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Habitat planning for bad weather is key to supporting pheasant populations

Habitat planning for bad weather is key to supporting pheasant populations

  • 12/10/2024 12:21:00 PM
  • View Count 1712
The first snow of the season is a popular event with pheasant hunters because it often sends the birds to cover where hunters expect to find them. And while a little snow is good, too much snow can be bad, burying waste grains that are an important food source and collapsing marginal habitat.
Time to start planning to control plants in Iowa ponds

Time to start planning to control plants in Iowa ponds

  • 4/6/2021 12:37:00 PM
  • View Count 2898
A healthy pond needs aquatic plants, but too many plants can limit the pond’s use and cause imbalances in the fish population. If you had problems using your pond last year because of aquatic plant growth, you could have similar problems this year.
Habitat is critical for pheasants during long, hard winters

Habitat is critical for pheasants during long, hard winters

  • 2/24/2021 10:06:00 AM
  • View Count 3355
Iowa’s run of mild winters is gone, buried under a head-high snowdrift and frozen from weeks of negative temperatures. This return to the extreme has some residents wanting to help the now highly visible pheasants and quail and calling the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about placing corn and other grains out for the birds to eat.
Remnant prairie is the jewel of Blackmun Prairie

Remnant prairie is the jewel of Blackmun Prairie

  • 8/4/2020 11:38:00 AM
  • View Count 2965
Ackley, Iowa - Two miles northeast of Ackley off 320th Street blacktop is one of the rarest of Iowa’s habitat - roughly 60 acres of high-quality remnant prairie that is part of the Blackmun Prairie Wildlife Area – and is a popular site for prairie enthusiasts.
Meet Phyllis Kimball, a Monarch Champion

Meet Phyllis Kimball, a Monarch Champion

  • 6/22/2020 2:33:00 PM
  • View Count 6626
Phyllis Kimball, of Creston, enrolled 160 acres in CRP pollinator mix in Ringgold County. Kimball had been away from the farm for more than two decades but returned to manage the day to day operations after an agreement with a local farmer was voided. What she found upon returning was failing terraces and trees that had taken over the valley. She stopped on the gravel road and cried at seeing what had happened to her land.
Wildlife in the Wood Shop

Wildlife in the Wood Shop

  • 2/26/2019 9:39:00 AM
  • View Count 7323
No, not the occasional rogue chipmunk that finds a way in and runs amok. We’re referring to building projects that help wildlife and which you can undertake in the coziness of your heated wood shop, while the snow flies outside.
Help a Bat: Build a Bat House!

Help a Bat: Build a Bat House!

  • 10/31/2018 1:13:00 PM
  • View Count 12958
Bats are a great addition to any backyard - not only are their nightly aerial acrobatics fun to watch during the summer, they are also an excellent source of pest control and will kill loads of those pesky mosquitoes!
Historic photos guiding management decisions at Hooper Wildlife Area

Historic photos guiding management decisions at Hooper Wildlife Area

  • 6/6/2018 9:38:00 AM
  • View Count 4498
Indianola - The Hooper Wildlife Area is a highly popular place to hunt deer and turkeys, but outside of those seasons, it doesn’t receive much attention, save for the lake. But that quietness of the offseason could be changing thanks to a series of old photos that are helping to transform the area.
New plan aims to reverse monarch butterfly decline

New plan aims to reverse monarch butterfly decline

  • 5/15/2018 12:03:00 PM
  • View Count 5253
The Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) welcomes public comments through May 31 on a draft conservation plan that provides a blueprint for reversing the decline of the eastern monarch butterfly population.
Time to start controlling plants in Iowa ponds

Time to start controlling plants in Iowa ponds

  • 3/20/2018 12:50:00 PM
  • View Count 3863
Although pond plant growth is not always the same each year; if you had problems using your pond last year, you could have similar problems this year. A healthy pond needs aquatic plant habitat, but too many plants can limit the pond’s use and cause imbalances in the fish population.
Iowa Sets Goal for Monarch Conservation

Iowa Sets Goal for Monarch Conservation

  • 3/13/2018 2:27:00 PM
  • View Count 8241
The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium has set a goal of acres devoted to monarch butterfly habitat in the state by 2038.
Winter-time Land Management Tips for Wildlife Diversity

Winter-time Land Management Tips for Wildlife Diversity

  • 11/27/2017 1:59:00 PM
  • View Count 4104
Iowa's fascinating wildlife diversity consists of a wide array of species and their habitats. From wetlands and woodlands to prairies and pastures, habitat needs for wildlife can begin with you and your land. Most of us think cold weather means we have to hunker down by the fire and wait until spring. Fortunately, winter is a great time for land management!  Here are three important wildlife management practices that can be done right now.  
Mount Ayr Wildlife Area is southern Iowa’s rugged retreat

Mount Ayr Wildlife Area is southern Iowa’s rugged retreat

  • 8/22/2017 12:00:00 PM
  • View Count 10158
Mount Ayr, Iowa – The Mount Ayr Wildlife Area is a 1,500-acre outdoor playground on the way to nowhere. While travelers are not likely to stumble upon it, hunters would be wise to know its location.
Southern Iowa wildlife areas beginning annual fall burns to benefit wildlife

Southern Iowa wildlife areas beginning annual fall burns to benefit wildlife

  • 10/20/2016 8:27:00 AM
  • View Count 4499
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to conduct prescribed burns on select wildlife areas in Ringgold, Union, Decatur, Adair, and Adams counties between October and December to improve wildlife habitat, control invasive plant species, and restore and maintain native plant communities. 
Find Public Hunting on Private Land with IHAP

Find Public Hunting on Private Land with IHAP

  • 9/1/2016 4:01:00 PM
  • View Count 18354
Hunting can be a great family activity or a solo adventure. Stroll through tall grass, hear the explosive rising cackle of pheasants, thrill at the thunderous gobble of a male wild turkey, see a few majestic deer—and maybe get the chance to take one home. That opportunity already exists on scores of acres near you, thanks in part to landowners who open their property through the Iowa Habitat and Access Program, or IHAP.
7 Tips for Starting a Backyard Pollinator Garden

7 Tips for Starting a Backyard Pollinator Garden

  • 8/11/2016 2:05:00 PM
  • View Count 39711
Not all wildlife is supersized. Small animals, including insects and hummingbirds, are responsible for the processes that bring us everything from cotton for clothes to the strawberries in the supermarket. According to the American Honeybee Federation, honeybees alone are responsible for up to 90 percent of the pollination of certain crops, and contribute more than a $14 billion value to the U.S. agricultural industry. With the recent declines in honeybee and monarch butterfly populations, you can make an importa...
More Than 25,000 Acres of Private Land Open to Hunting This Fall

More Than 25,000 Acres of Private Land Open to Hunting This Fall

  • 8/9/2016 1:11:00 PM
  • View Count 29606
Iowa hunters this fall will have access to hunt on more than 25,000 acres of private land on 132 sites around the state as part of a program that helps landowners improve habitat on portions of their land in exchange for allowing hunter access.
Now is the Time to Start Controlling Plants in Iowa Ponds

Now is the Time to Start Controlling Plants in Iowa Ponds

  • 4/19/2016 8:41:00 AM
  • View Count 4683
Although pond plant growth is not exactly the same each year; if you had problems using your pond last year, chances are that similar problems will exist this year. A healthy pond needs aquatic plant habitat, but too much of a good thing can inhibit the pond’s use and cause imbalances in the fish population.
Pleasant Creek Lake Restoration Project Delayed

Pleasant Creek Lake Restoration Project Delayed

  • 11/24/2015 7:12:00 AM
  • View Count 7316
PALO, Iowa – The lake restoration project at the Pleasant Creek Recreation Area scheduled to begin this winter has been postponed to April 2016 due to an unforeseen problem with the main gate valve in the dam requiring it to be replaced before the project can begin.
Habitat Work to Begin at Badger Creek State Recreation Area

Habitat Work to Begin at Badger Creek State Recreation Area

  • 11/12/2015 8:10:00 AM
  • View Count 4535
Van Meter, Iowa - Contractors will begin removing invasive plants and other brush at two areas at Badger Creek State Recreation Area in Madison County this fall as part of a multiyear project to convert the area to native prairie.
Hunter Interest Growing Ahead of Iowa's Pheasant Season

Hunter Interest Growing Ahead of Iowa's Pheasant Season

  • 10/20/2015 8:07:00 AM
  • View Count 7157
Iowa’s eight year high in pheasant population is likely the reason that Todd Bogenschutz’s phone mail is filled with messages from hunters looking for more information ahead of the opening of pheasant season on Oct. 31.
Online Hunting Atlas Offers Pheasant Hunters Places to Go

Online Hunting Atlas Offers Pheasant Hunters Places to Go

  • 10/13/2015 10:31:00 AM
  • View Count 6781
Des Moines – Iowa hunters have been using the interactive Iowa hunting atlas to find new places to go hunting. The hunting atlas features more than 600,000 acres of public hunting land that is owned by the state, county or federal governments. It’s available online.
Adding Habitat Important to Grow Pheasant Numbers

Adding Habitat Important to Grow Pheasant Numbers

  • 10/6/2015 12:00:00 PM
  • View Count 4253
Iowa pheasants have enjoyed a good two-year run of milder winters leading to the highest bird numbers since 2008, but that run of good luck can’t last forever. Weather and habitat are keys to bird survival and over the last eight years Iowa has lost 500,000 acres of CRP statewide.