Articles Tagged: conservation

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is seeking feedback on its 25-year wildlife action plan, which must be reviewed every 10 years per federal law.

Using a herd of specialists and generalists, one local couple has turned an old joke into a serious business. The concept, deployed by homeowners, businesses and municipalities in Iowa, is about stewardship that returns land to its natural state.

Bat Week is all about promoting the year-round benefits that the flying mammals provide to the ecosystem.

The Iowa skipper butterfly, once prevalent in prairies across the middle of the U.S., is now at risk of extinction — according to the Center for Food Safety, which has petitioned federal agencies to list the butterfly as an endangered species.

Featuring Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

A lifelong fascination with amphibians and care for wildlife ultimately led to Mary Beth Stevenson’s current job of restoring and preserving wetlands in the Cedar Rapids area.

The use of cover crops in Iowa has expanded significantly in recent years. The conservation practice is promoted by the state through cost share incentives — an effort by the Iowa Department of Agriculture to reduce nutrients that contribute to the Gulf dead zone. But new research suggests that while the number of acres being planted with cover crops has grown, not all farmers are sticking with the practice.

The Nature Conservancy has studied this form of virtual fencing with cattle at its preserve in Muscatine County for the past three years.

Photos from a seed harvesting outing with Johnson County Conservation at Ciha Fen Preserve in Lisbon, Iowa on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

Also in today’s Capitol Notebook, Iowa AG Brenna Bird joins a bipartisan coalition urging artificial intelligence firms to protect children from harmful chatbots.

The Iowa Soybean Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have completed about 50 oxbows across the state through a partnership. That’s important because oxbows can prevent flooding, improve water quality and provide habitat for animals.

A report from the Center for Rural Affairs found that funding from the Inflation Reduction Act had a “significant impact” on the adoption of conservation practices in Iowa.

Pheasant harvest data for the fall season released by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows an estimated 460,000 roosters were bagged in the 2024 season, making it the second-best pheasant season in nearly two decades. Populations have struggled since 1995, due to weather and fewer acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program.

This year, Iowa is seeing an increase in fireflies, but the species’ future remains uncertain. There are more than 200 firefly — or lightning bug — species across North America and over 2,000 worldwide, but scientists say the firefly population has been declining for decades due to factors such as habitat loss, pesticides and droughts.

The chicks — which have grown into small, squawking balls of feathers — are well on their way to adolescence in a survival story that is not only a remarkable example of individual resilience, but also that of the species at large.