• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Legislators hear comments for and against proposed turtle season

Legislators hear comments for and against proposed turtle season

December 14, 2016 By Radio Iowa Contributor

Snapping turtle. (DNR photo)

Snapping turtle. (DNR photo)

A statehouse committee heard impassioned testimony Tuesday in a dispute over a proposed new season for hunting wild turtles in Iowa.

After action by the legislature, the DNR proposes a nearly year-long season to trap a limited number of the reptiles which conservationists say are threatened with possible extinction.

Sierra Club spokesperson, Neala Seaman, says the proposed season is too long. “The science on the turtle’s life cycle is clear. Turtles mature at slow rates. Few reach maturity. Although the turtles will be protected during nesting, significant numbers of turtles will be harvested just prior to nesting,” Seaman.

 Jim Obradovich represented the Iowa Trappers Association, and says with the proposed limits, some trappers would have to close their businesses or have their main source of income reduced.

“And what really is starting to really frustrate these groups is that when the bill was passed the direct quote from the Department of Natural Resources is, and I quote ‘we will not put anyone out of business.’ And we’ve been trying to work with them,” Obradovich says.

Governor Terry Branstad objected to an earlier proposal favored by the Sierra club to ban trapping for six months out of the year. The committee did not vote to delay the rules. An official with the Department of Natural Resources says the agency continues to take comments from interested parties.

Thanks to Joyce Russell, Iowa Public Radio.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News, Outdoors, Politics / Govt, Top Story Tagged With: Department of Natural Resources, Legislature

Featured Stories

Final employee who was there at the launch of the Iowa Lottery to retire

No more USPS mail in Iowa prisons; inmates to get copies of mail

State officials warn of influx of fake prescription drugs laced with fentanyl

‘Brain-eating amoeba’ discovered in Taylor County lake

Cedar Rapids therapist’s relationship with student leads to years in prison

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

First minor league game gets things started tonight at Field of Dreams site

Knoxville set to host sprint car racing’s biggest event

Iowa State basketball builds on its identity

Vance provides leadership for ISU defense

Knee injury sidelines Iowa’s Feuerbach

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC