Jefferson Highway Heritage Byway between Northwood and Lamoni.

The byway changes come following the review of proposed routes for designation as Iowa Byways conducted by the Iowa Byways Advisory Council led by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT). Three organizations responded to a call for applications in 2014 for new byways.  Proposals were also submitted on behalf of four existing Iowa Byways for route extensions or modifications.

The White Pole Road Byway between Adair and Dexter, just north of Interstate 80 along old U.S. Highway 6, is a piece of transportation history linking “five small towns” and events from wagon ruts and train robbery to present day. The roughly 26-mile route was formerly a part of the route known as the Great White Way is lined with 700 white painted telephone poles. It was submitted by the White Pole Road Development Corporation.

The Bridges Byway in Madison County focused on the iconic and widely known covered bridges located throughout Madison County, the 82-mile route will also feature scenic natural areas, the John Wayne birthplace, and other unique destinations.  It was submitted by the Madison County Conservation Board with the support of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Interim Madison County Scenic Byway Committee.

The Jefferson Highway Heritage Byway between Northwood and Lamoni, roughly along U.S. Highways 65 and 69, is an historic north-south U.S. border-to-border route, that was originally envisioned in 1916 as part of a national corridor for car and freight travel as the auto age developed and before the Interstate system was initiated.  It was submitted by Loring Miller (Leon) and the Jefferson Highway Association on behalf of Decatur County.

The Iowa DOT will work with the new byway applicants over the next several months to assist initiating the byway organization, finalizing the signed byway route, and creating a unique route brand that will be featured on signage to be installed along the route by the 2018 tourist season.

To learn more about Iowa Byways and to order a free Byways Travel Guide or Byway brand poster, visit www.iowabyways.org.

The Cass County Conservation Board invites you to the 4th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground tomorrow night (Saturday, Oct. 29th), at Cold Springs Park in Lewis.  The non-scary, family friendly event takes place from 7-until 9-p.m. Enjoy refreshments, smores, and a bonfire at the shelter. Vote for your favorite site!

Prizes are donated by our event sponsor Cappel’s Ace Hardware. The event will be cancelled if there is inclement weather.

A delegation of Japanese feed buyers will arrive in Iowa this morning (Thursday) for a three-day trade visit to the Hawkeye State. Dennis Friest, of Radcliffe, is a member of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the U.S. Grains Council. He says the delegates will visit the DuPont Pioneer headquarters in the Des Moines area and several farming operations.

“They’re going to stop out at my farm for a few hours and make some more visits in southwest Iowa,” Friest says. “We try to work with these buyers to show them what we do and the quality of product that we grow here and keep our markets open, overseas markets.”

Other stops include the Poet ethanol plant in Jewell, the Ag Partners coop in Ellsworth, the Green Plains ethanol production facility in Shenandoah and a farming operation in Randolph. With a population of 127-million, Friest says Japan is an important market for ag products.

“Japan is the second-largest corn market for the United States, importing over 10-million metric tons of corn,” Friest says. “They’re also the 10th largest dry distiller grains market. They’re a huge customer and have been for many years.”

The Japanese delegation represents people involved in corn processing, the feed and corn trade industries as well as a hog and poultry industry journalist. Learn more at: www.iowacorn.org.

(Radio Iowa)

• KJAN, Atlantic  .07″
• Red Oak  .07″
• Sidney  .05″
• Missouri Valley  .03″

w/Kate Olson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Pheasant hunting season in Iowa starts Saturday and Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz is expecting a big turnout. “There’s a lot of hunters in the state and they’re going to be excited,” Bogenschutz says. “Looks like our crop harvest is progressing nicely and getting the crops out always helps on that opening day.”

While it won’t likely be a record, he estimates many thousands of hunters will take to the fields and forests this weekend. “We’re expecting somewhere between 55- and 60-thousand,” Bogenschutz says. “Hopefully, more toward the 60-thousand mark, maybe a little better. We should have a bump in hunters this year. Looks like our counts were pretty good.”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Pheasant counts were up in some regions of the state and down in others, which balances out to being relatively close to last year, which was one of the best for pheasant hunting in several years. The annual youth pheasant hunt was held over the weekend. Between one- and two-thousand young hunters took part in the two-day event for those ages 15 and under. Learn more at: www.iowadnr.gov/hunting.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Parks Bureau is seeking public input on possible changes to the minimum-stay requirements for all state park campgrounds and at the multi-family cabin at Springbrook State Park for the Fourth of July holiday. The public is also being asked for comments regarding the proposed rental fee pricing for a large open-air picnic shelter scheduled to be built and opened in 2017 at Lake Manawa State Park.

The DNR would like to change the three-night minimum stay requirement for Fourth of July reservations at all campgrounds and at the multi-family cabin at Springbrook State Park. Currently a 3-night minimum stay is required for the Fourth of July holiday when the Fourth of July occurs on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday. The DNR would like to require a 3-night minimum stay for the Fourth of July holiday ONLY when the Fourth of July occurs on a Monday, making it similar to the Memorial Day and Labor Day holiday requirements.

A new, large open picnic shelter design is now being used in Iowa state parks. These new shelters, accommodating 150-200 people, are two to four times larger than the older style shelters and are equipped with electricity. The DNR proposes the new shelter at Lake Manawa State Park have the same rental fee, $75 per day, as the large shelters currently available at Big Creek and Lake Darling state parks, and Brushy Creek State Recreation Area.

To view further details of the rule changes, visit iowadnr.gov/parks and select “Proposed Rule Changes” on the left menu. Any interested person may call in or make written suggestions or comments on the proposed amendments. Comments should be directed to Sherry Arntzen, State Parks Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East Ninth Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034; fax at 515/725-8201; or e-mail to Sherry.Arntzen@dnr.iowa.gov; or call at 515/725-8486. Comments must be received by 4:30 PM (CST) Monday, Nov. 21, 2016.

Iowa fur harvesters will find good numbers of raccoons, muskrats, beaver, coyotes, bobcats, river otters and mink when the furbearer trapping and hunting season opens on Nov. 5th. “Population-wise, all species are doing pretty well except for gray fox,” said Vince Evelsizer, furbearer biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  Trappers who like to pursue muskrats should find better numbers on area marshes this year. All indications show better muskrat numbers in many parts of the state for the second year in a row, which is great news, he said.

“It’s still not what is used to be in some areas, but definitely an improvement.  Muskrats are a bread-and-butter species for Iowa trappers, but the population has been on a downward trend for the past 25 years or so. So it’s good to see their numbers rebound some,” Evelsizer said. What hasn’t come back is the fur market outlook – fur prices remain low.

The number of fur harvesters fluctuates with the market prices and for the third year in a row, the fur market outlook is poor. “We gained about 2,000 furharvesters per year from 2009 through 2013, and then lost about 2,000 furharvesters per year from 2014 through 2015,” said Evelsizer. He expects the decrease in trappers to continue for the 2016-17 season.“This is a good year to spend time with youth or older adults trapping, coon hunting, or predator hunting.  It’s a great way to spend time together in the outdoors, regardless of the fur market,” he said.  “On the positive side, we are still one of the top five states in the nation for the number of furharvesters per capita.”

Regulation Change: Furharvesters are no longer required to obtain a permit to hold furs for sale after the season closes on Jan. 31, 2017.

Otter, Bobcat Reminder: Furharvesters are reminded that it is important that they turn in the lower jaw or skull of any otter and bobcat they harvest. “This enables us to extract a tooth for aging and monitor the age distribution of otters and bobcats. This information helps assess the feasibility of possible changes to the otter or bobcat harvest season,” said Evelsizer.

A map of the counties open to bobcat harvest is on p. 20 in the Iowa Hunting and Trapping Regulations book available at license vendors and on the Iowa DNR’s website at www.iowadnr.gov/huntingregs  

Gray Fox Study: Iowa is participating in an ongoing Midwest gray fox DNA tissue study by working with trappers to collect tissue samples used for genetic information. “Iowa’s gray fox numbers have declined over the past ten years. Southeast Iowa has the highest population but there are small pockets of gray fox throughout the state,” Evelsizer said.

Trappers who catch a gray fox can contact Evelsizer at 641-357-3517 or their local DNR biologist or conservation officer.

Farmers made more progress with the harvest in the last week. The U-S-D-A crop report says drier weather gave farmers more time in the fields. That led to a jump in the corn harvest from 33 percent last week to 52 percent this week. The soybean harvest moved from 62 percent completed last week, to 77 percent of the beans now in the bin.

The corn harvest is still four days behind the five-year average, and southeast Iowa is the only area of the state where more than two-thirds of the corn crop has been harvested. The soybean harvest is more than one week behind last year, and six days behind the five-year average.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency said today (Monday), the County Fire Danger rating will remain HIGH through Thursday, even though we are supposed to receive some moisture. Wind and continued drying after short duration moisture will keep Fire Danger in the HIGH category through Thursday.  Predominate fuel at this time is grass, and will completely cure, and be ready to burn within 1 hour of rain event.

Burning of any kind is restricted unless approval is received from local Fire Chief. Controlled burns that are not reported will result in Fire Department being dispatched, and Fires extinguished if determined to be un-safe. Please call 712-755-2124 if you have any questions.