Iowa Big Bass Fisher

The study is the second one by the Department of Natural Resources. It found increasingly bad air, hunters struggling to find pheasants and rivers still in poor condition. A decline of protected habitat, such as grasslands and woodlands, directly affects the lack of game birds and water quality issues.

In 2009, Iowa saw one of its largest investments in environmental protection and natural resource development. An investment over $100 million, largely a result of federal stimulus funding, I-JOBS and the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program, will no doubt have positive effects on our environment, both short term and long term.

On the positive side, fishing license sales increased 14 percent since 2008 and anglers are experiencing record levels of walleye and breaking pan fish harvest records in Iowa’s natural lakes. Also, the number of boats certified in the state increased by 15,000 over the previous year – excluding kayaks traversing 249 miles of water trails that are expected to grow by 930 miles due to increased development.

Also, 2009 saw Iowans return to the campfire with camping activities up 4 percent compared to the previous two to three years – a trend that could be interrupted as state budget cuts will mean fewer seasonal workers and closure of some nonrevenue-generating areas within state parks, he said.

However, sales of hunting licenses dropped due to harsh winters and wet springs that have reduced prospects for turkey and upland game, like pheasants, quail and cottontail rabbits.

The pheasant population is down due to a major hit to habitat linked to a decline of 64,000 acres enrolled in the conservation reserve program (CRP) in 2008 and a 354,000-acre drop since 2007 – marking the lowest level since 2000. Hunters harvested 383,000 birds last year – a drop of more than 248,000.

Water quality in Iowa’s streams made considerable improvement last year, Leopold said, but the overall quality score still remains in the poor category. Meanwhile, 65 of Iowa’s 132 publicly owned lakes that are monitored had good water clarity with the rest of the lakes were a murky, cloudy blend due to sediment and algae as statewide water clarity and nutrient levels remained similar to previous years.

Iowa’s air quality continues to get a little worse every year. The latest report indicated that air pollution levels exceeded public health thresholds 125 times from 2007 to 2009 at sites across Iowa – up 33 percent from the previous reporting period mostly due to high levels of fine particles.

Topping the list of communities with total days exceeding air quality standards during the most-recent reporting period were Davenport with 26, Muscatine with 20, Clinton with 18, Cedar Rapids with 16, Waterloo and Iowa City each with eight, Des Moines with five and Sioux City and Clarion each with four days.

Last year, the state of Iowa’s environment report was issued in a report card format with eight classifications receiving letter grades and the overall status rated at a B minus grade. Leopold said DNR officials decided to dump that format this year because people focused too much attention on the grades rather than the trends and what could be done to change them.