(Radio Iowa) – Warmer weather is finally here and Iowans who love to fish are getting out on — or beside — their favorite bodies of water, casting lines and seeing what they can catch. Nate Carr, a state D-N-R conservation officer from Eldora, says besides your fishing pole and the tackle box, there’s one other important thing you should bring along. “If you’re 16 or older and you’re fishing in public water, you’re required to have a fishing license,” Carr says.

“All that goes to help promote and manage the fisheries that we do have. There’s a lot of work from our fisheries bureau that goes towards surveying lakes, trying to understand how our population is doing, and how to best manage that body of water.” Fishing regulations do change from year to year, and Carr says you’ll want to keep up or risk getting a fine.

“Depending on where you’re fishing, length limits and daily limits, you may see some differences whether you’re fishing in the river or a lake,” Carr says. “So it’s a good idea to find yourself a fishing reg booklet for 2023.” He says you don’t need to look far to get the full rundown of state fishing regulations. “Honestly, one of the easiest ways to come across that is, just to go on our website — iowadnr.gov — and you can search ‘fishing regs’ and download a copy to your phone or your laptop or whatever you have handy,” he says.

The annual Iowa Free Fishing Weekend is scheduled for June 2nd through the 4th.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union is celebrating its 100th anniversary at its spring meeting which opens today (Friday). There are nearly 400 members in the group, which promotes interests in the identification, study and protection of birds in the state. Union president Dennis Thompson says one of the things the group is most proud of in its century of history is putting out the quarterly magazine called Iowa Bird Life.  “That talks about sightings that have occurred during a season, spring, summer, fall and winter,” Thompson says. “We also have articles about birds in Iowa, and so that’s kind of our scientific purpose, if you will, to publish that journal.”

Thompson says there will be speakers at this weekend’s events along with several field trips for bird watching.

“One’s going down into Madison County,” Thompson says. “We have one going to Walnut Woods and Browns Woods, another’s going into Chautauqua area in northeast Polk County, and I’m leading one to Easter Lake and Yellow Banks Park.” He says birders of all levels are welcome to attend. The spring meeting is taking place in West Des Moines.

(by Catherine Wheeler, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Master Gardeners will host their annual Spring Plant Sale, on May 13th. Kate Olson, Cass County Extension Director, says the event – which takes place on the Cass County Fairgrounds – promises to have a wide variety of perennials available for gardeners looking to update their landscape this year, as well as lawn tools, décor and plants for food gardening.

The sale begins at 8-a.m., on May 13th, and will be held in the front parking lot of the Cass County Community Center on the fairgrounds at 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic. Interested gardeners are encouraged to arrive early for best plant selection, as the annual spring and fall sales occasionally sell out before 10 AM.  The sale will be open to the public to purchase divided perennials suitable for spring planting, as well as a variety of donated garden tools, books and decor. All items will be sold for a free will offering, with all proceeds from the plant sale used to support Master Gardener scholarships and community grants, as well as projects around the county.

For the annual spring sale, Cass County Master Gardeners will be bringing a variety of perennial and annual plants from their own gardens, as well as plants dug from gardens in the local area. Plants currently expected to be on the sale include several varieties of hostas, daylilies, sedum, salvia, penstemon, turtlehead, and irises; with more expected to be added as the sale approaches. Community members are also welcome to donate plants to this event, and members may even help you dig! If you are dividing perennials in your yard this spring and have extra plants to donate, please call in advance and make arrangements to drop off donated plants before the date of the plant sale.

A special offering at this year’s plant sale will be a partnership with the Atlantic FFA to offer food plants and started annuals for sale. Plants will include several varieties of bell peppers, jalapenos, and tomatoes, in addition to garlic, basil, peppermint, cilantro, oregano and onions. Flowering plants will include Marigolds, Zinnias, Coneflowers and 4 varieties of Wave Petunias. This is the first year the students will offer plants for sale, after the recent addition of a new greenhouse at the high school. All FFA plants will be sold at a separate booth and individually priced. Information will also be available on student plant sales from other Cass County FFA chapters.

An informational table will be set up on other gardening partnerships and projects, including growing and donating produce through the Grow Another Row partnership on growing, harvesting and donating extra produce to local pantries and other organizations, to ensure all residents have access to fresh, tasty and local produce throughout the growing season! Details about upcoming Master Gardener activities- including the annual bus tour in early June, and a new local garden tour at the end of June, will also be available at the plant sale. The Cass County Master Gardeners hold annual plant sales twice a year, on the second Saturdays of May and September, to raise funds for projects and scholarship funds and to share gardening information with the public. Mark your calendars now for the fall sale on September 9!

For more information about the plant sale and other Master Gardener activities in Cass County, please call the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132, or email Cass County Extension Director and Master Gardener Coordinator Kate Olson at keolson@iastate.edu.  In addition, you are invited to follow the Cass County Master Gardeners at their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CassCoMG to keep up with local events and tips for gardening and learn more about the Master Gardener program in Iowa!

(Radio Iowa) – A District Court Judge has ruled that an Iowa law allowing hazardous liquid pipeline companies to enter private land to conduct surveys is unconstitutional. The ruling came in a lawsuit by Navigator against a landowner who wouldn’t let surveyors onto his land near the northwest Iowa town of Sioux Rapids. Omaha-based Navigator wants to build a pipeline that would capture carbon dioxide from ethanol and fertilizer plants and send it to another location to be stored underground. Navigator and Summit Carbon Solutions of Iowa have sued landowners unwilling to allow surveyors onto their property. A Navigator spokesperson issued a statement saying the the company plans to appeal the ruling.

U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced more actions aimed at making local and regional food systems stronger. The USDA’s Gary Crawford reports….

Vilsack is a former Governor from Iowa. He served as the 40th governor of the State from 1999 to 2000, and is the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture, serving under the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig has announced that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will partner in 16 urban water quality projects across the state by investing nearly $2.8 million. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, utilizing the state’s Water Quality Initiative (WQI) and funding from the Conservation Infrastructure Program (CIP), will provide cost-share grants that cover up to 50 percent of the total cost of each project. The overall cost of the 16 projects is expected to be approximately $14.6 million, which includes $2.8 million from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and $11.8 million from local sources.

The Department provides financial and technical assistance to the communities and organizations implementing the urban water quality practices. To receive state funding, the urban water quality projects must include education and outreach components and involve local partners. These community-based projects raise awareness about new stormwater management methods and encourage others to adopt similar infrastructure-based practices to improve water quality. These urban conservation projects include water quality practices like bioretention cells, bioswales, native plantings, permeable pavers, rain gardens, soil quality restoration, and wetlands among many other proven practices.

Wednesday’s grant announcement coincides with Soil and Water Conservation Week, which Governor Kim Reynolds has proclaimed will be recognized from April 30 through May 7 in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – An organic waste recycling center in Muscatine is working to double its production of methane in the next year using federal grants. The facility takes in some four-thousand tons of food waste each year and uses two anaerobic digesters to generate enough methane to power 13-hundred vehicles. For now, the methane is being burned off, but facility director John Koch (Cook) wants to see the eastern Iowa city harvest that potential.

“What we’re trying to do here is, we’re trying to capture that methane, that food waste that would have been in a landfill, off-gassing that methane into the atmosphere,” Koch says. “We now are capturing that with these digesters and making renewable energy and fertilizer out of that.” Workers remove packaging from hot dogs, palettes of snack packs and drums of liquid cheese and dump it into the digesters which capture the methane. While there’s no infrastructure yet to do anything with that gas, Koch wants to change that.

“Whether that’s electricity or whether we pump it right back in the gas pipeline, natural gas pipeline or whatever we do, there’s a couple of options we have,” he says. Koch hopes federal grant money can help seize on the energy source that’s now being vented into the atmosphere and wasted.

(by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Director Doug Reed reports Conservation and Emergency Management officials would like the public to be aware of a series of controlled land management burns being conducted in Council Bluffs over the next couple of days. Today (Wednesday), controlled burns will be conducted at the Narrows River Park, and near St. Patrick Catholic Church and College View Elementary on Valley View Drive.

Tomorrow (Thursday), burns are planned for the Vincent Bluff area on Thallas St. and near the Broadway Viaduct.

Controlled burning, also known as prescribed fire, is a highly effective and significant tool for many purposes. In this instance, fire will be used to remove built up combustible fuels to reduce risk in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). “The WUI is the zone of transition where unoccupied land and human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels,” said Chad Graeve, a Natural Resource Specialist with the Pottawattamie County Conservation Department. Additionally, these series of burns will be conducted to invigorate the land by promoting new growth and strengthening the habitat and overall ecosystem in those areas.

Environmental and weather conditions are optimal to conduct these controlled burns and there is very minimal risk to the public around these burns. Burns are being conducted by trained and experienced professionals with operational and contingency plans in place.

The public is asked not to approach the immediate areas where active fire is being conducted. Smoke will be visible in the various areas in and around the city during and after the burns have been conducted.

w/Kate Olson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has voted to create a state fund to provide 750-thousand dollars in grants or loans for upgrades at Iowa dairy farms. Representative Norlin Mommsen of DeWitt says the Iowa Department of Agriculture will manage the new Dairy Innovation Fund.

“It will provide funds for development, expansion and refurbishing of dairy facilities,” Mommsen says. “It also provides funds for labor reduction equipment such as robotic milkers and manure handling systems.” Representative Monica Kurth of Davenport says the money could help on-the-farm start-ups, like dairies that make cheese or yogurt. “I think that the idea of helping to modernize our dairies is important for the state of Iowa,” Kurth says. Senator Dan Zumbach of Ryan says the legislature has set some guidelines for the grants, loans or forgivable loans.

“If it creates new jobs,” Zumbach says, “if it creates or expands opportunity for local, small scale milk producers; if it provides greater flexibility or convenience for local small scale farmers or it reduces labor associated with on-farm production and storage of milk.” Iowa ranks 12th in dairy production, with about 220-thousand dairy cows in the state today. But Senator Eric Giddens of Cedar Falls says the number of dairy farms in Iowa has fallen to about 850.

“It’s more difficult for our small producers to stay in business and to stay competitive,” Giddens says. “This is a good program that will help them.” The money for the Dairy Innovation Fund is included in a budget bill that won final legislative approval in the House on Tuesday. The program guidelines are in a separate bill that the Senate approved yesterday (Tuesday) and sent to the governor.