IOWA - Portrait of the Land - Iowa Resources Today: Status and Trends

Sweet William is a spring woodland
wildflower. Photo by
John Pearson.

A painted turtle climbs a log in a cluster of purple prairie clover near a wetland in Story
County. Photo by Roger Hill.

A limestone outcrop, flowing creek,
and woodland community form a
visual oasis in Story County. Photo
by Roger Hill.

PRICELESS

Essay by Donald R. Farrar

What does it mean, this term "priceless"? Doesn't everything have a price? Is there really anything that enough money can't buy? Not much, but let's list some possibilities. A breath of fresh, clean, clear outdoor air. That can't be purchased in New York or Los Angeles, and often not even in the High Sierras when the coast cities' emissions drift eastward. How about clean, cold water to canoe in, or to fish, or just to splash in on a hot summer afternoon; or the beauty of a million wildflowers sprinkled over a forest floor in the light green shade of early spring; or the comfort of an old tree watching its furry, feathery, and leafy neighbors going about their forest business. Can these be purchased, once they are gone? I think not. These are treasures, still to be found in Iowa, that are truly priceless.

With the benefit of 150 years of hindsight, we could bemoan the sometimes-flawed mural Iowans have painted on the land as we developed our state and used our resources. The push to build productive farms, cities, and industries probably overshadowed a concern for natural areas. People may have taken the forests, marshes, and prairies for granted and assumed rivers always would run clean. Who could imagine that abundant wildlife might disappear? The industrious people were too busy to notice the abuse of their natural resources or the scope of their loss.

But there's hope. We're developing a new ethic, a fresh outlook, with pride in our land stewardship. Iowans want to live in a sustainable society. We're joining citizen groups that work effectively for conservation. We believe we can improve the quality of life in Iowa's future.

To meet that goal, we must assess the health of our land and realize that the diagnosis reflects our own attitudes and actions. We can be proud of our progress, but we must admit where we've fallen short. As we look ahead, we're thinking of our children and grandchildren and the community they'll have to build upon. Perhaps we need to repair parts of that foundation, to repaint some tarnished images, and to consider the well-being of all the citizens of that land community.

As we catalog our resources, most of us would begin with water. We drink it, swim in it, and catch fish from it. We can't live without it. Yet we're not always sure that it is really safe or clean.

We can boast that about 98 percent of the state's 1,128 community water systems meet federal standards, but we're not so proud of the 55 percent of private wells that are tainted with coliform bacteria, pesticides, or excessive nitrates.

Our lakes and streams, while not pristine, may be cleaner than in the early 1900s, when they were fouled with sewage and industrial wastes. But federal studies of our surface waters still note contamination ranging from fertilizer to agricultural chemicals to industrial wastes to sewage to livestock manure.

Channelization and drainage have damaged many lakes and rivers, but some of our past mistakes can be repaired. We've discovered new remedies, including wetland restorations along the Missouri River and the Iowa River, and more than 170,000 acres of native grasses and trees growing in buffer strips along streams all over the state.

We should do more. We must spend more time and money to monitor livestock wastes, urban runoff, pesticides, sewage facilities, and nonpoint pollution. We can protect rivers and lakes by safeguarding their watersheds, restoring wetlands, and stopping channelization. We can close agricultural drainage wells and control industrial discharges to protect our precious and vulnerable groundwater. Perhaps most of all, we can think about our water whenever we work in a factory, spray a dandelion, spread manure, or flush. And we can consider water as we're working the soil.

Indeed, the quality of our water can be only as good as the quality of the soil that filters it. The topsoil that once grew our prairies, forests, and wetlands - and purified our water - has been eroding away since we removed most of the original plant cover. After only 150 years of statehood, most of our sloping cropland has lost half of its topsoil. Our very heritage has washed into streams, blown across fields and ditches, choked aquatic systems, and transported pesticides and fertilizers.

With 70 percent of the state in cropland that is tilled or planted every year, it's no wonder that Iowa is losing its topsoil. We've gotten better, but in 1997, Iowa farms lost more than five tons of soil per acre to wind and water erosion. The losses decreased from ten tons per acre in 1982, but we still lose almost a bushel of soil for every bushel of corn that we grow. It's only a layer less than 1/32 of an inch thick, but it amounts to hauling away and dumping a truckload of soil for each truckload of grain harvested.

As we try to conserve our soil, we should guard its quality as well. To grow crops, support plants and animals, and process water and air, our soil must be a dynamic resource, filled with essential living organisms. We can protect its health from the ailments of erosion, chemical overuse, weed infestations, and loss of organic matter. Like our own skin, our topsoil is a fragile layer that defends the integrity of a complex, living organism. Future generations depend upon its welfare.

Not only does that soil provide our food, it also grows plants that cleanse and produce our air. Iowans take pride in our fresh air. Because we assume that the air we breathe is clean, we don't often test it.

When we do test our air, we may not like the results. Several Iowa sites have violated air health standards. Each fall, leaf smoke engulfs some towns. Even when it's clear, we can see only 15 to 30 miles, compared with 45 to 90 miles in the early 1800s. Many air-quality problems stem from wasteful use of energy. Burning fossil fuels annually produces about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide in Iowa. Vehicles foul our air with nitrous oxides, toxins, carbon monoxide, waste oil, and palls of smog.

Large-scale livestock operations can generate large-scale manure stenches. Industrial odors taint some communities. But Iowa does not regulate odor-causing chemicals. Nor do we adequately test for toxins in the air, although other studies suggest these pollutants are of concern. Airborne toxins can cause cancer, contaminate our water, or spread across the land.

We have made progress in recent years, however. Gasoline engines burn cleaner, and smokestacks give off fewer emissions. Iowa's air quality may be better than in some other parts of the nation. Still, the problems we do have are magnified by their impacts on older people. Iowa has the nation's highest percentage of residents over age eighty, and we rank fourth in people over sixty-five. Clean air is vital for all of us.

Of course, people aren't the only ones who use air. It's also essential for our animal and plant communities: crops, gardens, green space, natural areas, and preserves.

Take prairie, for example. Many believed this grassland was too poor to grow trees, too barren for settlers. Surprisingly, this "waste" land became the richest on Earth. Once farmers discovered its fertile soil, the prairie community was doomed. The land that is now Iowa opened for settlement in 1833. By 1910, about 97 percent of the prairie had been converted to agriculture. In seventy-seven years - one lifetime - we obliterated an ecosystem.

Today, Iowans once again are protecting bits of prairie. Biologists at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, near Prairie City, are reconstructing 6,000 acres of prairie, complete with elk and bison herds. The Iowa Department of Transportation and many Iowa counties are seeding prairie species in road rights-of-way. Prairie eventually could cover 600,000 acres along 100,000 miles of roads. Suburbanites tend colorful prairie wildflower gardens. Farmers grow switchgrass to be burned with coal. Cattle raisers use native grass pastures. Prairie plantings attract a wide variety of birds, small mammals, and butterflies.

But interest in prairies grew slowly. Conservation efforts in the early 1900s by Thomas Macbride and Louis Pammel emphasized woodlands. Finally, in 1946, Iowa State College botanist Ada Hayden published a list of prairie remnants, asking to preserve twenty-two sites with 6,000 acres in ten counties. Many have been destroyed, but state, county, and private groups have protected others. Hayden Prairie State Preserve, 240 acres in Howard County, honors Hayden's work.

Iowa's prairie now covers less than 0.1 percent of the original 28.6 million acres, and half of the remnants may be of poor quality. About 100 preserves protect 5,000 acres of prairie. Private owners control several thousand acres of prairie, with the largest parcels in the Loess Hills and the Little Sioux River valley. Smaller remnants may survive throughout Iowa, but these relicts need to be identified and protected from invading trees, overgrazing, and land use changes.

Like prairies, wetlands for decades were considered wasteland that needed to be made "useful." Call them marshes, swamps, or potholes, many have disappeared in the last century - drained or altered for agriculture, industry, cities, and roads.

Iowa has lost 90 percent of its original 4.5 million acres of wetlands, especially in the north-central prairie pothole region, which became world-class cropland. We also dredged and ditched rivers and adjoining sloughs and lowlands. We have laid about 800,000 miles of drainage tile. That's seven times the length of our road system.

But now we realize what we've lost, and Iowans have begun restoring wetlands. Farmers are rebuilding wetlands on about 10,000 acres of land in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. The North American Waterfowl Management Plan and the federal Wetlands Reserve and Emergency Wetlands Reserve Programs also are helping restore wetlands on another 91,000 acres, with more planned.

The vibrant bloom of native prairie species brightens the view for travelers of Interstate 35 north of Ames. The Iowa Department of Transportation reestablished this roadside prairie. Photo by Roger Hill.

This restored wetland is the site of a former sand and gravel operation. Such lowland sites are often water-filled and highly suited for establishing wildlife habitat and recreation areas. (Bob Pyle Marsh, Story County) Photo by Roger Hill.

McFarland Lake was formed by impounding the waters of a small tributary to the South Skunk River. The site is headquarters for the Story County Conservation Board. County conservation boards play a valuable role in managing and restoring natural areas, as well as offering interpretive opportunities for the public. Photo by Roger Hill.

Although we've made a good start by plugging tiles and pooling water to reconstruct wetlands, we may not be able to duplicate the unique habitats of the original communities. Prairie potholes formed in level terrain, with little natural drainage. But we typically rebuild wetlands downstream, capturing water from tiles or ditches.

Nevertheless, Iowans have new regard for wetland functions and aesthetics. We see how both natural and reconstructed wetlands filter our water and trap sediment. Wetlands hold floods, then release waters slowly. People seek wetlands' natural beauty to hunt, fish, and watch wildlife. Water in wetlands recharges aquifers. We've accepted the wetland as a respected member of our natural community.

While heavily damaged, Iowa's forests escaped the almost complete devastation we imposed on our other natural systems. They were spared partly because they grow on land unsuited for other crops and partly because people prize trees for wildlife, shade, windbreaks, aesthetics, recreation, and wood products. Trees can boost urban property values as much as 15 percent, and reduce heating and cooling costs nearly 30 percent. Iowa wood industries also support 7,000 jobs, with an annual payroll of $142 million. In northeast Iowa, tourists spend $6 million annually to see fall leaf colors.

Early settlers saw trees as commodities to be used or as impediments to agriculture. Of the 6.7 million acres of forests in Iowa, nearly two-thirds, more than 4 million acres, had been lost to clearing, grazing, logging, or fuelwood cutting by 1900. The destruction continued with intensive crop and livestock farming. By 1974, only 1.5 million acres of woodlands remained in Iowa. Since then, our forests have rebounded to about 2.1 million acres, due to less grazing and to more tree planting. Some cities have even developed forest-like canopies.

But these forests aren't just in public parks. With more than 92 percent of our woodlands in private hands, individual decisions will shape our future forests. People who own woods for hunting or other hobbies may manage the forest very differently than did the farmers who used the timber for grazing or firewood cutting. Yes, Iowa is a farm state, but farm fields don't preclude forests. Our people like trees, and we're welcoming their return to our diverse green space.

These samples of our original landscape can and do attract wildlife, but small habitat remnants obviously cannot sustain the array of birds and animals that once lived here. The bison, passenger pigeon, whooping crane, and sturgeon have given way to raccoons, white-tailed deer, red winged blackbirds, and channel catfish. Today's wildlife live with cropfields, scattered forests, and muddy waters. But even common birds and animals enrich our lives. By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates, more that one million Iowans watch wildlife, hunt, or go fishing.

Whether we continue to enjoy the wildlife depends, of course, on habitat. If wild creatures are adapted to out land uses, they can prosper. Deer have flourished, even with hunters annually taking about 100,000 white-tails. Some cities and parks allow hunting to control deer. Woodchucks and cotton-tail rabbits invade gardens. Canada geese take over ponds on golf courses and city parks.

Sometimes, wildlife species respond to people's help. We've brought back wild turkeys and river otters by releasing birds and animals from other states. Peregrine falcons, wiped out by the pesticide DDT in the 1960s, are nesting again, aided by captive breeding. Bald eagle numbers have rebounded spectacularly. Trumpeter swans, released in the wild, are breeding once more after a 100-year absence (see Wildlife Restorations in Iowa).

Other animal populations have dropped because of human disturbances. The ovenbird, veery, and cerulean warbler declined with the break-up of large forests. Pintails, yellow-headed blackbirds, and rails decreased with their wetlands. As grasslands disappeared, so did short-eared owls and upland sandpipers. About eighty animals, from bobcats to bats and from snails to butterflies, are now threatened or endangered (see Uncommon Wildlife in Iowa).

Loss of these habitats destroyed plant communities, as well as the wildlife. For example, the endangered western white-fringed prairie orchid and the rare small white lady's slipper were common before their prairie habitat was plowed. Bog willow and brook lobelia inhabited fens (spring-fed bogs), most of which have been destroyed by grazing and draining.

About 150 Iowa plant species have been classified as rare or endangered, while 40 more have not been seen for decades and may no longer grow here. To avoid losing more of these pieces of our heritage, Iowans must protect their habitat.

We also must shield our native species from invaders. House sparrows and European starlings have become pests. Carp have ruined good fishing waters. The zebra mussel, a tiny clam, crowds out native mussels in the Mississippi River and other waters. Leafy spurge and bromegrass invade prairies. Garlic mustard and buckthorn displace other plants in woodlands. Eurasian water milfoil can take over lakes. Purple loosestrife chokes wetlands. With few natural enemies, such exotics disrupt our native communities. Just as we try to keep our own bodies healthy to resist diseases, we must try to keep the land healthy to ward off alien species.

Iowa's archaeological resources, links to our cultural past and environmental history, also are in jeopardy. More than 80 percent of the state's 19,000 known archaeological sites have been damaged or destroyed by erosion, sand and gravel operations, construction, farming, vandalism, or careless artifact collecting. Many more sites - windows on antiquity - no doubt remain undiscovered. Only 5 percent of the state has been surveyed for these fragile remnants that show the way of life of early Iowans.

Although Iowa laws protect all cemeteries and burials, regardless of age or condition, these and other archaeological sites may be difficult to find and identify. To be able to learn from the 600 generations of native Iowans who were here before Europeans arrived, and to appreciate their culture, we must protect these clues to their legacy.

Healthy land not only works for us, it can be a source of fun and relaxation. People are drawn to the land. It bonds us to ancestors, links us with natural communities, and offers scenery and solitude. Thus, our increasingly urban people long for outdoor recreation. Health-conscious families want trails. Disabled people deserve access. Older citizens have more time to visit parks.

But hikers, campers, canoeists, boaters, snowmobilers, equestrians, bikers, hunters, picnickers, and bird-watchers may compete for the same space. Can we buy sufficient land or develop enough sites to avoid conflict among these groups?

Iowa's innovative County Conservation Board system provides close-to-home recreation. The 99 boards manage nearly 1,500 diverse areas. Private conservation groups also identify and protect natural areas and wildlife habitat. Our 66 state parks and recreation areas, with more than 53,000 acres, host 10 to 15 million visitors each year. Nearly 2,000 miles of trails traverse those parks and forests.

Add 9,345 acres of state-protected preserves, 40,000 acres of state forests, 318,000 acres of state fish and wildlife areas, and another 190,000 acres of federal lands, yet Iowa still has a smaller proportion of public land than almost any other state. About 600,000 acres of roadside rights-of-way and more than 40,000 acres of railroad corridors could be managed to improve habitat and scenery. But all these lands together cannot meet the demands for recreation. Private landowners can provide some opportunities for hunting, fishing, bird-watching, and enjoyment of the outdoors, but what of the future, with even more pressure on our resources?

Native Iowan Aldo Leopold, writing in A Sand County Almanac, understood: "Recreational development is a job not of building roads into lovely country, but of building receptivity into the . . . human mind."

People pressures affect every Iowa resource. For example, Iowa relies on imported fossil fuels - gasoline, natural gas, coal, and oil - for 95 percent of our power, which also generates 30 tons of fumes and soot annually for every Iowan. Some of those emissions trap the sun's heat and add to global climate change. More efficient use of fossil fuels and increased use of renewable energy could reduce those impacts and decrease other pollutants in our air and water.

Energy costs us more than $6 billion each year. We could save 30 percent of what we spend on our utility bills through investments in energy efficiency. Smarter energy use can give us more productivity from every kilowatt-hour we pay for, lessening our impact on the environment while improving our quality of life. We could do more by developing biomass fuels, by continuing farmers' savings through reduced tillage and less fertilizer use, by using existing passive solar techniques, and by further promoting a wind energy industry that's already a leader in the nation. Electric utility deregulation also may provide incentives to use energy carefully and efficiently and to produce power from renewable sources. With good management, our energy future could be brighter.

Coal will be part of our energy mix for some time into the future, but it will not be produced in Iowa. Our state produced more coal than any other state in the late 1800s, but demand faded in the face of alternative fuels and higher quality coal from elsewhere. Our last coal mine closed in 1994. Iowa mining now is focused on limestone, sand, gravel, clay, and gypsum.

While we extract these needed resources from the ground, we also bury others that we consider waste. But, in reality, there's no such thing as "waste" - and no "away" to throw it. Eventually, Iowans must live with or reuse the 4 million tons of garbage we produce annually. Although recycling and waste reduction have cut our landfill use by one-third since 1988, we still dump 2.7 million tons of trash annually, enough to fill 14,400 houses.

The mandatory deposit on beverage containers has helped. We recycle 92 percent (1.29 billion annually) of the pop and beer cans we use. Since 1979, we have reclaimed one-million cubic yards of aluminum cans, enough to overflow the UNI-Dome. Because it takes 95 percent less energy to make a can from recycled aluminum than from ore, the annual energy savings could power 26,000 homes.

The Iowa Beverage Containers Deposit Law - or bottle bill as it's commonly known - changed the way we think about our responsibility to the environment. It counters a habit of litter and creates more positive attitudes about taking care of our beautiful land.
- Robert D. Ray, former Governor of Iowa

Des Moines Register editorial, July 23, 1998

We also have embraced curbside recycling and programs to collect household hazardous wastes. By simply recycling and reusing products and consuming less, Iowans annually save energy equal to 89 million gallons of gasoline.

Businesses and industries also can avoid pollution by developing less hazardous products and processes. With the initial help of outside specialists, companies have saved more than $109 million, while cutting wastes by 1.1 million tons since 1991.

Shopping for low-impact products, recycling, and reduced consumption can save money for individual Iowans and for businesses, while reducing our communities' waste disposal dilemmas.

Rather than dwell on such environmental problems, we'd sometimes prefer to emphasize what we do best in Iowa, and that is grow things. More than 90 percent of our land produces agricultural crops, trees, or pasture grasses.

But even that land resource is shrinking. Shopping malls, highways, suburbs, and factories now cover three-quarters of a million acres of the state, the equivalent of two counties. Between 1992 and 1997, we annually lost an area equal to fifty-four average-size farms, more than 18,000 acres.

Iowa's losses may be crucial, because 53 percent of our agricultural land is prime farmland, and development often takes the best land first. Level ground appeals as much to industry and road builders and landscapers and building contractors as it does to farmers.

Conversion of farmland raises other issues. What will it cost to provide services like roads, utilities, and schools to new developments? What are the environmental impacts of developing the land or of the additional miles people drive? Is the land in a floodplain? Can we ever justify building where water is certain to flow? Aren't open spaces important to our well-being, too?

And how can we protect the wonders of a starry night from the glare of urban illumination? City lights can make the sky fifty times brighter than natural sky, allowing us to see only 200 stars instead of 2,500. We could solve the problem, and save energy, by using lights that are shielded to direct their beams downward.

For the sake of the land and the people who use it, these may be questions worth asking. Once paved or developed, a farm field can almost never be recovered.

That complex land-people relationship will continue to evolve. Iowans are aging, and our population increase is slow. In the next twenty years, we may grow only 3 to 6 percent over the 2.86 million people we had in 1998. We have more residents age seventy-five or older than we do age five or younger. We're becoming more urban, as people move from farms to cities. And our ethnic makeup is becoming more diverse, with increases in the number of Hispanic, African-American, Eastern European, and Asian residents.

These changes could affect our natural resources. More than 90 percent of Iowa's land is privately owned, often by older people. Two-thirds of the land belongs to individuals age fifty-five and older, while nearly 20 percent belongs to owners over age seventy-four. Thus, one property in five probably will change hands within ten to twenty years, as people die. The new landholders, who may have grown up in urban areas, could decide to use land differently from the older owners, who were more likely to have had long ties to agriculture.

The migration of people from rural areas to cities also may increase pressure to build around urban centers. Polk County, for example, has lost 3,000 acres of open space to development annually since the early 1990s.

As Iowa's population becomes more diverse, people of different cultural and religious backgrounds may look at the land and its resources in different ways. To some Iowans, the land is a resource to be exploited for profit. New residents may bring nontraditional land ethics and customs. To many, land has spiritual and natural values and should be protected for future generations.

When we choose a home in Iowa - a place still uncluttered and livable - we often do so because we recognize what a treasure we have in this "land between two rivers." Individuals, business people, government leaders, and private interest groups - we all share a vision with people like ourselves. And people will decide how our land is used. We will determine whether our natural communities and human communities will prosper. We will paint a portrait for posterity.


Indigo bunting	Iowa Resources Today: Status and Trends	Striped skunk



Wood of the white oak is a valuable timber crop, and its colorful foliage is a highlight of the fall season. Photo by Bruce Ehresman.		Increased efforts are underway to monitor the quality of Iowa's surface and groundwaters. (Sny Magill Creek, Clayton County). Photo by Tim McCabe.


Photo by Ken Formanek	Recreational opportunities on Iowa's land include numerous bike trails, hiking at Pike's Peak State Park in Clayton County, beach volleyball at Big Creek Lake State Park in Polk County, canoeing along the bedrock palisades of the Upper Iowa River, and fishing the waters of the Middle Raccoon River.

Photo by Jean C. Prior.	Photo by Jim Scheffler.