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DNR News >
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State Areas Take Hit From Flood, Tornados
Washed-out dikes and boat ramps, a steep drop in license sales, rearranged camping plans add up to a nearly $12 million price tag on state wildlife, fishing and park areas in Iowa. The damage estimates follow heavy flooding and tornados earlier this season. "Many needed projects will be delayed into future years because of damage or loss of revenue," says Ken Herring, conservation and recreation division administrator of the DNR. In the meantime, he advises that the agency will do whatever it can to keep parks, state forests, fishing lakes and wildlife areas open to the public. Much of Iowa's public land lies along river corridors and took a direct hit as streams surged out of their banks and across what is usually dry land. The DNR's wildlife bureau estimates the cost to restore structures such as levees, water control structures, ramps, parking lots, culverts, roads and buildings will be $4 million. Another $1 million will be felt in the form of lost revenue from croplands on many of the 35,000 acres managed as farm land on wildlife units. Additionally, late summer projects, such as waterfowl-attracting wild rice plantings will not be possible in many areas. That will reduce the holding power of those areas for ducks and geese, causing many to fly right by on their southward migration in the coming weeks. "We had a lot of structural damage; there are still some areas just coming out of the water", explains wildlife bureau chief Dale Garner. "We will look at some structural changes as we recover. We may lower some of the dikes and broaden them; make the slopes wider on the sides to reduce some of the pressure coming over." Not included in that estimate is the loss of hunting license revenue if wildlife population estimates are drastically lower. On the fishing side of things, shoreline erosion, loss of in-stream habitat, repair to access roads for trout stocking and damaged fishing jetties are greeting anglers as the water recedes. Repair of those makes up $500,000 of the $1,760,000 price tag. Also included is an estimate of $500,000 to repair the Big Spring and Manchester hatcheries. The Big Spring station near Elkader lost tens of thousands of trout and saw a near wipeout of its office and storage area. And while many eyes will be on the electronic terminals that crank out hunting licenses this fall, there has been a dramatic downturn in fishing license sales for May, June and July. Those peak sales months felt a drop-off, but sales have recovered somewhat late this summer. State parks were damaged to the tune of $4,775,000 by strong winds, flooding, heavy rain and, again, lost revenue as they headed into what should have been the peak of their seasons. Herring estimates $3,600,000 in actual damages to electrical transformers, lift stations, roads, parking lots and building foundations. Two park campgrounds remain closed due to acts of nature, with access limited in others. And while wildlife and fisheries might estimate the loss of license revenue, the parks can point to lost camping receipts and refunds on camping, shelter and lodge reservations. "Parks projects involving some new or renovated structures may be put on hold, pending more immediate repairs," Herring says. "This will cause some pushback from groups that will view this delay as unacceptable." Much of the damage to state forestry stock and facilities came from tornadoes just before the flooding. Along with a grant program to help replant windbreaks, the price tag there is about $260,000. Within the DNR's law enforcement bureau, the physical loss was tagged at $55,000 to fund flood repair at it's Manchester district office. Herring points out, though, that a similar amount was paid out in overtime costs as officers assisted in evacuation, search and rescue and other security requirements. "Roads, boat ramps, fish hatcheries, etcetera will be repaired within the abilities of the department's budget," Herring says. "(However), prioritization and reworking budgets and engineering projects will be necessary."
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