February 9, 2012

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Warm weather leads to warning about ice fishing

February 1, 2012 By

The amount and quality of ice on most of Iowa’s lakes has been drastically reduced with temperatures hitting the 50′s and 60′s this week. Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Ben Dodd says the cold spell in January wasn’t enough to build a lot of solid ice.

“And with this warm weather, it’s melted quite quickly,” Dodd said. “We really aren’t recommending folks get out on the ice. We’ve already had one incident in Madison County. We know it’s tempting to get out there, but we recommend people stay off at this point.”

Authorities say 64-year-old Linda Jones and her friend, 80-year-old George Pierce, drowned Monday while ice fishing on a farm pond in Madison County. Dodd said many ponds and lakes had good ice as recently as Saturday, but Monday’s temperatures in the mid 60′s forced the D.N.R. to cancel some trout stocking and ice fishing events scheduled for this coming weekend in central Iowa.

“The ice was just not thick enough for doing that this year,” Dodd said. Ice fishing conditions are slightly better north of Highway 20, but Dodd said anglers are encouraged to use caution even in northern Iowa.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: News, Recreation & Entertainment, Weather Tagged With: ,

Ban on lead shot during dove season moves closer to repeal

January 27, 2012 By

Hunters packed a legislative committee room Thursday afternoon to watch the House Natural Resources Committee vote on a proposal that would let hunters use lead shot during dove hunting season. The Iowa Natural Resources Commission voted last summer to ban lead shot during dove season, but Representative Guy Vander Linden of Pella called that an overreach.

“In the House last year we specifically voted on a lead shot ban and voted it down. The Natural Resources Commission took it upon themselves to reverse that and that to me is the issue here,” Vander Linden said, “not the lead shot, but that a commission is trying to usurp the authority of the legislature.”

 The committee voted 17-to-four to overturn the commission’s decision to require non-toxic steel shot during dove hunting season. Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City argued “the science is there” to indicate lead is a danger to humans and animals.

 ”They’ve taken it out of paint,” she says. “They’ve taken it out of everything.” Representative Curtis Hanson of Fairfield was another “no” vote on the issue.

“I’m concerned about the overall impact, the overall consequences, the cumulative effect of lead in our environment,” Hanson said. “Until that science is clear, I think that we should err on the side of safety.” Iowa Firearms Coalition president Jeff Burkett says non-toxic steel shot may not be appropriate for some guns.

“There’s some concern about, especially the older the gun is, about the safety of using steel shot, doing damage to the gun,” Burkett says. “And so there is a legitimate public safety concern that we have.”

 Steel shot could cause an older gun to malfunction, according to Burkett, injuring the hunter who’s firing it and others who might be nearby. The issue next goes before the full House for debate.

Filed Under: Featured Story, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Wind turbine to serve as sculpture at I-80 rest area

January 25, 2012 By

An Interstate 80 rest area in western Iowa is closed today for the installation of a wind turbine blade. Mark Masteller, with the Iowa Department of Transportation, is quick to point out the blade is not being placed on a functioning wind turbine.

“We did look into that because wind energy is a theme for this rest area,” Masteller said. “But, this rest area is pretty low in the landscape. It’s kind of down in a bottom area, next to a creek. The experts at MidAmerican Energy told us it would not be worthwhile to try and harvest wind energy for this site.”

The westbound I-80 rest area is located between Adair and Casey. The blade will essentially serve as sculpture. Masteller said it will join several other pieces of art and plaques at the rest area that highlight Iowa’s wind energy industry.

“This is at the threshold of a wind farm in Adair County,” Masteller said. “It just kind of fits with the theme. It was donated to the state and it’s just a great fit.” The blade and transportation to the site were donated to the State of Iowa by Siemens Energy, which has a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Fort Madison. The blade will be placed vertically.

“When you’re driving by, you really don’t get a sense of scale. I mean, you realize those wind turbines are big, but just this blade is 148 feet tall. It’s almost equivalent to a 15 story building,” Masteller said. “I think when people have a chance to get out of their car and get up close to this blade, they’ll really get a sense for what monumental items these really are.”

The rest area will be closed through approximately 5 p.m.Thursday to allow two large cranes to install the wind blade. Last year, Iowa became the first state in the nation to generate at least 20% of its electricity from wind power.

Iowa currently has nearly 2,900 wind turbines creating 4,500 megawatts of electricity.

Filed Under: Human Interest, News Tagged With:

Getting the lead in, rather than out, for 2012 dove season

January 19, 2012 By

Mourning dove.

The days may be numbered for a state rule that bans the use of lead shot when hunting mourning doves.

Lawmakers established a dove hunting season in Iowa last year and the state’s Natural Resources Commission later voted to require “non-toxic” shot after critics complained lead shot was an environmental hazard.

But two subcommittees — one in the Iowa House, the other in the Iowa Senate — have now voted to over-ride that rule and let dove hunters use lead shot. Seventy-nine-year-old Lyle Goodrich says he can’t use the “non-toxic” shot in his light-weight gun.

“You cannot shoot steel through it,” Goodrich says. “It’ll ruin the barrels on it.” Hunters like Goodrich also complain that “non-toxic” steel shot is dramatically more expensive.

Cynthia Hanson who’s with a group called “Lead is Poison” says the doves who aren’t killed during the hunting season eat the lead shot left behind.

“It’s not going to be an overnight decimation of the doves,” she says. “But we will slowly decimate that dove population by poisoning them.”

Hunters say there are isolated incidents of doves eating lead shot and they discount studies suggesting it’s harmful for humans to eat game killed with lead shot. Terry Little is with the Iowa Outdoor Partnership.

“There have been a couple that show that people that eat game meat do have slightly elevated (lead) levels,” he says. “But then so do people over 65 and people that live in older homes.”

Legislative leaders predict both the House and Senate will eventually act to overturn the commission-approved ban on lead shot for hunting mourning doves in Iowa.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Deer hunter dies after falling out of tree stand in Monona County

January 11, 2012 By

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says a Harlan man died in a deer hunting accident Tuesday evening in Monona County.

The D.N.R. says 21-year-old Corey Custer was bow hunting southeast of Onawa. He was coming out of his tree stand at approximately 7 p.m. when he fell approximately 18-23 feet to the ground.

Custer suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

By Joel McCall, KNOD, Harlan

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News Tagged With: ,

Honey Creek Resort shows small profit

January 11, 2012 By

A state-run resort operated in the black for the first time last year, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover debts. A state audit shows the Honey Creek Resort on Rathbun Lake in south-central Iowa turned a small profit of $4,200.

Kevin Baskins is spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the operation of the facility. “We’re not entirely surprised. As the economy’s improved, we’ve had more people going down there,” Baskins said. “I’ve never really heard a negative report from somebody who has been at Honey Creek.”

Deputy State Auditor Andy Nielsen said 2011 was the best year for Honey Creek since the resort opened in September 2008. “It’s an improvement over past years – at least they’re generating some income. But they’re still not where they need to be,” Nielsen said.

More than $30 million is left on the bond that financed construction of the resort — which includes a lodge, convention center, aquatic center and 18-hole golf course. The Iowa D.N.R. paid about $1.8 million to cover Honey Creek’s debts last year.

Baskins says it’s not clear what the future holds. “Certainly, we want to see continued growth in the income being generated by Honey Creek,” Baskins said. “The question is what is its potential and what can we expect in terms of revenue to cover operating costs and satisfying bonds as well?” In 2010, Honey Creek Resort lost $46,000.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

REAP Congress meets Saturday

January 6, 2012 By

Iowans who want to preserve our state’s resources and history will meet Saturday for the 2012 session of the REAP Congress in the House chamber of the Iowa State Capitol. REAP stands for Resource Enhancement and Protection. REAP coordinator Tammie Krausman says the event will draw people from all corners of Iowa.

“We went around the state and had 18 regional meetings where we talked to people about natural resources, soil conservation, historic preservation and conservation education,” Krausman says. “We had almost 600 people attend those meetings and at each meeting, they elected five delegates.

All of those delegates from around the state will come together and talk about those issues that were addressed at all of the different assemblies.” Krausman says the number of topics discussed will be wide-ranging.

“REAP fully funded is $20-million,” she says. “Generally, because of other priorities, the legislature has given us something less than that, so we’ll be talking about that. We’ll also be talking about water quality and soil conservation and how REAP relates to people with a healthy lifestyle as well as with economic development.”

Krausman says recommendations that come out of the meeting will be forwarded to Governor Branstad, members of the state legislature and the state Natural Resources Commission. Learn more about the REAP Congress at “www.iowadnr.gov”

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News Tagged With:
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