DNR News Releases

  About DNR   >   DNR News Releases
DNR events have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Safety of our users, attendees, partners and staff is most important. When possible, events will be rescheduled and that information will be distributed accordingly. Please check this site frequently for the latest closures, postponements and updates.
Search for a News Release
DNR News Releases
RSS
Livestock master matrix adopted in 89 counties

Livestock master matrix adopted in 89 counties

  • 2/6/2020 1:05:00 PM
  • View Count 453
DES MOINES – In January, 89 of Iowa’s 99 counties notified DNR that they plan to evaluate construction permit applications and proposed animal confinement locations by using the master matrix.
DNR enforcement actions

DNR enforcement actions

  • 2/6/2020 1:04:00 PM
  • View Count 576
DES MOINES – DNR staff work with individuals, businesses and communities to help them protect our natural resources by complying with state and federal laws. This approach is very effective. In the few cases where compliance cannot be achieved, the DNR issues enforcement actions.
Air Quality permits under review

Air Quality permits under review

  • 2/6/2020 1:03:00 PM
  • View Count 298
DES MOINES – The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans’ health and air quality. DNR’s permitting staff review each permit application to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality requirements.
Construction Permit Lead Times Get Back on Track

Construction Permit Lead Times Get Back on Track

  • 2/4/2020 3:06:00 PM
  • View Count 416
For the last six months significant air quality construction permit staff time was diverted from application review to enable EASY Air’s on-time roll out. With the successful launch of EASY Air, staff can once again devote their time to application reviews.
Campground hosts needed for upcoming recreation season

Campground hosts needed for upcoming recreation season

  • 2/4/2020 1:38:00 PM
  • View Count 7869
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking people who enjoy the outdoors, camping and meeting new people, to consider becoming volunteer campground hosts for the upcoming recreation season.
Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

Walleye season closes Feb. 14 on Iowa Great Lakes

  • 2/4/2020 1:30:00 PM
  • View Count 531
Spirit Lake, Iowa – The walleye fishing season on Spirit, East and West Okoboji lakes is open through Feb. 14. It will close after that date and reopens on May 2. These are the only Iowa lakes that have a closed season for walleye.
Muskrat trapping season extended to April 1 on Lizard Lake

Muskrat trapping season extended to April 1 on Lizard Lake

  • 1/31/2020 1:20:00 PM
  • View Count 655
GILMORE CITY, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is extending the muskrat trapping season on Lizard Lake, in Pocahontas County, from Feb. 1 to April 1 to offer additional trapping opportunities of a temporarily abundant resource. Iowa’s trapping season for all furbearers except beaver closes statewide on Jan. 31.
DNR enforcement actions

DNR enforcement actions

  • 1/30/2020 12:51:00 PM
  • View Count 614
DES MOINES – DNR staff work with individuals, businesses and communities to help them protect our natural resources by complying with state and federal laws. This approach is very effective. In the few cases where compliance cannot be achieved, the DNR issues enforcement actions.
Air Quality permits under review

Air Quality permits under review

  • 1/30/2020 12:50:00 PM
  • View Count 314
DES MOINES – The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans’ health and air quality. DNR’s permitting staff review each permit application to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality requirements.
Trout stocking at Ada Hayden Heritage Park postponed

Trout stocking at Ada Hayden Heritage Park postponed

  • 1/28/2020 4:39:00 PM
  • View Count 1079
Ames, Iowa – The trout stocking and family trout fishing event scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 1, at Ada Hayden Heritage Park, has been postponed due to unsafe ice conditions for the expected large crowd. 
Opportunity to help DNR track frog and toad populations

Opportunity to help DNR track frog and toad populations

  • 1/28/2020 4:34:00 PM
  • View Count 1793
It’s 10 o’clock on a summer night along a gravel road anywhere in Iowa. In the farm pond next to the road, a raucous chorus of male frogs are making themselves heard as they vie for mates. A volunteer stands clipboard in hand, ear cocked, mentally sorting out each of the calling species which are using this seemingly ordinary pond.   
DNR assistance available for landowners interested in CRP

DNR assistance available for landowners interested in CRP

  • 1/28/2020 4:32:00 PM
  • View Count 711
Landowners interested in enrolling a portion of their land into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup have until Feb. 28 to write an offer. The general signup came out of the 2018 Farm Bill that increased the cap of acres enrolled from 22 million acres to 27 million.
January 30 Afternoon SLEIS training session cancelled

January 30 Afternoon SLEIS training session cancelled

  • 1/27/2020 2:56:00 PM
  • View Count 411
Due to low interest, the DNR has cancelled the SLEIS training session originally schedule for January 30 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  Individuals who originally registered for the January 30 afternoon training session have been contacted and given an opportunity to register for a different training session. 
Missed the training? EASY Air permit how-tos are now online

Missed the training? EASY Air permit how-tos are now online

  • 1/24/2020 11:28:00 AM
  • View Count 452
Here to help and just published: Whether you missed the Dec. 19 training or forgot some of the steps, find the DNR’s EASY Air training video at eAirServices under the “What Instructions are Available” tab.
Meet Iowa's smallest owl

Meet Iowa's smallest owl

  • 1/24/2020 10:41:00 AM
  • View Count 2980
What has bright yellow eyes, weighs less than a lemon, and winters in Iowa? The northern saw-whet owl!
Air Quality permits under review

Air Quality permits under review

  • 1/23/2020 1:10:00 PM
  • View Count 385
DES MOINES – The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans’ health and air quality. DNR’s permitting staff review each permit application to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality requirements.
Chickadee tax check-off donations continues downward trend in 2018

Chickadee tax check-off donations continues downward trend in 2018

  • 1/21/2020 3:07:00 PM
  • View Count 1501
Last year, more than 7,200 Iowa taxpayers helped boost wildlife conservation with donations to the Fish and Wildlife Fund on their state tax form, which is roughly 300 fewer donors than in 2017. Donors represent about 0.5 percent of total tax payers in Iowa.
Trout stocking this Saturday at Lake Petocka cancelled

Trout stocking this Saturday at Lake Petocka cancelled

  • 1/21/2020 3:05:00 PM
  • View Count 946
Bondurant, Iowa – The trout stocking and family trout fishing event scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 25 at Lake Petocka has been cancelled due to unsafe ice conditions for the expected large crowd.
Bald Eagle shot, killed in Ankeny; public’s help sought

Bald Eagle shot, killed in Ankeny; public’s help sought

  • 1/21/2020 2:33:00 PM
  • View Count 19458
ANKENY, Iowa -- On January 3, 2020, the Ankeny Police Department contacted a DNR Conservation Officer and a Wildlife Rehabber about a mature Bald Eagle that was not acting normal and sitting on the ground near Northeast Trilein Drive and East 1st Street.
Water quality improvements lead to mussels’ return, Upper Iowa River off state impaired waters list

Water quality improvements lead to mussels’ return, Upper Iowa River off state impaired waters list

  • 1/16/2020 12:48:00 PM
  • View Count 3031
DECORAH -- The Upper Iowa River seemed an unlikely candidate for Iowa’s impaired waters list, noted for its exceptional water quality and stellar outdoor recreation opportunities. Still, native freshwater mussels were struggling to survive in the river - until a local effort stepped in to make major changes on the land. That effort was just recognized as a water quality success story by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Contracts on the Environmental Protection Commission’s agenda

Contracts on the Environmental Protection Commission’s agenda

  • 1/16/2020 12:47:00 PM
  • View Count 621
DES MOINES – Departing from its usual Tuesday meetings, the Environmental Protection Commission will meet at 1 p.m., Jan. 22, in the Wallace State Office Building auditorium, second floor, 502 E. Ninth St. in Des Moines.
Air Quality permits under review

Air Quality permits under review

  • 1/16/2020 12:46:00 PM
  • View Count 389
DES MOINES – The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans’ health and air quality. DNR’s permitting staff review each permit application to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality requirements.
Renew and Review – Upgrade Your SLEIS Skills

Renew and Review – Upgrade Your SLEIS Skills

  • 1/16/2020 9:20:00 AM
  • View Count 569
The State & Local Emissions Inventory System (SLEIS) can simplify your 2019 air emissions inventory report and ensure it is complete and accurate.
Swan Soiree rescheduled for Feb. 15

Swan Soiree rescheduled for Feb. 15

  • 1/15/2020 4:00:00 PM
  • View Count 863
West Des Moines, Iowa - The Trumpeter Swan Soiree, originally scheduled for Jan. 18, has been rescheduled to Feb. 15 due to anticipated winter weather.
Trout stocking at Big Lake postponed

Trout stocking at Big Lake postponed

  • 1/14/2020 3:48:00 PM
  • View Count 782
Council Bluffs, Iowa – The trout stocking scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 18 at Big Lake has been postponed due to unsafe ice conditions.
CRP signup has begun

CRP signup has begun

  • 1/14/2020 3:47:00 PM
  • View Count 708
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is opened general signup for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) through February 28, 2020. Farmers and ranchers who enroll in CRP receive a yearly rental payment for voluntarily establishing long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat on marginally productive agricultural lands.
Pollinators, wildlife benefit from landowners bringing prairie back to the landscape

Pollinators, wildlife benefit from landowners bringing prairie back to the landscape

  • 1/14/2020 3:45:00 PM
  • View Count 1692
Virginia Ekstrand is always in motion. From taking ‘ology trips out west with her grandkids to learning how to become a master naturalist, this retired school teacher never stops moving. On this late August morning, she is firing on all cylinders when talking about her latest project of reconstructing a 16-acre prairie on her heritage farm in Henry County.
Air Quality permits under review

Air Quality permits under review

  • 1/9/2020 1:30:00 PM
  • View Count 425
DES MOINES – The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans’ health and air quality. DNR’s permitting staff review each permit application to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality requirements.
Gates removed on Upper Iowa River dam

Gates removed on Upper Iowa River dam

  • 1/7/2020 1:41:00 PM
  • View Count 1173
An emergency project to remove damaged gates from the southern segment of Lower Dam on the Upper Iowa River in Winneshiek County is underway. The $60,000 project restores flow to nearly a mile of the Upper Iowa River that was dewatered after the dam was built.
Iowa DNR in Sergeant Bluff to host Jan. 15 public meeting on chronic wasting disease

Iowa DNR in Sergeant Bluff to host Jan. 15 public meeting on chronic wasting disease

  • 1/7/2020 1:37:00 PM
  • View Count 512
Sergeant Bluff, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting a public meeting to discuss chronic wasting disease and a new, enhanced monitoring effort on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Sergeant Bluff Community Center, 903 Topaz Drive, in Sergeant Bluff. The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m.
Winter community trout stockings start Jan. 11

Winter community trout stockings start Jan. 11

  • 1/7/2020 1:35:00 PM
  • View Count 4274
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release trout in seven locations across Iowa this winter in areas that would not support them in warmer months.
Iowa DNR in Sergeant Bluff to host Jan. 15 public meeting on chronic wasting disease

Iowa DNR in Sergeant Bluff to host Jan. 15 public meeting on chronic wasting disease

  • 1/6/2020 4:02:00 PM
  • View Count 1333
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting a public meeting to discuss chronic wasting disease and a new, enhanced monitoring effort on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Sergeant Bluff Community Center, 903 Topaz Drive, in Sergeant Bluff. The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m.
Make MMP submittal easy in 2020

Make MMP submittal easy in 2020

  • 1/4/2020 8:51:00 PM
  • View Count 273
For confinement site owners: If you haven’t been using the online manure management plan application, eMMP, check your mail now.
Page 3 of 65 First 12[3]45 Last