Ask anyone how long the bald eagle has been the official bird of the United States, and the answer is likely to be 200 years or more. In reality, the bald eagle has been the official bird for less than two years. In December 2024, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill designating the […]
Iowa wildlife
Posted inCommunity/News
The tiny Iowa Pleistocene Snail has survived millennia in the Driftless Area
The giant ground sloth may be the most beloved of all of Iowa’s Ice Age animals, thanks to Rusty the Giant Sloth charming generations of students since he went on display at the University of Iowa’s Museum of Natural History in 1985. Rusty’s contemporaries, the mammoth and the giant beaver, also have a kind of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa DNR’s wildlife action plan calls for more prairie, more public lands and protection for 800 species
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. The action plan, according to DNR, is a strategy for how the department will conserve wildlife in the state. It was last updated and reviewed in 2015, but was initially […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Bison made the prairie what it was. Iowa conservationists hope they can do it again.
According to the National Park Service, the tallgrass prairie is “one of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the world.” It once covered 167 million acres in the middle of North America, stretching from the Red River Valley in Canada into Texas. Only about 4 percent of the tallgrass prairie that existed before the […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Iowa’s Changing Wildlife: Three Decades of Gain and Loss’ by James J. Dinsmore and Stephen J. Dinsmore
In Iowa’s Changing Wildlife: Three Decades of Gain and Loss (University of Iowa Press), the authors survey 60 species of birds and mammals, providing brief histories of their existence in Iowa, a look at their population fluctuations over time and summaries of their current status, making this book a valuable resource for wildlife enthusiasts and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Unhoused as a teen, Tracy Belle now rehabilitates Iowa birds, coyotes, raccoons and more through her nonprofit, Wildthunder W.A.R.S.
When pets get sick or injured, they go to the vet. But what happens to wildlife like owls, coyotes and deer when their lives hang in the balance? Tracy Belle, director and founder of Wildthunder Wildlife & Animal Rehabilitation and Sanctuary (W.A.R.S.) comes to their rescue, alongside her team of generous volunteers. From baby raccoons […]
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‘Rats with hooves’: Iowa City Council’s deer management program is under fire as population grows
For the past two hunting seasons, using bow-hunters to reduce the number of deer in Iowa City has proven ineffective. But the city could only get the five-year deer management program it adopted in 2019 approved by state officials on the condition it included four years of bow-hunting. So the city is preparing for a […]
Posted inUR Here
Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada: The nostalgia-inducing song of the white-throated sparrow
The wonders of any month lie in the cycle of nature, in the continuum of life. I take special joy in October, thanks in large part to its specificities: beautifully colored leaves; crisp, cool air; lengthening shadows at early twilight. But I also embrace October’s place in the round of the year: the slowing of life after the rush of summer, the gathering bounty, preparing for winter’s rest. In recent years, I have paid greater attention to the sonic as well as visual landscape and its part in nature’s cycle. This autumn, I’m paying special attention to the white-throated sparrow.
Posted inUR Here
UR Here: Like a wolf in the wild — and Aldo Leopold — commit to your pursuit
Aldo Leopold is arguably the greatest conservationist of the 20th century. His formative experiences with the natural world occurred right here in Iowa, providing the foundation for the revolutionary thought and influence that would mark his career.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s dwindling bee population is part of a larger, frightening trend
Deep in the belly of the Vermeer Science Center at Central College in Pella, Iowa, cardboard boxes are stacked against the wall in a dimly lit laboratory. The boxes contain thousands of bees — carefully preserved and meticulously categorized based on their Latin genus and species — each with a unique tale to tell. Some are as small as a gnat; others are the size of a cockroach. Their colors span the spectrum, too, from rich, reflective blues to the familiar striped yellow and black of the common honey bee. Paulina Mena, an associate professor of biology, is their veritable warden.
