State Forestry Motto:"Building a better Iowa by helping people to grow and care for their trees, forests and prairies"

Message from Stewardship Program

The following are some issues that Iowa forest landowners are faced with, and should be aware of:

• Lack of Awareness of Forest Values By Iowa's Citizens - Since 92% of Iowa's forests are privately owned by 55,000 landowners, the future challenges to educate our citizens about the stewardship and management of our forests is extremely critical. In a highly agriculturally dominated state, there is a major void in understanding many of the values such as wildlife habitat, air quality, water quality, outdoor recreation, forest products and aesthetics.
• Limited Economic Opportunities to Enhance Resource Management - Many private forestland owners need some form of incentives or technical assistance to improve forest conditions. Current economic incentives and technical assistance are in high demand, but are often inadequate to promote and expand resources management.
• Limited to Declining Bio-diversity/Health in Iowa Forests - due to a history of livestock overgrazing and selective logging, surveys indicate that Iowa's forests contain a large amount of low quality hardwoods, lack adequate natural regeneration, are being invaded by invasive plants and are threatened by introduction of exotic insects and diseases. Education and technical assistance needs to be expanded to encourage more proactive forest management.
• Lack of Support to Expand and Enhance Forests for Water Quality Protection - drinking water supplies of Iowa's citizens are of great concern due to sedimentation and excessive nutrients from agricultural operations. Trees and shrubs in combination with native grasses can successful act as riparian buffers combined with protecting forests on steep slopes and floodplains can great improve soil conservation and water quality.
• Trends of Forest Fragmentation and Land Use Demographics - Much of Iowa's forests exist on ground that is too steep or too wet for traditional row crop agriculture. Eighty-six percent of Iowa's forests are owned by people 55 years and older, with 25% being owned by those above 75 years of age. Opportunities to utilize and protect forests for existing and new owners of these fragmented forests must be developed to avoid land use change.
• How Do We Cope with Natural Disasters - Iowa's forests during the last two decades of the 20th century endured extremes of drought, floods, ice, heavy snows, tornadoes and straight line winds that impacts over 300,000 acres. These natural disasters make our forests more susceptible to secondary insects and disease issues. Efforts are needed to expand technical assistance to plan and prepare for natural disaster effects, especially as the urban/rural interface expands wildland fire issues.

State Forestland Statistics:

• Total forested acres = 2.1 million acres
• Privately owned = 1.8 million acres
• Industry =100,000 acres
• Government =200,000 acres

Links:

• Iowa Division of Forests and Prairies
• Cooperative Extension System
• EPA: Global Warming Impacts on Iowa
• Iowa State University - Department of Forestry
• The Nature Conservancy, Iowa Chapter
• Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Iowa- Parks, Recreation and Preserves Division

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