The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings starting next week.
DNR wildlife biologist, Todd Gosselink says it’s a chance to recap the previous year and plan for the next. He says it’s a chance for hunters to tell the DNR what they like and don’t like and to suggest ideas for changes. Gosselink says each year has a few changes to the rules — with the deer seasons often seeing adjustments.
“We’re tweaking those quotas and things like that for deer season. We have Chronic Wasting Disease in certain parts of the state — so we’ve changed deer regulations to allow for extra seasons — like a January antlerless season to try and harvest more deer in those areas that have CWD or Chronic Wasting Disease,” he says.
He says they will have a final meeting after all the others to talk about what they learned. Gosselink says they will reveal the changes they came up with based on public input, and then have a second round of input on the proposed changes. Gosselink encourages you to find a meeting in your area and give your input.
“It really helps us gather a lot of information from the hunters out in the field,” Gosselink says. “And it definitely helps us in the decision-making process, it’s a big factor of what needs changed and addressed to.”
Here are the meeting dates, time and location
Creston, Feb. 21, 6 p.m., Multi-Purpose Room, Southern Prairie YMCA, 1201 West Townline Street
Algona, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Waters Edge Nature Center, 1010 250th Street
Des Moines, Feb. 22, 6:45 p.m., Des Moines Izaak Walton League, 4343 George Flagg Parkway
Dubuque, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., EB Lyons Nature Center at Mines of Spain, 8991 Bellevue Heights Road
Jefferson, Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m., The Depot, Raccoon River Valley Trailhead, 507 E Lincoln Way
Okoboji, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Maser Monarch Lodge, 22785 Nature Center Road
Sac City, Feb 22, 6:30 p.m., Sac County Conservation Center, Hagge Park, 2970
280th Street
Ventura, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., Iowa DNR Wildlife Office, 15326 Balsam Avenue
Waverly, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Waverly Public Library, 1500 W Bremer Avenue
Burlington, Feb. 23, 5 p.m., Starr’s Cave Nature Center, 11627 Starr’s Cave Road
Calmar, Feb. 23, 7 p.m., Northeast Iowa Dairy & Agriculture Foundation (Dairy Center), Room 115, 1527 Hwy. 150 South
Iowa City, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m., Johnson County ISU Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy. 218 South
Onawa, Feb. 23, 6 p.m., Lewis and Clark State Park visitor center banquet room, 21914 Park Loop
Bloomfield, Feb. 24, 6 p.m., Wapello County Conservation Board Pioneer Ridge Nature Center, 1339 Hwy. 63
Chariton, Feb. 24, 7 p.m., Pin Oak Lodge, 45996 State Hwy. 14
Council Bluffs, Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m., Council Bluffs Fish & Game Club, 531 Comanche St. DeWitt, Feb. 24, 7 p.m., DeWitt Community Library, 917 Fifth Avenue
Toledo, Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m., Tama County Nature Center, 2283 Park Road