April 18, 2000

Federal, state programs
aid endangered species in Iowa

Jeff Cobble
digital iowa staff reporter
Drake University

DES MOINES, Iowa — Endangered species may not be living in safety, but several programs in Iowa are working to give these plants and animals a fighting chance.

The state currently maintains a list of threatened and endangered species. It contains 214 plant and animal species, nine of which are also on the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Species that are rare in Iowa are not necessarily rare in other states.

According to Iowa's Threatened and Endangered Species Protection Program Web site (www.state.ia.us/parks/discus.htm), an endangered species is "any fish, plant life or wildlife which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part of its range." A threatened species is "any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range."

The protection program is run by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which also oversees the Iowa Natural Areas Inventory and the Wildlife Diversity Program. The Natural Areas Inventory is involved in many programs aimed at helping threatened and endangered species, said Daryl Howell, a zoologist with the inventory.

"Habitat loss is always the biggest thing," Howell said. Roads, housing developments and other man-made changes to the environment have an effect on all species in an area, he said.

The inventory conducts surveys to find the locations of some species and works to change land-management techniques so the areas will be more beneficial to rare species, Howell said. Recent surveys have been done on amphibians, reptiles, mussels, fish and plants.

The inventory also works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help federally listed species. Howell said he has worked with the Conservation Reserve Program, which is run by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Conservation Reserve Program is run with the help of private landowners who agree to 10- or 15-year contracts with the government.

Duane Miller, a resource conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Des Moines, said landowners agree to seed certain grasses, legumes or weeds, depending on program objectives. In return, he said, they receive an annual rental payment for the duration of the contract.

Rental rates are determined by the landowners, Miller said. They make offers, which are ranked and accepted or denied on the basis of an environmental benefits index. Miller said the index measures seven different areas: benefits to wildlife habitat, water quality, erosion control, enduring benefits, air quality, priority areas and proposed cost.

Iowa has 40,000 participants in the Conservation Reserve Program, Miller said, and approximately 1.5 million acres are being used.

Howell said it's likely that the Conservation Reserve Program is partially responsible for the return of the bobcat in south and southwest Iowa. More grass would increase the number of rodents and rabbits, which provide bobcats with an occasional meal.

A reduction in trappings and accidents also has helped bobcats, Howell said. Accidental deaths hurt small populations much more than larger populations, he said. The bobcat is endangered in Iowa but is not on the federal list.

The Conservation Reserve Program also has helped birds, even those that aren't threatened or endangered. "Most of our ground-nesting birds would benefit," Miller said. Pheasants, which aren't on the Iowa list or the federal list, have done well in program areas, he said.

The bald eagle has been one of the biggest success stories, not only in Iowa, but throughout the United States. They have done so well that they may be taken off the threatened and endangered species list the next time it is updated.

Bruce Ehresman, a wildlife diversity technician with the Wildlife Diversity Program, said there were no eagle nests in Iowa in 1986. More than 100 nests were counted in the state last year, he said.

Ehresman attributed the bald eagle's recovery to protective measures such as the banning of DDT and other pesticides in the 1970s and the passing of Iowa's endangered species law in 1975. Bald Eagle Appreciation Day and other education programs have helped change public attitudes toward the birds.

"That's been instrumental in helping bald eagles make a comeback," Ehresman said.

Public awareness and interest from landowners also have helped bald eagles increase their population. "A lot of landowners are pretty happy to have something like that on their property," Howell said.

Poised to join the bald eagle in its expected jump from the threatened and endangered species list is the river otter. Ehresman said a reintroduction program, which began in 1985, has helped the river otter spread from five to 80 Iowa counties.

The Wildlife Diversity Program also has been working to reintroduce the peregrine falcon and the barn owl to Iowa.

The falcon was gone from Iowa to the East Coast by the early 1960s, Ehresman said. A reintroduction program in the Midwest has released between 85 and 90 falcons in Iowa since 1989. Ehresman said the state now has two falcon nests, one in Cedar Rapids and one in Des Moines. The goal, he said, is to get healthy falcon populations back on the Mississippi River.

The barn owl nests in trees and catches prey on the prairies, Ehresman said. Many owls were released during a reintroduction program between 1983 and 1987, but the releases didn't have much effect on the overall population, Ehresman said.

A nest-box program has worked much better, he said. The nest-box program provides what essentially are bird houses for barn owls.

"They're secure from predators," Ehresman said. "Raccoons can't get them."

The Conservation Reserve Program also has helped the barn owl, he said, and six known barn owl nests are now in Iowa.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service also oversees the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. The Wetlands Reserve Program is aimed at restoring wetland areas, said Wes Fuemmeler, a biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It is similar to the Conservation Reserve Program, but at least half of the area has to be wetland at all times, Fuemmeler said. The Wetlands Reserve Program has $8 million invested in 30 Iowa sites — totaling 100,000 acres — this year, he said.

Fuemmeler said landowners sign up for permanent or 30-year easements. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service Web site (www.nrcs.usda.gov/NRCSProg.html), participants receive up to the agricultural value of the land and 100 percent of the habitat restoration costs when they sign up for a permanent easement. Those with a 30-year easement receive 75 percent of what would be provided for a permanent easement on the same site and 75 percent of the habitat restoration costs.

"We restore it as close to its original state as we can," Fuemmeler said. "Basically, what we do is put the habitat back and hope the animals will come back."

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is similar to the Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs. The Natural Resources Conservation Service Web site says the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program allows landowners and the government to enter cost-share agreements for wildlife habitat development. Agreements usually last at least 10 years, it says.

Fuemmeler said three wildlife habitats have been targeted in Iowa. The first is called a shelterbelt, which consists of eight rows of trees and shrubs. Because the prevailing winds in Iowa come from the north and west, Fuemmeler said, shelterbelts are planted on the west side of a building. The shortest trees and shrubs are closest to the building, and the rows increase in height as they get farther away. This forces the wind to go up and over the building, Fuemmeler said.

"At the same time, it's providing valuable winter habitat that animals can use to get out of the wind," he said.

The second habitat is called a riparian corridor, which is land that lies along waterways. Fuemmeler said these programs focus on stabilizing stream banks to reduce erosion. The program also allows for going underwater and digging small caves so fish can go under the stream bank to get out of the current, he said.

The third targeted habitat is grasslands. Native grasses and plant species are planted in these areas, Fuemmeler said, and many species stand to benefit from the restored habitat — regardless of whether they are threatened or endangered.

A bill that would require Iowa's endangered species list to include only those species also found on the federal list was introduced in the state Senate this year. State Sen. Larry McKibben introduced the bill — Senate File 2100. He said in an e-mail interview that the bill had been amended to require a report on how species are placed on the list.

"The goal of the (report) is to find out exactly the method by which a species makes it onto the endangered species list," McKibben said. "If the Legislature deems the methodology to be satisfactory, I assume no further legislation will follow."

The amended bill was passed in the Senate, McKibben said, but it will not be considered in the House this session.