DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials are monitoring the weather’s impact on pheasant numbers in the state. The state Department of Natural Resources says spring nesting season is a critical time for pheasants. Their counts in the state could decrease if temperatures in April and May are below normal and rainfall is above normal. The opposite outcome in weather would lead to an increase.

The northwest region of the state, which had below normal snowfall amounts this winter, could have an increase in populations with a good spring. The state Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship says March was the coldest winter on record in Iowa since 1975, and it was the snowiest since 1998.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports a Sioux City man has been arrested on several counts resulting from the alleged illegal shooting of a wild turkey north of Pisgah, in Monona County. 47-year old Phuoc Nguyen pleaded guilty to not having a valid turkey tag, illegal method of harvesting a turkey by using a rifle, shooting a turkey out of season, abandonment of dead or injured wildlife and shooting a rifle on or over a roadway. He faces fines totaling more than $700 and liquidated damages for the turkey of $200. The turkey and a Marlin .22-caliber rifle with scope were seized.

The investigation began after Chase Durfee, a technician for the DNR Forestry Bureau, was contacted by a citizen on March 19th.  Durfee identified Nguyen’s vehicle and followed it, observing Nguyen stopping at one point and moving an uncased rifle from the front to the rear of the vehicle. Jeff Poen, park ranger for Lewis and Clark State Park, stopped Nguyen’s vehicle on I-29 where an uncased gun was observed. Durfee and Poen located and recovered the turkey that had been shot on state forest land near the Boy Scout Camp, north of Pisgah. Nguyen was later charged by DNR Conservation Officer Steve Griebel.

Nguyen still faces a charge of having an uncased gun in the vehicle in Harrison County. DNR Conservation Officer Dave Tierney said this is another case that underscores the importance of citizens providing eye-witness information when they see illegal activity taking place. A good option for providing the information is through the Turn In Poachers hotline, 1-800-532-2020.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency said today (Monday), the Fire Danger Index in the county will remain in the “Moderate” category, through Thursday. Officials say they hope the rain that’s forecast over the next few days, will contribute to the “greening up” of the grassy areas. Persons planning to burn brush or grassy areas should be aware of the frontal activity in the area and the shifting of winds associated with frontal passing.

The EMA says it can assist individual farmers and businesses with the development of burns plans, to assess the safety of any particular burn. Those plans will be developed jointly with the Fire Chief of the Jurisdiction, and the property owners.

Leaders of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers will hold public meetings this week to cover water management plans for the Missouri River basin this spring and beyond. Jody Farhat, head of the Water Management Division for the Corps in Omaha, says it’s a chance to continue the dialogue with the public over how the river is being run during the drought. “The purpose of the April meetings is to let stakeholders in the basin know about the current hydrologic conditions, what the soil moisture and the snow pack looks like,” Farhat says, “and what we expect to do with regard to our operation of the reservoir system through the remainder of this calendar year.”

Farhat says they continue to see river reservoirs slowly dropping. So far, they’re down about eight-and-a-half million acre feet, or around 22-percent of the total storage available. “We are implementing drought conservation measures,” Farhat says. “We had low winter releases as a measure to conserve water and as we start the navigation season here in April, we’re providing what we call minimum service flows for navigation.”

Farhat says the Corps is in position to continue “near normal” operations for quite a while, several years, in fact. “Storage in the reservoirs is designed to serve the authorized purposes during a 12-year drought like that of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s and early 1940s,” Farhat says. “As we get deeper and deeper into the drought, we conserve more and more water by providing reduced service to navigation and other uses.”

The region is just entering the second year of drought and she says, given the 12-year drought plan, they should be “good for another decade.” The meetings are being held this week in: Nebraska City, Nebraska; Fort Peck, Montana; Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota and Smithville, Missouri.

(Radio Iowa)

Emergency Management officials in Mills County report a countywide ban on open burning will go into effect on Monday, April 8th, beginning at 4-p.m.  According Mills County Emergency Management Director Larry Hurst, the ban will prohibit open burning in all cities within Mills County until further notice, under Chapter 100 of the Iowa Code.

The decision to institute a Burn Ban on Monday came after Emergency Management officials polled the local fire department Chiefs in the county. The chiefs agreed to the plan, which was submitted to and approved by, the State Fire Marshall’s Office in Des Moines. Under a Burn Ban, residents of Mills County must discontinue the burning of yard waste, piled tree debris or other items. Small recreational camp fires will be permitted, but only if they are built in a fire place of brick, metal or heavy one inch wire mesh.

An application from your local Fire District Chief can be obtained and submitted to allow a permit for open burning if your local fire official believes it’s safe to do so. After approval of permit, several county entities are informed to lessen the danger of false alarms. Violation of a burn ban is punishable by a simple citation, or, an arrest for reckless use of fire or disobeying a burn ban.

For more information on burn bans and the law contact the State Fire Marshall’s Office at 515 725-6145

After weeks of voting, Viking Lake State Park near Stanton, Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, have made it to the DNR’s Park Madness championship on Facebook. As a result, Iowans will be able to enter a drawing for a chance to win a free weekend of camping at the championship park. The final round of voting begins at 7:30 p.m. April 7 at www.facebook.com/iowadnr.

People can vote for their park of choice by commenting on the Park Madness post. Be sure to “like” the DNR’s page while you’re there to see future Park Madness posts. The winning park will be announced Monday, April 8th at noon on Facebook, along with contest information. People can enter to win two camping coupons for the winning park. Details about contest entry and rules will be available, beginning April 8th, at www.iowadnr.gov/Destinations/ParkMadness.aspx.

Park Madness kicked off March 19, with two parks from each region of the state facing off. Lacey-Keosauqua defeated Lake Ahquabi in the southeast regional and then Backbone to represent eastern Iowa. Viking Lake won over Waubonsie in the southwest regional and then Ledges in the western semifinal.

For more pictures of parks in the running, visit the DNR on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/iowadnr and check the “Iowa State Parks” board. Follow the DNR on Twitter at www.twitter.com/iowadnr for updates and more information.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U-S Justice Department reports Tyson Foods, Inc., has agreed to pay a $3.95-million civil penalty to settle alleged violations of Clean Air Act regulations covering the prevention of chemical accidents at its facilities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. As part of a consent decree lodged today (Friday) in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Mo., Tyson agreed to conduct pipe-testing and third-party audits of its ammonia refrigeration systems to improve compliance with the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Program requirements at all 23 of the company’s facilities in the four Midwestern states.

Those facilities include Tyson operations located in Cherokee, Columbus Junction, Council Bluffs, Denison, Perry, Sioux City, Storm Lake and Waterloo in Iowa, and four facilities in Nebraska. Among them is the plant in Omaha.  The settlement stems from a series of eight separate incidents between 2006 and 2010 in which accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia at Tyson facilities resulted in property damage, multiple injuries, and one fatality.

In addition to the $3.95 million penalty, pipe-testing and third-party audits, Tyson will also spend at least $300,000 as part of a Supplemental Environmental Project that will purchase anhydrous ammonia related emergency response equipment for fire departments in eight environmental justice communities where the company’s operations are located. In Council Bluffs, that amounts to $78,990, and in Omaha,  $17,934. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.

Through a series of inspections and information requests, EPA found multiple occasions of noncompliance with the Clean Air Act’s chemical accident prevention provisions at Tyson’s facilities. Dating back to October 2006, those violations included failures to follow the general industry standards to test or replace safety relief valves, improperly co-located gas-fired boilers and ammonia machinery, as well as failures to abide by the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Program prevention and reporting requirements.

Tyson, headquartered in Springdale, Ark., is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork.

The National Weather Service in Omaha, and Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency say the Fire Weather category will remain in the VERY HIGH category today (Friday). Windy and warm conditions are expected. Southerly surface winds may gust up to 25-35 mph at times this afternoon. Officials say if you do burn today, to watch the fire closely as it can spread very rapidly.

Montgomery County Emergency Manager Brian Hamman says all controlled burns in Montgomery County should be reported to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107. Hamman says a burn ban is not expected at this time, but if dry conditions continue into the spring, another burn ban such as the one which last summer for 94 days, could be placed into effect.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say nearly 7 percent of Iowa is no longer in drought.    The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says in a report issued Thursday that conditions have returned to normal in a swath of southeast Iowa. The U.S. Drought Monitor map from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows the drought conditions are worse to the northwest, culminating in extreme drought in portions of northwest Iowa.

The drought center says that a year ago nearly 61 percent of Iowa had no drought.  March rain in Iowa was a drop or two higher than the historical normal of 2.15 inches. It was the fourth consecutive month for higher-than-normal rainfall in the state.

The Shelby County Emergency Management agency says because vegetation in the county is very dry, and fires that start can spread quickly, the Fire Danger Index is being upgraded to the “Moderate” category.

Emergency Management Director Bob Seivert says several weather systems will be passing through the area over the weekend. The resulting, shifting winds, will created problems with controlled burns . Seivert advises residents and land owners to develop a burn plan, and check the weather prior to lighting any controlled burns, as well as your local fire chief.

The next, scheduled update on the Fire Danger in Shelby County will be on Monday, April 8th.