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CORYDON,
Iowa - Deer hunters who hunt in Wayne County take note– chronic wasting disease
(CWD) has shown up in your area.
A hunter harvested wild
deer taken during the first shotgun season in southeast Wayne County has tested
positive for CWD. This is the first hunter
harvested wild deer outside of northeast Iowa to test positive for the always
fatal disease.
The Iowa Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) has scheduled a meeting on March 15, at 6:30 p.m., in
the 4H Banquet Hall at the Wayne County
Fairgrounds, 800 Second Ave., in Corydon, to discuss the status of
CWD in Iowa and how deer hunters can help stop
or slow the spread of CWD.
Terry
Haindfield, wildlife biologist for the Iowa DNR who is leading the effort to
combat CWD, will coordinate the meeting. He said there are several things
hunters can do today to help monitor for the disease.
"The
first and most important is to allow sampling of hunter harvested deer,” he
said. “Second, is to remove any mineral blocks and feeders that unnaturally
concentrates deer and increases the chance of spreading any disease, and finally
report any sick or emaciated deer to the DNR.
“We
want people to come to this meeting, ask their questions, hear the concerns
from other hunters,” Haindfield said. “Deer hunting is an important tradition
and, for some, a large part of their identity. It is also important to us and
we need to work together to combat this disease. Our goal is to provide quality
deer hunting today, tomorrow, and for future generations.”
The Iowa DNR has tested
nearly 69,000 deer tissue samples for CWD since monitoring began in 2002. The
disease first appeared in Iowa’s wild deer herd in 2013. So far, there have
been 28 positive tests: 25 in Allamakee County, 2 in Clayton County and 1 in
Wayne County.
The Iowa DNR sets an
annual goal of collecting 4,500 deer tissue samples. The effort has focused on
portions of northeast and eastern Iowa near Wisconsin, Illinois, and
south-central Iowa near Missouri, where CWD has been detected. Additional
testing has been conducted in Pottawattamie, Cerro Gordo and Davis counties,
following positive tests from captive facilities. All counties have at least 15
samples taken annually to check for CWD. The disease has been found
in every state around Iowa.
CWD is a neurological
disease belonging to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. It attacks the brain
of infected deer and elk causing the animals to lose weight, display abnormal
behavior, lose body functions and die. It is always fatal to the infected
animal.
“Deer hunting is one of
Iowa’s great traditions. We want to educate and work with our hunters so we
continue to have the best deer herd in the country for generations to come,” he
said.
The Iowa DNR has more
information about CWD and other infectious disease online at www.iowadnr.gov/cwd.
Media Contact: Terry Haindfield, Wildlife
Biologist, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 563-546-7960 or 563-380-3422.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries
staff will release between 1,000 to 2,000 rainbow trout in 10 lakes across
Iowa in March and April as part of its cool weather trout program.
The
spring urban trout stockings are a great place to take kids to catch their
first fish. A small hook with a nightcrawler or corn under a small bobber to
casting small simple spinners such as a panther martin or mepps is all you need
to get in on the fun.
Bringing
trout to cities and towns offers a “close to home” option for Iowans who might
not travel to northeast Iowa to experience trout fishing. Most locations also
host a family friendly event to help anglers have success and fun while
fishing.
The
popular program is supported by the sales of the trout fee. Anglers need a
valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The
daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of
10.
Children
age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they
must limit their catch to one daily limit. The child can buy a trout fee which
will allow them to catch their own limit.
Once
you buy your trout fee, you can fish for trout all year long at any of the
urban lakes and trout streams in northeast Iowa. Find more information about
Iowa trout streams on the DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/trout.
2018 Spring Urban Trout Stocking Schedule
March 23
10:00 am: Discovery Park, Muscatine
10:30 am: Lake of the Hills, Davenport
Noon: Wilson Lake, east of Donnellson
March 24
11:00 am: Ottumwa Park Pond, Ottumwa
11:00 am: Terry Trueblood Lake, Iowa City
March 31
10:00 am: Prairie Park (Cedar Bend), Cedar Rapids
April 7
11:00 am: Banner Lake South, north of Indianola
April 14
10:00 am: Heritage Pond, Dubuque
11:00 am: North Prairie Lake, Cedar Falls
April 21
11:00 am: Sand Lake, Marshalltown
Media
Contact: Mike Steuck, regional fisheries
supervisor, northeast Iowa, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 563-927-3276.
Three Iowa organizations were awarded a
George H.W. Bush Vamos
A Pescar™ Education grant to provide hands-on fishing programs and
classes for Hispanic families in their communities.
Organizations
receiving the grant are the Iowa Latino Community Center, Inc. (Latino Center
of Iowa), Tama County Conservation and Iowa State University Extension &
Outreach Dallas County.
The
grant is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Fish Iowa! angler
education program and the Recreational Fishing and Boating Foundation’s (RBFF) Vamos A Pescar
program.
Each
grantee is working with local partners to better reach Hispanic community
members with information and to plan family-focused events during the summer.
If you would like to learn more, you can reach out to grant recipients, or
contact the Fish Iowa! program.
Media Contact: Barb Gigar, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-494-3891.
It may still be cold outside, but it’s
time to stop pruning oak trees to prevent the spread of oak wilt.
“The best way to prevent the spread of
oak wilt is to not prune any oak tree between the end of March and the start of
October,” said Tivon Feeley, coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources’ (DNR) forest health program.
However, Feeley said the warm weather
conditions indicate that spring might be a bit early this year and for that reason,
he suggests finishing oak pruning by this weekend.
Oak wilt is caused by a fungus and has
been present in Iowa for many years. It mostly impacts red, black and pin oaks,
but can infect white and bur oaks. If
black, pin, or red oaks are infected by the fungus, they usually die within the
same summer. White oak and bur oak can often take years before they succumb.
“A healthy tree can be infected by the
fungus through open wounds during the growing season that is carried from a
diseased tree to a healthy tree by a small beetle,” Feeley said. “The second form of infection is through root
grafts between oak trees of the same species. For example, if a red oak is
infected and there is another red oak within 50 to 100 feet, there is a good
chance that the roots of these trees are grafted and the fungus can move from
the diseased tree to the healthy tree.”
Symptoms of infected trees usually
include leaves turning a bronzed brown along the outer margins of the leaves.
These leaves can often still have some green on them as they fall from the
tree. The defoliation tends to start at the top of the tree. The best way to
prevent the spread of oak wilt is to prevent any wounding to oak trees during
the growing season.
“If a tree is wounded from storm
damage or pruning is required during the growing season, treat the wounds
immediately with a wound dressing such as acrylic paint,” Feeley said. “Do not
purchase pruning paints/sealants. Those products slow the tree’s ability to
seal over the wound.”
More information on oak wilt
prevention and control can be found at http://na.fs.fed.us/pubs/howtos/ht_oakwilt/identify_prevent_and_control_oak_wilt_print.pdf
Media
Contact: Tivon Feeley, Forest Program Health
Leader, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-725-8453.
SOLON
- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) received a report of dead fish
in Terry Trueblood Lake in Iowa City, and Mohawk Park Lake and Cedar Lake in
Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 27.
DNR
fisheries staff found about 1,000 dead bluegill, 1,500 channel catfish, 225
carp, 100 largemouth bass, 400 trout, 150 wipers (hybrid striped bass) and
several thousand gizzard shad on March 1 at Terry Trueblood Lake. Almost all of
the dead fish at Cedar Lake and Mohawk Park Lake were gizzard shad.
Winter
kills happen when a combination of ice and snow blocks sunlight from reaching
aquatic plants, which in turn, stop producing oxygen. The longer the snow and
ice cover lasts, the less oxygen is in the water.
Winter
fish kills are common on Iowa shallow lakes during long winters with lots of
snow cover. “Terry Trueblood Lake, Cedar Lake and Mohawk Park Lake are very
shallow to start with and dry fall conditions have caused lower lake levels,”
said Paul Sleeper, DNR fisheries management biologist. “Our larger eastern Iowa
lakes are not experiencing winter fish kills.”
Signs
of winter kills are visible shortly after ice out when fish that died during
the winter float and are blown to shore. In certain lakes, like Rathbun, Black
Hawk, Storm and Coralville, these dead fish are often a source of food for
channel catfish that will go on a feeding spree. Many anglers see this as an
early season fishing opportunity for trophy-sized channel catfish.
Fisheries
staff are watching lakes and ponds with low oxygen levels that are at risk of
having a winter fish kill. Many Iowa lakes and ponds are still under ice, so
additional smaller, shallow ponds and lakes might have winter kills after the
ice disappears.
Media Contact: Paul Sleeper,
Fisheries Management Biologist, Iowa Department of Natural Resources,
319-350-8399.
A national campaign is encouraging boaters to Spring
Aboard by enrolling in a boater education course before the kickoff to the
boating season.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) works with BoaterExam and
Boat-Ed to offer online boater education courses and during Spring Aboard
campaign week March 18-24, these companies will be offering 50 percent off the
price of their on-line course.
Use the code SpringAboard2018 to receive the
discount.
“March is the perfect time to take a course. The summer boating season will be
here before we know it and all of us could benefit from a refresher course,”
said Susan Stocker, boating law administrator for the Iowa DNR.
The exam covers required equipment, boating basics, navigation rules,
environmental stressors, aids to navigation and takes about six hours to
complete. Once a student has passed the test, they can print off their course
completion certificate.
An estimated 220,000 boats are registered in Iowa. Last year, there were 42
boating incidents reported on Iowa waters.
Media Contact: Susan Stocker, Boating Law Administrator
and Education Coordinator, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 515-725-8477.
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