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DNR News Releases

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Restoration efforts bring life back to Mill Creek

Restoration efforts bring life back to Mill Creek

  • 11/4/2022 4:29:00 PM
  • View Count 3784
DES MOINES — Once squeezed between two tall embankments, Mill Creek inside of the Big Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area now has room to meander and expand — and more space to fish.      
DNR Enforcement Actions, published 10/27/2022

DNR Enforcement Actions, published 10/27/2022

  • 10/28/2022 5:21:00 PM
  • View Count 3536
DES MOINES – DNR staff work with individuals, businesses and communities to help them protect our natural resources by complying with state and federal laws.
Gray fox research project

Gray fox research project

  • 10/25/2022 11:44:00 AM
  • View Count 5350
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking trappers for help with a new pilot study on Iowa’s gray fox population.
Tomahawk Marsh is returning to its prairie and wetland heritage

Tomahawk Marsh is returning to its prairie and wetland heritage

  • 10/18/2022 1:01:00 PM
  • View Count 3704
Tomahawk Marsh is undergoing a facelift of sorts. Parts of the 428-acre wildlife area just north of Lake View in central Sac County, has been reshaped to create small seasonal wetlands, and many of the trees have been removed to reclaim the prairie and to emphasize the grassland and wetland ecosystem.
Diverse, untamed landscapes make Clear Creek one wild place

Diverse, untamed landscapes make Clear Creek one wild place

  • 10/11/2022 11:57:00 AM
  • View Count 3312
Golden Ridge Road winds through the valley in scenery-rich Allamakee County, leading to Clear Creek Wildlife Area; a 950-acre public area that is a mix of timbered hills, a fen and a cold-water trout stream that are linked by three connected parcels.
Monarch Conservation Effort Report highlights Iowans' hard work

Monarch Conservation Effort Report highlights Iowans' hard work

  • 10/5/2022 6:52:00 AM
  • View Count 3006
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa has been steadily adding new habitat for monarch butterflies over the past couple of years. The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium recently released its Monarch Conservation Effort Report, which offers a snapshot of monarch habitat establishment through 2020 in all 99 counties across the state.
It's NOT a Rattlesnake!

It's NOT a Rattlesnake!

  • 9/23/2022 4:56:00 PM
  • View Count 21457
Rattlesnakes can be scary. They have fangs and venom and can potentially kill or maim you if startled or threatened. Rattlesnakes are very uncommon in Iowa with the Timber Rattlesnake being the most widespread species.
The Migratory Dragonfly

The Migratory Dragonfly

  • 9/8/2022 1:54:00 PM
  • View Count 4246
If you’ve been lucky you may have had the surprising pleasure of happening upon a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) swarm in the late summer and early fall.  Maybe you’ve been hiking through the prairie or even just sitting in your yard when suddenly, everywhere you look, there are dragonflies, skimming along the tops of the grasses.
Study tracks reclusive, threatened turtle species to better understand habitat needs

Study tracks reclusive, threatened turtle species to better understand habitat needs

  • 8/30/2022 1:19:00 PM
  • View Count 4503
The flat-bottomed boat noisily snaked through the narrow path through the towering cattails, its mud motor pushing it to a specific place in the marsh. On board, is a small but important passenger – a nearly year-old Blanding’s turtle outfitted with a battery powered tracking device about the size of a dime with a small antenna.
Little Swan Lake restoration is a true success story

Little Swan Lake restoration is a true success story

  • 8/2/2022 12:05:00 PM
  • View Count 4284
The Little Swan Lake/Christopherson Slough wetland complex is a mix of remnant and restored prairie, a high-quality shallow lake, a large marsh, restored wetlands, oak savanna and oak timber covering more than 2,100 acres just north of the town of Superior in eastern Dickinson County.
Iowa pheasant population survey begins Aug. 1

Iowa pheasant population survey begins Aug. 1

  • 7/26/2022 12:46:00 PM
  • View Count 6372
Iowa pheasant hunters had an excellent season last year, harvesting the most roosters since 2008, and many are looking forward to what 2022 has in store. That fall forecast will be based on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) annual roadside pheasant counts, that begins Aug. 1.
Grasslands, wetlands showcased at Lower Morse Wildlife Area

Grasslands, wetlands showcased at Lower Morse Wildlife Area

  • 7/19/2022 12:22:00 PM
  • View Count 3821
Walking south past the sunflower field to the crest of the gently rolling hill provides visitors of a view with a diverse 1,850-acre wetland and rolling prairie complex in northern Wright County. As far as the eye can see, its rolling hills, prairie and small wetlands that make up the popular Lower Morse Wildlife Area.
Badgers are Tough

Badgers are Tough

  • 7/12/2022 4:09:00 PM
  • View Count 9304
Badgers are tough.  We’ve all probably heard of the African Honey Badger and how it doesn’t give a hoot.  Well our American Badger is just as tough and probably doesn’t care much either!  Badgers are found statewide in Iowa, mostly using open country.
What's a Mudbug?

What's a Mudbug?

  • 7/12/2022 3:15:00 PM
  • View Count 12943
If you’ve ever been out hiking and noticed a tiny volcano made of mud, you’ve seen the home of a mudbug!  Actually, mudbug is just another name for crayfish...just like crawdad or crawfish!  We have 8 species of crayfish in Iowa, but in this article we’re going to talk about 3 species that commonly dig burrows. 
DNR to host an open house on the Tomahawk Marsh Wildlife Area

DNR to host an open house on the Tomahawk Marsh Wildlife Area

  • 7/5/2022 2:16:00 PM
  • View Count 3396
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is holding an open house on July 19, from 3-6 p.m., at the Speaker Park Shelter House, 418 Blossom Street, in Lake View, to discuss the habitat management, recreation use, wildlife populations and other topics of interest for the Tomahawk Marsh Wildlife Area.
Counting turkeys

Counting turkeys

  • 7/5/2022 1:30:00 PM
  • View Count 3835
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for help with its annual wild turkey production survey.  During the months of July and August wild turkey sightings are recorded to estimate this year’s nesting rates and nest success. 
Round Lake Wildlife Area is a gem hidden in plain sight

Round Lake Wildlife Area is a gem hidden in plain sight

  • 6/28/2022 3:11:00 PM
  • View Count 3836
MONDAMIN - Round Lake has to be the easiest wildlife area to get to in the state. Sitting one mile east off of I-29 at the Hwy. 127 Mondamin exit, is the 430-acre mix of wetlands, timber and prairie in western Harrison County.
White Pine Hollow is as wild as it gets in Iowa

White Pine Hollow is as wild as it gets in Iowa

  • 6/7/2022 1:55:00 PM
  • View Count 4070
“If there’s a place you can get lost in Iowa, this is it,” said Curt Kemmerer, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Maquoketa Wildlife Unit while bushwhacking through White Pine Hollow State Preserve in northwestern Dubuque County.
Fawning season is here, deer are on the move

Fawning season is here, deer are on the move

  • 5/31/2022 3:29:00 PM
  • View Count 2935
The calls have been coming in to field offices and conservation officers for the past few weeks and will only increase as the first few weeks of June marks the peak of the deer fawning season.
June is Invasive Species Awareness Month

June is Invasive Species Awareness Month

  • 5/24/2022 3:43:00 PM
  • View Count 2222
In an effort to increase awareness of invasive species and the impact they have on Iowa’s ecosystems and economy, Governor Kim Reynolds recently proclaimed June as Invasive Species Awareness Month in Iowa.
Leave wildlife babies where they belong --- In the wild

Leave wildlife babies where they belong --- In the wild

  • 4/19/2022 12:12:00 PM
  • View Count 2752
It's as predictable as May flowers - from border to border, the Wildlife Baby Season has arrived in Iowa. From now until at least mid-June, DNR field offices across the state will be inundated with hundreds of phone calls and scores of deliveries regarding "orphaned wildlife."
DNR monitoring for avian influenza in wild birds

DNR monitoring for avian influenza in wild birds

  • 4/8/2022 9:15:00 AM
  • View Count 3069
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and its federal partners are working together to monitor for the presence of avian influenza in Iowa’s wild birds.
If you are feeding birds right now you need to read this

If you are feeding birds right now you need to read this

  • 4/4/2022 2:21:00 PM
  • View Count 7049
If you enjoy feeding birds, late winter can be a very exciting time as the migrants start to arrive and claim a place on the feeder beside the birds we've been watching all winter. It's also a time, however, to be extra vigilant about keep your bird feeders clean!
Iowa DNR to begin annual spring burning

Iowa DNR to begin annual spring burning

  • 3/21/2022 11:23:00 AM
  • View Count 1620
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be conducting prescribed burns this spring on wildlife management areas managed by the Iowa DNR’s Prairie Lakes Wildlife Unit in Clay, Palo Alto, Emmet, Kossuth, Humboldt and Buena Vista counties.
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