NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1991
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR REVIEW AND APPROVALS
DESOTO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Missouri Valley, Iowa
ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT
Calendar Year 1991
Project Lead Wildlife Associate Mgr. INTRODUCTION
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is located midway between the farming communities of Blair, Nebraska, and Missouri Valley, Iowa, on U. S. Highway 30. The refuge is situated astride the Missouri River, 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska. It lies in Harrison and Pottawattamie Counties, Iowa, and Washington County, Nebraska.
The refuge was established in 1959 to preserve habitat for migratory waterfowl. Acquisition was authorized by the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and Migratory Bird Stamp Act. It serves as a seasonal resting area for up to one-half million waterfowl, primarily lesser snow geese and mallards. It has also become an important wintering area for up to 120 endangered bald eagles.
The 7,823 acre refuge lies in the wide, fertile plain of the Missouri Valley Basin on the former meanders of the Missouri River. Portions of the refuge are characterized by cottonwood bottomlands. Approximately 2,500 acres are biologically managed as croplands and grasslands under ten cooperative farming agreements. Warm-season native grasses have been reestablished on over 350 acres to provide additional diversity.
The focal point for both man and wildlife is a former oxbow of the Missouri - the 788-acre DeSoto Lake. Recreational demand for its use has remained high since refuge establishment. The refuge provided active recreation throughout its early history, including fishing, picnicking, boating, waterskiing and swimming. Approximately 16-million dollars worth of facilities have been developed to accommodate public demand by up to 500,000 visitors annually. Within the last decade, management emphasis has been redirected toward a more balanced program between man and wildlife, emphasizing wildlife-oriented recreation.
The 1968 excavation of the steamboat Bertrand. which sank in 1865, add a major historical emphasis to the refuge program. The 200,000 artifacts in the Bertrand Collection provide one of the most significant assemblages of Civil-War era artifacts in the Missouri River region. The collection constitutes a time capsule of national and regional attraction.
In 1981, the DeSoto Visitor Center was opened. The visitor center is the permanent home of the Bertrand Collection. The five-million-dollar, 26,000-square-foot building contains exhibits interpreting the importance of the Bertrand and the historical development and ecological change that occurred within the Missouri River Basin. In addition to environmentally controlled artifact storage and museum exhibit areas, the building houses a laboratory for artifact treatment, a collection records area, and a reference library.
The visitor center also provides exhibits depicting the natural history of the area and its wildlife. Viewing galleries overlooking DeSoto Lake provide excellent opportunities to observe waterfowl and bald eagles during the spring and fall migration periods. A variety of audio-visual equipment provide effective interpretation to an average of 180,000 visitors who pass through the center each year. DE SOTO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
"FTI TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A. HIGHLIGHTS 1
B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 1
C. LAND ACQUISITION
1. Fee Title Nothing to Report 2. Easements Nothing to Report 3. Other Nothing to Report 4. Farmers Home Administration Conservation 4
D. PLANNING
1. Master Plan Nothing to Report 2. Management Plan 5 3. Public Participation Nothing to Report 4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resource Mandates 6 5. Research and Investigations 7 6. Other 9
E. ADMINISTRATION
1. Personnel 9 2. Youth Programs 14 3. Other Manpower Programs 14 4. Volunteer Program 14 5. Funding 15 6. Safety 17 7. Technical Assistance 18 8. Other Items/Donations 18
F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT
1. General 19 2. Wetlands 19 3. Forests 23 4. Croplands 24 5. Grasslands 32 6. Other Habitat 33 7. Grazing Nothing to Report 8. Haying 33 9. Fire Management 33 10. Pest Control 34 11. Water Rights Nothing to Report 12. Wilderness and Special Areas Nothing to Report Page
13. WPA Easement Monitoring Nothing to Report 14. Farmers Home Administration Conservation Easement... 35 15. Private Lands 36 16. Other Easements Nothing to Report
G. WILDLIFE
1. Wildlife Diversity 37 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species 38 3. Waterfowl 38 4. Marsh and Water Birds 41 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species 41 6. Raptors 41 7. Other Migratory Birds 41 8. Game Mammals 42 9. Marine Mammals Nothing to Report 10. Other Resident Wildlife 42 11. Fisheries Resources 42 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking.Nothing to Report 13. Surplus Animal Disposal Nothing to Report 14. Scientific Collections Nothing to Report 15. Animal Control Nothing to Report 16. Marking and Banding Nothing to Report 17. Disease Prevention and Control 45
H. PUBLIC USE 1. General 46 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students 50 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers 52 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 52 5. Interpretive Tour Routes 53 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations 53 7. Other Interpretive Programs 59 8. Hunting 60 9. Fishing 62 10. Trapping Nothing to Report 11. Wildlife Observation 63 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation 64 13. Camping Nothing to Report 14. Picnicking 65 15. Off-Road Vehicling Nothing to Report 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation 65 17. Law Enforcement 66 18. Cooperating Associations 71 19. Concessions Nothing to Report Page
I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
1. New Construction 72 2. Rehabilitation 72 3. Major Maintenance 76 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement 77 5. Communication Systems 78 6. Computer Systems 79 7. Energy Conservation Nothing to Report 8. Other Nothing to Report
J. OTHER ITEMS
1. Cooperative Programs 80 2. Other Economic Uses 82 3. Items of Interest 82 4. Credits 84
K. FEEDBACK 85 1
A. HIGHLIGHTS
The refuge experienced its third wettest weather this year, but a dry early fall. Section B.
A new deer study is providing some interesting data. Section D. 5.
A number of staff changes occurred, leaving the refuge understaffed for long periods. Section E. 1.
Refuge volunteers donated 5,284 hours of service. Section E. 4.
A Halloween storm resulted in the highest peak fall population of snow geese, but the lowest overall use days in years. Section G. 3.
November's public use dropped to the lowest in a decade. Section H. 1.
Also DeSoto Visitor Center use was the lowest ever, with only 127,000 visits this year. Section H. 6,
A major deer poaching case was quickly resolved, due to a thorough investigation by refuge officers and good cooperation. Section H. 17.
B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
1991 WEATHER DATA DESOTO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Precipitation (inches)* 1991 Temperatures(0F) Month 1991 Average** Snowfall Max. Min. Jan. 1.90 0.92 19.0 58 -16 Febr. 0.29 0.99 0.5 71 12 March 4.24 2.37 86 15 April 5.85 2.72 89 30 May 3.76 4.06 99 37 June 10.15 4.18 101 62 July 2.04 3.58 95 54 Augus t 3.87 3.52 94 55 Sept, 0.67 3.88 91 28 Oct. 1.28 2.44 84 18 Nov. 4.20 1.29 12.0 84 -9 Dec. 1.91 1.27 54 3
TOTALS 40.16 31.22 31.5
* Includes snowfall. **30-year average, 1961-1990. 2
Low temperatures and heavy snowfall carried over from last December into the new year, with the most snowfall recorded in January in eleven years. Nineteen inches of snow were measured, along with minimum temperatures of a minus-16 degrees. This allowed ice fishing to continue until the 19th of February. Only 0.29 inches of moisture occurred in February, and temperatures ranged from a high of 71 degrees to a low of 2 degrees. The lake aeration system was operated throughout the period, attracting lots of waterfowl to the open water in February.
DeSoto Lake became ice-free on March 3rd and the lake aeration system was shut down. Yet, March and April were generally cold and wet, with over ten inches of needed precipitation. March turned out to be the fourth wettest on record, April rains came in the form of severe storms, including softball-size hail and tornado sightings nearby. By the middle of the month, the U. S, Corps of Engineers had brought the Missouri River's navigation channel to full operational level.
Cool and wet weather continued into the first couple of weeks of May, providing proper conditions for an excellent mushroom season. Morels were prevalent. Farmers somehow managed to sneak in their crop planting between showers. DeSoto Lake rose 0.7 feet above the normal operating level as a result of runoff from adjoining farmlands.
They say that when it rains, it pours. June proved the point, with 10.15 inches of rainfall, a near record. Shoreline parking lots along DeSoto Lake flooded, as well as docks and boat ramps. The lake outlet was opened to attempt drawdown at mid-month, but had to be closed in early July as the river rose.
July and August rainfall and temperatures were more normal for the season. The lake remained a foot above normal at 990.5 msl.
Usually, September is our third wettest month. However, not this year. It was the second driest, with only 0.67 inches of precipitation. Still, over 100 hours of Crisafulli pumping from DeSoto Lake into the Iowa Department of Natural Resource's Nobles Lake was necessary to bring the lake down to normal operational level.
Typical fall weather was evident in October, with little indication that the year's first major blizzard was in store for us by the end of the month. On the 29th, approximately 150,000 snow geese arrived. Then came the Halloween storm, the earliest snow and ice storm of that magnitude to hit this area. By the 31st, an estimated 550,000 geese had been forced down from the Dakotas into our area. The severe wind-chill and blowing snow quickly closed in DeSoto Lake, covered the crops, and reduced goose numbers by day's end to only a few thousand hardy individuals. By the end of the month, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers had dropped Missouri River flows at Gavins Point Dam to 9000 cfs, and the river quickly dropped seven feet below its banks along this stretch.
November continued the winter trend, with freezing rain and strong winds that snapped numerous trees and limbs on north-facing treelines throughout 3 the area. Some warmer temperatures did creep back in during the middle of the month. At one point, you could almost wade across the Missouri River, but the Corps increased flows to 12,000 cfs in late November.
December was mild, with several days of unusually warm temperatures for this time of year. A high of 54 and a low of 3 degrees occurred. Remaining waterfowl kept several holes open in DeSoto Lake during most of the month. Lots of fog and melting conditions occurred as the month progressed. Refuge roads became muddy and rutted, and some asphalt pavement broke up.
Total precipitation for the year was 40.16 inches. With the thirty-year precipitation average at 31.22 inches, the refuge's total precipitation ended up 8.94 inches above normal. This was the fifth highest annual precipitation recorded for the refuge, a welcome relief from the drought conditions of the past few years. Still, Missouri River flowage was only 69 percent of normal, so everyone in the Basin weren't treated as well.
C. LAND ACQUISITION
3. Other
Considerable planning for land acquisition occurred within DeSoto's 21-county Fish and Wildlife Management District, although no action was taken. Little of this District is within the joint ventures, but several cooperative acquisitions were proposed, from the dry, farmed wetlands of Goose Lake in Boone County to Honey Creek Lake, just five miles south of the refuge. Although numerous meetings and tours occurred, the only imminent process evolving is Manager Gage's preliminary project proposal for roughly 600 acres of Honey Creek Lake and adjoining uplands. This old lakeland has been considered for acquisition by Ducks Unlimited in the past. It adjoins 700-acre Camp Hitchcock, which was recently acquired by Pottawattamie County as a Loess Hills nature area. These farmed wetlands have been drained, but could be easily restored; an alternate source of water lies only 800 feet away, 12-inch center pivot well. There are thousands of waterfowl on it as of this writing.
Manager Gage was appointed as Region 3's Coordinator and was actively involved with the Missouri Chutes Working Group, planning and evaluating potential riverine sites for consideration in a cooperative wetland restoration project along a 137 mile stretch of the Missouri River, between Sioux City, Iowa, and the confluence of the Platte River below Omaha, Nebraska. The group includes representatives from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, The Omaha-Winnebago Tribes, and the Service. Harvey Wittmier, Land Acquisition Chief for Region 6, serves as the Chairperson for this clan of mud dabblers. A couple of interesting aspects of this group's clandestine meanderings in 4
the Missouri's muck are featured under Section J.l, Cooperative Programs,
4. Farmers Home Administration Conservation Easements
DeSoto's Fish and Wildlife Management District decreased in size to 21 counties, with the reorganization of county responsibilities this past year. Four of those counties: Decatur, Madison, Ringgold, and Boone had nine easements either proposed or accepted. These were transferred to Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge after its establishment. The station's responsibility within the 21 counties in western Iowa, (as well as assisting Region 6 in a minor role in northeastern Nebraska) , is to screen FmHA properties for significant wildlife resources and propose conservation easements on desirable habitat. If, and when, these easement proposals are accepted by both FmHA and the Service, the tracts will then be managed as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
During the year, ten FmHA properties in seven different counties were reviewed. Of these, eight were proposed for easements. Total acres for the proposed easements has yet to be determined, because contractual survey work was not finished as of this writing. None of these easements have been recorded. Apparently, FmHA has been in the process of changing their regulations and policies for the last year and a half; hence, they are not selling inventoried properties in Iowa, until they obtain new guidance. New procedures are supposed to be available in 1992, allowing the properties to be put up for sale and the easements eventually recorded. In the meantime, the Service maintains Caretaker Agreements on the proposed easement, which allows posting, fencing, and any other management practices deemed necessary.
The T. Pesley property in Harrison County is within the 17,000-acre Loess Hills State Forest acquisition boundary. After reviewing the site, it was proposed for fee title transfer to their agency.
The majority of the proposed properties had significant drainages, with some timber within the bottoms and marginal cropland bordering the riparian zone. One of the easements, the D. Flanigan property in Monona County, has an excellent cattail marsh in place, and the R. Bruck property in Harrison County has a ten-acre impoundment that, with some development, will provide suitable waterfowl habitat.
The following table is a complete listing of proposed FmHA easements through 1991. 5
FmHA Easement Status Report
Former Date Date Date Posting Owner Countv Proposed Accepted Recorded Status Acres
•^Anderson Boone 06/88 11/88 Yes 61.0 •^Showers Decatur 07/88 02/89 03/90 Yes 15.6 ^Buckingham Decatur 07/88 02/89 12/89 1/2 41.8 *Bolen Decatur 07/88 02/89 03/90 1/2 9.5 ^Peirson Decatur 07/88 02/89 No 10.5 McAlpin Taylor 08/88 02/89 Yes 3.8 Thompson Dodge, NE 11/88 06/89 Yes 47.5 Hildring Lyon 07/89 ** No 157.7 ^Lauer Madison 09/89 09/90 Yes 4.1 •^Hughes Madison 09/89 No kkk Orr Monona 08/90 ** No 27.5 Hunt Pott. 06/89 02/90 Yes 29.0 •^Cooper Ringgold 11/89 No *Klommhaus Ringgold 11/89 No *** Langstraat Sioux 07/89 04/90 07/90 No 6.3 Bruck Harrison 01/91 05/91 No 3.3 Burson Taylor 04/91 09/91 No 70.0 Barry Harrison 04/91 No •k-Jck Fichter Fremont 06/91 Not inventoried Dunbar Page 06/91 kkk Pesley Harrison 05/91 72 A King Taylor 04/91 07/91 Yes 32.0 Flanigan Monona 12/91 No •kkk
•^Transferred to Walnut Creek NWR Management District. •^Proposed transfer to State of Iowa. ***A.creage to be determined by future survey.
D. PLANNING
1. Management Plan
The station's revised Refuge Management Plan, Parts I-III, was submitted in June, and returned in early August for minor revision.
The station's Public Use Management Plan underwent a major revision and was submitted also in June. It was returned for revisions in late July. At this point, the station's Outdoor Recreation Planner was looking ahead to another job and, now, this plan is on hold until another Outdoor Recreation Planner settles in and can assimilate and interpret the reams of public use data we have collected. It is important we get all this data eventually computerized, because we are constantly being asked for different formats, periods of use, etc. Some tabulations are by season, fiscal year, and calendar year only. Some are handwritten, others 6
typed, some only recorded on Displaywriter, and a little is even in retrievable computer database. What a mess! Someday,
4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resources Mandates
A 404 Permit was approved in 1990 for the placement of rockpiles in DeSoto Lake to provide fishery habitat. The weather finally permitted placement on the ice in January-February.
A Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Bertrand Collection was completed three years ago. That plan was approved this year by the Regional Director and the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in conjunction with a Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement (PMOA). Each museum object conservation activity formerly required approval by the National Advisory Council and the Iowa and Nebraska Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO) under the provisions of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f), This PMOA simplifies procedures and reduces time associated with the Section 106 review process for conservation tasks. A letter from the National Advisory Council heralded the Agreement as "A landmark recognition of the importance of federal collections management."
The PMOA outlines four measures required of the Service:
1. Implement the CCP for the Bertrand Collection.
2. Prepare an annual report for state SHPO's and the Council.
3. The state SHPO's may monitor the program and be provided with information about the program at any time they so desire.
4. The Service will ensure that all work performed under the CCP is carried out under the direct supervision of persons meeting the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualification Standards.
The Office of Inspector General audit of the museum in 1989, resulted in four requirements for the refuge. Three of the four projects have been completed. A monthly report has been sent to the OIG in Washington outlining our progress. The final provision is a 100- percent inventory of the museum collection. That will be implemented next year, pending computerization of the museum collection, which is 95 percent complete as of this writing.
In keeping with the regulations for curation of federally-owned archeological collections (36 CFR 79) , we performed an interim inventory of the collection again this year, using the accountability standards of the National Park Service's Random Sample of Museum Objects Program. 7
5. Research and Investigations
The station's funded IPM study is included in Section F.4, as part of the croplands discussion.
DeSoto NR-84 - "A Field Investigation to Evaluate the Impact of Various Sewage Sludge. Compost, and Commercial Fertilizer Land Applications on Refuge Wildlife. Soils, and Crop Production".
This study was completed in 1990 with the sixth and final cropping year on site. At this date, the data is being analyzed. A final report is scheduled for completion in March from the Rock Island Contaminants Field Office.
DeSoto NR-86 - Monitoring DeSoto Lake Ecosystem
Monitoring of the DeSoto Lake ecosystem continued as planned, with periodic collection of data, including light penetration, water depths, dissolved oxygen, species and density of algae, as well as random determination of growth, spawning, and survival of fish species. Some of the results of this periodic monitoring are discussed in Sections F.2 and G.ll.
DeSoto NR-91 - "Activities and Impacts of White-tailed Deer at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge".
The goal of this project is to determine underlying biological mechanisms of habitat selection, habitat use, and movement of white- tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus') in and near the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Radio-telemetry data and direct observations will be analyzed to determine deer response to phenological period, crop harvest, and hunting seasons. The importance of the refuge to deer populations and the utility of deer harvest as a damage control method also are being examined.
As of January, 1992, A total of 55 deer have been captured and tagged. Twenty-five have been equipped with radio trans- miters. The project has received a lot of media attention. Here, Eric Wall prepares to film for Omaha's WOWT. N29-02-91 MS 8
Primarily, adult does have been radio-equipped, because does dominate the herd, and dictate populations.
Sample deer have been located through radio telemetry about 5,000 times, and through di rect observations more than 750 times. About half of the radio- equipped deer have es tablished home ranges within the boundaries of the refuge. N29-01-91 MS
The other half have dispersed from the refuge. Dispersals averaged about 8 miles, with the longest being 45 miles and across three river drainages.
Master of Science candidate Kurt C. VerCauteren is conducting the research. He operated a check station during the refuge's 1990 and 1991 three-day muzzleloader hunts, and will do so again in 1992. Data recorded from harvest ed deer included sex, age, and weight. Blood samples and ticks (if present) also were collected from each deer. These will be analyzed for Lyme disease and heavy metals. 39-069-91 SVR
The field work in examining the impacts of deer damage to field corn was completed, and data are being analyzed. The frequency of deer use of corn fields was highest during the third and fourth weeks of June (silking-tasseling stage). After results are completely analyzed, management implications regarding findings will be developed.
This research is being cooperatively funded by the Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 9
This research is being cooperatively funded by the Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
6. OTHER
The refuge hosted the Walnut Creek NWR planning team on February 20th and 21st. Wildlife Biologist Root and Administrative Officer Porter gave assistance in setting up farming agreements and the refuge's new office, respectively.
E. ADMINISTRATION
1. Personnel
Name Title Grade Status
George E. Gage Refuge Manager GS-13 PFT Stephen Van Riper Sup. Refuge Op. Spec, GS-12 PFT (EOD 4/21/91) Karen L. Drews Outdoor Rec. Plnr. GS-11 PFT (Transferred 9/7/91) Terry A. Root Wildlife Biologist GS-11 PFT Leslie A. Peterson Museum Curator GS- 9 PFT (Resigned 4/12/91) James O'Barr Museum Curator GS- 9 PFT (EOD 3/10/91) Jeanne Harold Museum Specialist GS- 9 PFT (EOD 12/15/91) Melinda Sheets Refuge Operations Spec. GS- 7 PFT Jerry Olmsted Fishery Biologist (LE) GS- 7 PFT (Transferred 9/7/91) Kenneth Jones Law Enforcement Officer GS- 7 PFT David Reilly Law Enforcement Officer GS- 5 PFT (EOD 12/29/91) Randy A. Porter Admin. Officer GS- 9 PFT Wanda Harbottle Admin. Technician GS- 5 PFT Nellie Weldon Clerk-Typist GS- 4 PFT Cindy Myer Clerk-Typist GS- 4 PFT (EOD 4/28/91) Joan Martin Information Recep. GS- 3 PPT Barbara Nielsen Information Recep. GS- 3 PPT Mark Cunard Heavy Equipment Operator WG- 8 PFT Monty J. Storm Automotive Worker WG- 8 PFT Kenneth E. Marquardt Maintenance Worker WG- 8 PFT Robert Kraushaar Maintenance Mechanic WG- 9 PFT Loren Hinkel Maintenance Helper WG- 5 PFT Susan Cooper Tractor Operator WG- 6 PFT 10
Temporary
Kirk Coleman Student Trainee (Biology) GS- 4 PPT Sheryl Metz Student Aid GS- 2 TI (Resigned 5/28/91) Annette Nigro Summer Aid YW TI (6/12/91 - 8/16/91) Christina Hall Student Aid GS- 1 TI (EOD 12/15/91)
*•
I Wr I
• •i-
il
First Row, L to R: Bow O'Barr, Barbara Nielsen, Elvis, Susan Cooper, Cindy Myer, Mindy Sheets
Second Row, L to R: Ken Marquardt, Terry Root, Mark Cunard, Loren Hinkel, Steve Van Riper, Nellie Weldon, Wanda Harbottle
Third Row, L to R: Monty Storm, Randy Porter, Bob Kraushaar, George Gage
Missing: Joan Martin, Ken Jones, Jeanne Harold, Christina Hall, Kirk Coleman, and David Reilly 11
Personnel Actions
Harlan Lightwine, the station's long-term Heavy Equipment Operator, passed away on January 23 after fighting a long battle with cancer.
James O'Barr entered on duty on March 11 as the Museum Curator. He came to us from the National Park Service's Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, California. He replaced Leslie Perry Peterson, who was in a leave- without-pay status until she resigned, effective April 12.
Stephen Van Riper entered on duty April 21 as the Supervisory Refuge Operations Specialist. He comes to us from Laguna Atascosa Refuge in Region 2.
Cindy Myer entered on duty as the public use section's Clerk-Typist at the visitor center on April 29.
Refuge Operations Specialist Melinda Sheets left on maternity leave on May 6 and returned on July 8, leaving Kyle home with daddy.
Kirk Coleman, Student Trainee (Biology), returned to full-time work on May 20. He returned to the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the fall, but he continued to work part-time at the visitor center on weekends.
Sheryl Metz resigned her GS-2 Student Aid position, effective May 28, to accept a position in private industry in Omaha.
Annette Nigro, an Iowa State University student, worked for minimum wage as a Summer Aid, beginning on June 12.
Janitor Loren Hinkel was promoted to a WG-5 Maintenance Helper position effective June 28.
Tractor Operator Cooper returned to work on July 1, after active duty overseas with the 403rd Military Police Camp detail to Operation Desert Shield/Storm. She was converted to a full-time WG-6 position.
Outdoor Recreation Planner Karen L. Drews and Fishery Biologist Jerry Olmsted both transferred in September to positions on the Brussels District of the Mark Twain Complex, for reasons unknown to us.
Clerk-Typist Myer required surgery and was off in late August and throughout September, requiring Leave-Share Program assistance, for which we thank those that participated.
Refuge Law Enforcement Officer Ken Jones received a promotion to the full GS-7 level on November 20.
Jeanne Harold entered on duty as a Museum Specialist on December 15. She comes to us from the National Park Service out of Arizona. 12
Christina Hall, a Blair High School student, entered on duty under the President's Stay-in-School program on December 15.
David Reilly entered on duty as a GS-5 Refuge Law Enforcement Officer, coming to us from a temporary assignment at Ninigret Refuge on December 29. Dave was picked up off of the Chicago Job Fair list.
Awards
Automotive Worker Storm received his 10-year Service pin.
Biologist Root received a monetary award in April for his work during 1990 on evaluating Chicago wetlands. He also was rewarded with a new son on Easter Sunday. No...his name is Johnathan.
Administrative Officer Porter and Information Reception Martin received monetary awards for their assistance with the Basic Refuge Managers Academy.
Maintenance Worker Marquardt, Automotive Worker Storm, Heavy Equipment Operator Cunard, and Fishery Biologist Olmsted all received monetary Special Act Awards this period.
Both Biologist Root and Administrative Technician Harbottle received Performance Awards during this period.
Clerk-Typist Weldon received a Quality Step Increase, plus an Excellent Job Performance Award during the Regional Workshop in November.
Travel/Training
Refuge Officer Olmsted traveled to Squaw Creek Refuge to assist with their primitive weapons hunt on January 4-6.
Biologist Root traveled to Walnut Creek Refuge and spent several days helping set up their farming program in January and February.
Four refuge personnel receives aviation training from Regional Pilot Bob Foster during January.
Project Leader Gage, Administrative Officer Porter, Outdoor Recreation Planner Drews, and Operations Specialist Sheets attended the Regional Conference the week of February 4.
Administrative Officer Porter was in the Regional Office to work on standard position descriptions for Refuge Operations Specialist positions during the week of February 11.
Biologists Root and Olmsted traveled to Lincoln to attend the Nebraska Federal/State Coordination Meeting on February 7. 13
Manager Gage participated in the Iowa Wildlife Bureau's annual meeting at Springbrook State Park on February 28.
The entire staff attended a Defensive Driving Course conducted by the Iowa State Patrol on March 12.
Heavy Equipment Operator Cunard attended the Maintenance Workshop at Crab Orchard in Marion, Illinois, during the week of March 18.
The five refuge officers attended the Law Enforcement Refresher at Fort Dodge in Des Moines, as scheduled, on March 18-22 and March 25-29.
Manager Gage traveled to the Regional Office for an ARD briefing on Missouri Chutes progress on March 22.
Museum Curator O'Barr and Maintenance Helper Hinkel traveled to Minneapolis to attend the new Employee Orientation in the Regional Office during the week of April 8.
Outdoor Recreation Planner Drews and Museum Curator O'Barr attended a conference, entitled "Managing Nature and History", commemorating the National Park Service's 75th Anniversary in Iowa City on April 4.
Fishery Biologist Olmsted attended the Iowa federal law enforcement meeting in Des Moines on May 12.
Manager Gage traveled to Walnut Creek Refuge to meet with his supervisor regarding his performance evaluation on May 21. No...we had not progressed in rating supervisors at this early date!
Clerk/Typist Myer attended 16 hours of Wordperfect 5.1 training at Burgess Computer Training Center in Blair, Nebraska, on June 18-19.
Administrative Officer Porter participated in the Job Fair in Chicago on July 19-20, but he didn't find himself "a real job". Actually, he was assisting our Personnel Office.
Supervisory Refuge Operations Specialist Van Riper and Coop Student Coleman attended the Coop Student Orientation Program in the Regional Office on July 30-31.
Supervisory Refuge Operations Specialist Van Riper attended a Fred Pryor Supervisory Training Course in Omaha, Nebraska, on September 18.
Managers Gage and Van Riper traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to attend the WAM-JAM during September 21-24.
Administrative Officer Porter traveled to the Swan Lake Refuge to assist them with their computers on October 10-11.
Administrative Technician Harbottle attended a Fred Pryor course on Grammar and Usage in Omaha on October 23. 14
Information Receptionist's Martin and Nielsen attended a Powerful Telephone Skills training course in Omaha on October 23, another Fred Pryor Course.
Administrative Officer Porter, Administrative Technician Harbottle, and Clerk-Typist Weldon attended the Administration Workshop in Minneapolis on November 3-7.
Refuge Officer Jones attended a Street Survival course in Omaha, Nebraska, during the week of November 4, to evaluate it for possible inclusion in regional law enforcement refresher training.
Administrative Officer Porter traveled to Squaw Creek Refuge during the week of November 18 to assist in an Operational Inspection,
Supervisory Refuge Operations Specialist Van Riper and Biologist Root traveled throughout the station's Fish and Wildlife Management District on Farm Bill responsibilities throughout the year.
2. Youth Programs
The traditional summer Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program had to be canceled this summer. The main reason was a refuge staff shortage. A vacancy in the maintenance crew, along with another maintenance person in Operation Desert Storm, and the usual YCC leader out on maternity leave, left the refuge with no one to spare to handle the program. Plans for YCC in 1992 are already underway.
3. Other Manpower Programs
Again, this summer, Harrison County placed two Iowa youths at the refuge through the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program. This program is designed for economically disadvantaged youths, ages 14-21, to provide career exploration and practical work experiences. The two young men, Bob Wagner and Brian Lynch, worked on a variety of projects in and around the visitor center. These temporaries are provided at no cost to the refuge.
4. Volunteer Program
The small, in number, but mighty force of volunteers put in another successful year at DeSoto. The nine regular volunteers, 35 Audubon (Adopt-A-Refuge) volunteers, one student intern, and one graduate student donated 5,284 hours of valuable assistance. 15
1991 Volunteer Services
Activities Hours
Habitat Surveys 532.5 Population Censusing 3,598.0 General Maintenance 212.5 Clerical Work 123.0 Exhibit 46,5 Training 116.0 Data Analysis 94.0 Report Writing 49.5 Volunteer Program Coordination 3.0 Off Refuge Programs 15.0 Trail Work 21.0 Administration 19.0 Visitor Information/Assistance 38.0 Education 221.0 Environmental Monitoring 75.5 Property Inventory 7 . 5 Tours 3.0 Other 109.0 Total Hours 5,284.0
Paul Kohmorben spent the entire month of January volunteering in a variety of biological and maintenance assistance jobs for special studies credit at nearby Dana College in Blair.
Steve Mackie, a dual-career graduate student, now pursuing a degree in wildlife management at Colorado State University was present as a summer volunteer. It's easy to understand why he didn't have a job, after you have been around him for awhile. But, he tried.
The Omaha Audubon Society gave the refuge a lot of assistance through the Adopt-A-Refuge program. Many of their members participated in the annual Spring Bird Count and Christmas Bird count. They also put in many early morning hours, helping with the fall waterfowl counts. Their help has made a big difference.
The primary volunteers were given a Christmas party in their honor. They each received a marble placque with either snow geese or the Bertrand engraved on them. When it came to the amount of hours volunteered in 1991, Bob Starr outshown the rest by over 180 hours. Bob also received recognition when a drawing of him became the central focus on the new Service volunteer brochure. Bob's been an invaluable part of this refuge for over nine years.
Funding
The following table details total funding targets for the past five years: 16
Funding Targets Fiscal Year's 88-92
FY-1992 FY-1991 FY-1990 FY-1989 FY-1988 O&M 820,386 782,700 669,187 739,200 686,7001 YCC 6,300 0 6,800 6,800 6,800 ARMM 0 0 0 0 35,000 Flex 0 0 2,000 44,000 0 Funds RPRP 0 0 0 0 0
Quarters ? 9 ? 8,619 15,4502 Other 36,7803 33,988A 30,7005 25,0006 40,0006
Fee 9 ? ? 24,114 0 Receipts Maint, 105,000 40,000 75,000 5,000 0 Mgmt. Total $930,466 $856,668 $783,687 $852,733 $789,950
?Fund target not received. •"This figure does not include the $23,000 job-ordered through the regional office. 2Carryover quarters funding, part of which was used to rehabil itate the water system supplying these houses. 3This figure includes, $10,000 Farm Bill funds, $17,500 Fire Management money, $5,200 volunteer money, $1,580 FmHA Easement, $2,500 Law Enforcement. '•Funding for coop ed student-$6 ,100; Farm Bill-$5,000; Fire Management-$12,500; Volunteers -$1,700; FmHA-$1,988; Law Enforcement-$6,700. 5Funding for 1120 repurchase of semi truck-$5,000; 1241 purchase of fire truck-$15,400; 1230 wetland restoration-$8,000; 1261 FmHA easement work-$2,300. 6Funds programmed from Fisheries Resources for development of fish habitat, fishing access, and other refuge fishery requirements.
This is the third year that we have not received fund targets for refuge fee receipts or quarters maintenance. The system doesn't work. Maybe, it will in FY92.
The refuge presented checks totaling $40,053 to local counties under the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act. Harrison and Pottawattamie counties in Iowa received $16,116 and $2,379, respectively. Washington County in Nebraska received $21,558 in lieu of taxes. This amounts to 93.5 percent of their entitlement under this program. 17
Safety
Safety topics are assigned to individual staff members who are responsible for providing programs for monthly safety meetings. Topics this year included winter safety, defensive driving, nuclear accident evacuation procedures, job safety, radio communications, back injuries, hearing protection, Lyme disease, boating and water safety. Three-person teams also conduct quarterly safety inspections of refuge facilities, and report unsafe items or practices.
Cooperation with the State of Nebraska continued in nuclear emergency preparedness, due to the close proximity of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant. Only one accident simulation was required of us this year.
There were three vehicle accidents involving refuge vehicles during the year. On June 17th, a refuge officer struck a deer while patrolling the refuge at night. The deer darted out of a concealed location, and the officer did not have time to even apply the brakes. The patrol vehicle sustained $1,500 in damages. On June 18th, an employee performing trail maintenance backed a vehicle into a tree. The vehicle was loaded with tree limbs, reducing visibility. Damage on the vehicle amounted to $300. On December 8th, a vehicle was struck by a deer. Early morning darkness and dense fog prevented the employee from seeing the deer until it struck the vehicle. The vehicle sustained $250 in damages, repaired by the maintenance staff.
Near misses and minor dents are a fairly common occurrence here, with the deer usually suffering more bruises than serious harm. Only one doe was known to be killed by a vehicle this year. Employees were not injured during these accidents.
On August 9 th, an angler's vehicle rolled into the lake. Ap parently, one of his children entered the vehicle and accidently struck the stick shift, placing the vehicle in neutral, the vehicle A then rolled downhill into the lake. The child was able to exit the vehicle unharmed. N48-01-91 KJ 18
A total of two personal injury accidents and two vehicle accidents involving the public were recorded this year. On March 3rd, an elderly woman tripped over an ottoman in the visitor center. She sustained some minor cuts and bruises.
On June 7th, a small child struck his head on a railing at the visitor center and he sustained a small cut on the head. First aid was administered by refuge personnel. On November 24th, a vehicle driven by a visitor slid on an icy patch of road and went into a ditch. The occupants were not injured.
7. Technical Assistance
We responded to a total of 76 technical assistance requests were. Among them, thirty-eight formal requests were received for information about the Bertrand Collection, ranging from topics pertaining to archeological or object-oriented research, historical research, conservation information, and museum management.
Manager Gage continued to work with the new Arbor Park School Arboretum Committee in planning the development of their outdoor learning site. Development of a small native grassland and a wetland are a part of the endeavor. The refuge also may participate in developing a similar site for the Iowa School for the Deaf on their grounds south of Council Bluffs. The station's Private Lands Coordinator has held preliminary discussions with the project supervisor and has visited the site.
8. Other Items/Donations
Several monetary donations were received through our cooperating association from concerned citizens and families of local deceased individuals wanting to do something positive for nature in their be half. Donations will go toward printing future informational leaf lets, unless specifically identified. Here, Manager Gage receives a check from Helen Kahlandt of Decatur, NE as a donation for the Midwest Interpre tive Association. 42-153-91 SVR 19
About midyear, we were contacted by former Iowa Senator, Bill Scherle. He had been very involved in the preservation effort for the Bertrand Collection in the late 1960ls-early 1970's. He allowed us to copy from his personal archives (all Bertrand-related materials) before they were donated to the research library at Creighton University in Omaha. He remains a loyal refuge benefactor. See also Section J. 3.
F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT
General
Above-average precipitation for the year created generally good conditions in most wetlands. Heavy spring rains in March and April recharged some wetlands that had been dry from the previous fall, then held or increased those levels through June, when over ten inches of rain fell, A dry fall, beginning in late August, again lowered wetlands, but conditions were advantageous for farmers during harvest. Farmers were harvesting their corn as early as September 9th, and had completed the harvest by mid-October. Most fields in the valley had been disced by mid-October, two or three times. This dry fall weather was to be disadvantageous for wildlife for several years as reduced waste grain and rampant corn stalk and grassland burning reduces available wildlife food and habitat in the valley.
Wetlands a, DeSoto Lake - The management of DeSoto Lake is largely dependent upon Gavin's Point Dam releases and the corresponding Missouri River flows. During spring and summer, little opportunity usually exists to lower DeSoto Lake due to high river levels required for navigation purposes; this being a gravity-fed lake. In contrast, good opportunities exist for water level management during the river's winter drawdown and periods of low release within the Missouri River Basin.
The management strategy for DeSoto Lake is to compromise between waterfowl management, fishery management, and public recreation objectives. In general, an optimum summer elevation of 989,5 msl is desired to make the best use of boat ramps and docks that have been constructed around the lake for fishing access. To accommodate normal spring runoff, and limit summer elevations to 989.5 msl, late winter and early spring drawdowns are usually necessary. 20
Ideally, water levels are reduced through mid-summer evaporation to 987.0 msl by mid-September, This level helps concentrate predator and prey fish species, as well as promote the growth of aquatic vegetation. The exposed shoreline during the fall also provides loafing and gritting areas for waterfowl. Then, near-full pool levels of 989.0 to 989.5 msl are desired through most of the winter to reduce the possibility of a sport fish winterkill.
Cold weather in late December, 1990, allowed for early opening of ice fishing. Ice conditions stayed good until spring-like weather in mid-February, which required closing the lake for fishing on February 19 due to unsafe ice conditions.
This year was unusually dry through the winter, with lake levels remaining low in late winter, which negated the need for drawdown. However, the heavy rains in June raised the lake above river levels, which allowed opening of the fish barrier from June 19 to July 5. Additional water was pumped into adjoining Noble's Lake in September under a cooperative agreement with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. b. Managed Marshes and Potholes -
As previously mentioned, the wet spring and early summer had a posi tive impact on wetlands, result ing in 90 hours of spring time pump ing, versus 176.0 hours of Crisa- fulli pumping last spring. 34-184-91 TR
However, the dry fall weather was similar to last year and resulted in 206 hours of pumping to bring managed wetlands and the moist-soil unit to desired levels for fall migrating waterfowl.
In addition, the adjacent state recreation area, referred to as Nobles Lake, was recharged with 103 hours of Crisafulli pumping from August 30 to September 23, This was accomplished by pumping out of a ditch leading from DeSoto Lake to our east levee, and into an adjacent ditch, which gravity flows water to Nobles Lake. Use on Nobles Lakes is extensive by ducks during both annual migrations. In addition, the area has 21 produced several broods of Canada geese in recent years. Response by spring migrating waterfowl was excellent, but was limited use by fall migrants due to late migrations and early freeze-up from the severe snowstorm on Halloween,
Within the last five years, numerous small ditch plugs have been constructed in various locations to restore once-drained wetlands. All have some capacity to be recharged by runoff, and eleven are considered "managed" wetlands, since they also can be pumped if necessary. Management of these areas is primarily for spring waterfowl breeding pair use, and to provide fall migration habitat.
For 1991, another manageable wetland was created from a former chute located adjacent to the boathouse. This area, now referred to as the "Wilson Island Chute" wetland was formerly part of the Missouri River. In recent years, during low lake and river levels, this chute remained dry and became overgrown with woody vegetation. To reactivate this wetland, a levee structure was built adjacent to the boathouse and near the lakeshore, which allows us to recharge this area by Crisafulli pumping from the lake and/or drain water back into the lake as necessary. It received fair fall use by mallards.
Due to the dry winter and early fall, twenty hours of pumping were required in March and October to recharge Wood Duck Pond. Use by migrating waterfowl was excellent through the spring and early summer, but was marginal in the fall.
Buchardt Pond was pumped for nine hours in March and thirteen hours in October to re charge it to ac ceptable levels. In addition, a stoplog structure was placed in the gut-plug during Augus t. 34-188-91 TR
This will aid water management, should it become necessary to draw water off the pond.
Use on Buchardt Pond was good by mallards and teal during the late spring. Again, fall use was marginal due to the early freeze-up. 22
The three interconnected visitor center ponds, comprising eighteen surface acres, are located west and north of the visitor center. Osprey Pond the southern-most pond, can be recharged via a feeder pipe connected to the visitor center's water cooling system or by Crisafulli pumping from DeSoto Lake. During 1991, these ponds were pumped for 36 hours and 59 hours in late March and September, respectively. In addition, considerable scavaged cooling system water from the visitor center also was supplied. Use by mallards was excellent in the spring, and fair during the fall. The exception was the lower pond located west of the visitor center. The heavy cattails in this pond had been mowed to provide "openings" just prior to fall flooding. This resulted in considerable floating debris on the water and, subsequently, no use by waterfowl. Stoplog structures were installed during August for greater management capability on the above ponds. Locations included a structure between the upper and middle pond and at the lower end of the middle pond in two locations, one leading to the third visitor center pond and a second leading to two small wetlands adjacent to the entrance road. These structures will allow independent management of each pond.
Willow Pond was less impacted than some other ponds by the dry winter, and no spring pumping was required. However, 23 hours of Crisafulli pumping was required to recharge the unit in late September. Plant growth was excellent in this unit, and response by waterfowl was good during both spring and fall.
No management was conducted on Young's Pond during the year, and it remained dry for the entire year. While it could have been flooded during the fall, it would have increased the potential duck kill on the adjoining controlled waterfowl hunting area.
The Botes' Ponds held water all winter from the previous fall's pumping. Consequently, no spring pumping was required. However, fourteen hours of fall pumping was required because the levee was breached and the water released in August to allow for placement of a stoplog structure. Use by waterfowl, particularly mallards, was excellent during both spring and fall.
Moist-Soil Unit - No spring recharge of this 30-acre unit was necessary. It held water through the winter and into late spring/early summer, when heavy rains fall. In fact, water had to be drained off the unit in early summer to allow for a normal drawdown cycle.
In August, during the dry period, three PVC stoplog structures were placed in the transport ditch levee, which separates the supply ditch from the internal moist-soil units. This 23
placement allowed for unit recharge via gravity flow from the transport ditch. This modification resulted in the need for only one Crisafulli pump to recharge the unit, as opposed to the previous two. It's less of a maintenance hassle and more economical.
Response by moist- soil plants, and, subsequently, by waterfowl was excellent. Smart- weed was abundant and it produced considerable seed for wildlife use, 34-187-91 TR
Spring use by waterfowl was excellent, with nearly 75,000 use days recorded. However, fall use was active for only a very short time before the late October/early November snow and cold resulted in a complete freeze-up of the unit. In addition, it was noted that once again, waterfowl hunting on adjacent private land reduced waterfowl use on the unit,
A new 45-acre moist-soil unit is being developed just to the north of the existing unit. It will be completed soon.
Forests
For many years, the refuge has experienced a die-off of mature cottonwoods, with essentially no regeneration to replace existing stands. This problem was addressed in a 1990 Forest Management Plan. Proposed forest management strategies included protection of existing mature cottonwoods for bald eagle perching and roosting habitat, development of a forest management program to ensure a sustained source of roosting and perching trees for bald eagles, promotion of cottonwood regeneration in old grasslands targeted for this management, and systematic flooding of identified reverted croplands to promote cottonwood regeneration. Some experimental flooding was attempted along the east dike in June, 1990. Water retention varied considerably from site to site, and response was unknown at that time. However, this year, it was discovered that considerable germination of cottonwoods had occurred on areas that had been flooded. Consequently, plans were to reflood these areas again this summer, but heavy rains prevented some required dike work necessary to reflood again in 1991, However, with the dry fall, this dike work was accomplished and plans are to reflood existing 24 sites and some new areas in 1992. Nearly 50 cottonwoods and green ash trees were planted in picnic grounds and along the lakeshore using a rented tree planter.
Croplands a. Cooperative Farming - In 1989, the refuge converted from a cash-rent system to a one-third/two-thirds crop-share farming system. Using this system, ten cooperators farmed 2,079.1 acres to provide food and loafing areas for migratory waterfowl; and food, cover, and edge for other species.
The following table summarizes refuge farming activities for 1991 by type of farming rotation:
Crop Conventional Biological Rotation Rotation Corn 144.5 505.7 Soybeans 227.6 540.8 Wheat 50.8 Clover and Oats 357.8 Milo 70.1 Alfalfa 103.0 Other* 78.8 Total 372.10 1707.00
^Includes alfalfa/oats and clover seeded into wheat.
Corn production on conventional-rota tion ground was definitely impacted by the heavy rains received during the growing season, as indicated by the 22.2 bushels-per- acre yield advantage on biological-rota tion fields. 33-207-91 TR
Why the rains impacted the conventional-rotation so significantly is unknown. The speculation is that the one 25
time application of inorganic nitrogen on conventional fields was leached out of the soil rapidly, creating a nitrogen deficiency, while gradual release of nitrogen from clover breakdown on biological-rotation fields provided a continuous supply of nitrogen, even after heavy rains. Soybeans were less impacted by the heavy rains because yields were good for both rotations. Once again, biological fields outyielded conventional fields by 4.4 bushels per acre. Incorporating 1991 yields, the 13-year average for conventional-rotation corn is 96.1 bushels per acre, versus 95.8 bushels per acre for the biological-rotation corn. Conventional-rotation beans averaged 33.4 bushels per acre, versus 35.5 bushels per acre for the biological-rotation beans. Biofarming works!
In 1990, we were notified by a farmer that he no longer planned to farm refuge acres. Consequently, this area was planted to clover in 1990 and primarily managed for weed control in 1991, The sludge demonstration area also was included in this farmer's acres. It was farmed according to a specified schedule in 1990, and the entire plot (104.1 acres) planted to soybeans in 1991 to prepare for grassland planting next year.
Average Yield in Bushels/Acre
Crop 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1979- 1991 Aver age Conv. Corn 100.8 107.5 88.7 88.6 125.5 80.1 96.1 Biol. Corn 101.3 120.2 72.2 68.0 117.8 102.3 95.8 Conv. Beans 36.2 35.3 26.1 35.5 35.4 34.7 33.4 Biol. Beans 44.2 35.9 24.1 34.1 40.5 39.1 35.5
In addition to the above cooperative farming activities, the refuge reimbursed a cooperator for planting 131 acres of winter wheat on the Center Island ground, which had not been farmed since 1989. Geese have little opportunity to find green browse elsewhere in the valley.
A 61.8 acre alfalfa field also was hayed on Center Island in late August under a competitive-bid special use permit. This resulted in some excellent fall green browse for migratory waterfowl, and receipt of $950 for the U. S, Treasury. 26
The re fuge also reimbursed two coop- erators to have wheat aerially sown on 87.5 acres of standing soy beans in early Septem ber. Unfortunately, the dry weather that follow ed resulted in minimal germination and green browse growth on these fields. 33-208-91 TR
b. Food Plots - Twelve food plots, each generally containing three cover types, and totaling 129.7 acres, were grown and left unharvested for wildlife use. Of these strips, a total of 37.0 acres were in milo, 50.8 acres were in fall-planted wheat, and 41.9 acres were in wheat and clover (fall-planted wheat from 1990, with clover interseeded in the spring of 1991). The primary objective of food plot management is to provide food for resident and migratory non-game wildlife in locations where the public can view the wildlife. This objective continues to be accomplished, with 100 percent utilization of available food, year after year.
In addition, the refuge's share of several corn fields, roughly 110 acres of corn, was left standing or chopped for use by migratory waterfowl and resident game. Milo was grown and left standing on 33.1 acres as the refuge's share of four corn fields, and 7.9 acres of corn strips were left standing for concealment of hunting blinds in our Iowa controlled waterfowl hunting program. These strips also are used extensively by waterfowl and resident game, c. Excess Grain - Each year, the refuge stores 1,200-plus bushels of corn for potential depredation or disease management problems per existing management plans. Any additional grain stored in refuge bins is used to initially attract snow geese to the vicinity of the visitor center during the fall migration, and for the center's bird feeders. When spring arrives, any held-over grain is transferred to other stations.
Under the current crop-share system, the refuge's entire share of soybeans and some corn is harvested and the monies used to reimburse cooperators (per the Iowa Custom Rate Survey) for refuge farming activities, such as food plots. Any excesses are made available for inter-elevator transfers to other refuges. In 1991, the cooperators were reimbursed a total of 27
$22,410.08. The remaining grain monies resulted in the following inter-elevator transfers to other refuges for their banding or farming needs, on a first-come, first-served basis:
Refuge Dollar Value
Muscatatuck NWR $2,400.00 Long Lake NWR 1,000.00 Mingo NWR 825.00 Bowdoin NWR 967.74 Tamarac NWR 885.19 Valentine NWR 2,000.00 Shiawasee NWR 3,000.00 Big Lake NWR 400.00 Upper Mississippi NWR 600.00 Swan Lake NWR 15,000.00 Erie NWR 3,000.00 Agassiz NWR 2,000.00 Des Lacs NWR 3,996.68 Medicine Lake NWR 4,000.00 Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR 2,000.00 Blackwater NWR 1,653.08 Eastern Neck NWR * 800.00 Chincoteaque NWR Back Bay NWR * 900.00 Presquile NWR Great Swamp NWR 3,675.00 Brigantine NWR Supawna Meadows NWR Totals $49,102.69
^Elevator dispersal arranged through their Area Biologist. d. Integrated Pest Management - During 1988, the refuge entered into an integrated pest management project with the Iowa State University Extension Service. This three-year project has 28 been funded through a grant by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The Center was founded by the Iowa Legislature as part of the Groundwater Protection Act. Its program goals were stated in a previous narrative report, as was a description of the project and its specific refuge obj ectives.
The total funding by the Leopold Center for the three-year DeSoto Demonstration and Education Project was $63,016. In addition, DeSoto obligated a grant of $3,000 to the Leopold Center to allow an additional year (1991) of crop scouting to continue, while awaiting chemical analyses data and compilation of the final report. The project was essentially completed in November, with submittal of the final report.
Susan Lembezeder, a graduate from the University of Wisconsin, was hired in May to conduct crop scouting on 26 fields, located both on and off refuge, and totaling approximately 1,100 acres.
Again, during the last three years, all major insect pests of alfalfa, corn, and soybeans were observed. However, unlike previous years, the European corn borer exceeded economic thresholds in five fields, three off-refuge and two on-refuge. As a result, one private field was treated and the four remaining fields were targeted for early harvest as a management alternative.
Weed pest species also were scouted over the duration of the project. As in past years, velvetleaf, giant foxtail, swamp smartweed, common milkweed and common cocklebur were the pest species most often observed in 1991. As in the preceding two years, a weekly newsletter, the "DeSoto Crop Report" was written by the crop scout and distributed to local producers (Copy appended on following page).
The water quality monitoring portion of this project is comprised of two investigative areas, ground and surface water. The objective is to monitor for the presence of nitrates and selected pesticides. Consequently, in the fall of 1988, six vacuum lysimeters and five piezometers were installed to aid this monitoring process. During the fall of 1988 and early spring of 1989, baseline samples were taken from each well (lysimeter and piezometer), from DeSoto Lake, and from each of three agricultural drainageways entering DeSoto Lake from off-refuge agricultural lands. After baseline samples were taken, refuge and/or Cooperative Extension Service personnel collected samples from DeSoto Lake, agricultural drainageways entering DeSoto Lake, and wells (lysimeters and piezometers) each time a rainfall event of one-plus inches occurred during the growing season. DESOTO CROP REPORT
' Newsletter from the DeSoto NWR ^ Crop Management Projects
Corn: Growth stage of corn during this weeks scout showed 64% in between the R4 and R5 stages. The R4 stage is called the "dough" stage meaning starch build-up causes kernel fluids to thicken. Kernels will have accumulated one-half of their dry weight in the R4 stage. In the R5 growth stage, also known as the "dent" stage, kernels begin to dry from the top down. Kernels at R5 are about 55% moisture and are vulnerable to stress.
Insect infestations arc coming to a halt in com fields scouted this week. Com rotworm ranged form .06 to .38 per plant averaging at .15 per plant. Grasshoppers averaged .2 per meter squared. Signs of second- generation European com borer damage were evident with broken stalks and ears observed in some fields.
.Soybeans: Ranging from R1 to R5 72% of soybeans scouted this week were in the R5 stage. At this stage the "seed is 3mm long in the pod at one of the four uppermost nodes on the main stem with fully developed leaves." Seeds will begin to gain nutrients and dry weight. Plants are sensitive to any stresses which may reduce dry weight production.
Defoliation ranges of 3% to 15% were observed with 54% of the fields scouted showing 3% defoliation. Defoliating insects found included Green clover worm averaging .33 larva per foot of row, Bean leaf beetle at .29 per foot of row, and grasshoppers averaging .49 per meter squared.
General: The Desoto National Wildlife Refuge rain gauges recorded no rain at all this past week! Hopefully this will not be so in the weeks to come. Have a safe and fun weekend.
Susan Lcmbczeder IPM Scout
DeSoto NWR Crop Management Project Is conducted Jointly . . . and fustlca for all by Iowa State University Extension and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife The Iowa Cooperative Extension Service's programs and policie Service. Funding for the project Is through Iowa State are consistent with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, national University's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. origin, religion, sex. age. and handicap. 29
Samples taken during 1989 produced the following results: (1) nitrates were not found in 18 groundwater samples (with one exception of 2 ppm); (2) nitrates were more abundant in the soil profile, averaging 59 ppm for conventional crop rotations versus 30 ppm for the biological crop rotations; (3) nitrates were detected three times out of six in drainageway samples, averaging 10 ppm; (4) Atrazine, Bladex, Dual, Lasso, Treflan, Eradicane, and Basagran were all detected in drainageways entering DeSoto Lake following rainfall events. Concentrations ranged from .14 ppb for Basagran to 66 ppb for Atrazine; (5) Atrazine, Bladex, Dual, and Lasso were found in all groundwater samples, including control samples. Concentrations ranged from .25 ppb to .64 ppb; and (6) Atrazine, Bladex, and Eradicane were detected in DeSoto Lake samples at less than 1 ppb. Atrazine, and Bladex were detected in all samples, including controls, and Eradicane was detected in one sample following a rainfall event.
Testing continued in 1990 with the following data collected: (1) nitrates were not found in 20 groundwater samples, but were present at 1 ppm in two samples; (2) nitrates were present in soil profiles, averaging 45 ppm for the conventional rotation, versus 23 ppm for the biological crop rotation; (3) nitrates were detected in agricultural drainageways and averaged 11 ppm; (4) Atrazine, Bladex, Dual, Lasso, Eptam, and Treflan were detected in drainageways entering DeSoto Lake following rainfall events. Concentrations ranged from .15 ppb for Lasso and Bladex (though higher concentrations also were detected) to 37 ppb for Atrazine; (5) Atrazine, Basagran, Bladex, Dual, Eptam, Lasso, and Sencor were found in groundwater samples. Concentrations ranged from .12 ppb to 2,2 ppb; and (6) Atrazine, Basagran, Eptam, Bladex, Dual, and Lasso were detected in DeSoto Lake samples at 1.5 ppb or less. Atrazine was detected in all samples.
In 1991, water quality sampling produced the following results: (1) nitrates were not found in 15 groundwater samples out of 25. The remaining 10 samples had low concentrations, with the highest being 3 ppm; (2) nitrates were again present in soil profiles, averaging 44.1 ppm for the conventional-rotation, versus 40.6 ppm for the biological- rotation; (3) nitrates were detected in all drainageways and averaged 14 ppm; (4) Atrazine, Basagran, Bladex, Dual, Lasso, and Treflan were detected in drainageways entering DeSoto Lake following rainfall events. Concentrations ranged from .4 ppb for Lasso (though higher concentrations also were detected) to 300.0 ppb for Bladex; (5) Atrazine, Bladex, and Sencor were found in groundwater samples. Concentrations ranged from .14 ppb to .55 ppb; and (6) Atrazine, Basagran, Bladex, Dual, and Lasso were detected in DeSoto Lake samples at 3.3 ppb or less. Atrazine and Bladex were detected in all samples. 30
The question arises as to what does all this mean? Simply- put, it means that (1) nitrates are not a problem in groundwater below DeSoto NWR. Even though nitrates are found in the soil profile below the root zone, they are essentially absent when they reach groundwater. Speculation exists that denitrification may be rapidly removing nitrates from the water table. This conclusion is consistent with research in other alluvial valleys in Iowa and elsewhere; (2) statistically, less nitrate was present in the soil profile under the biological crop rotation than under the conventional crop rotation. Therefore, the potential for nitrate contamination of groundwater under the biological crop rotation is less than under the conventional crop rotation. However, the apparent denitrification significantly reduces the impact either crop rotation may have on nitrate-related groundwater quality; (3) numerous herbicides enter DeSoto Lake after rainfall events. The most common of these are Atrazine, Bladex, Dual, and Lasso. Detected concentrations of these herbicides could be hazardous to aquatic plant and animal life; (4) Atrazine and Bladex were the most frequently detected herbicides in DeSoto Lake. Atrazine was detected in all samples regardless of season. Bladex was detected in 75 percent of the samples. Atrazine concentrations exceeded the aquatic population advisory level during both 1990 and 1991. Atrazine was near the drinking water contaminant level in 1991. The impact from these high concentrations is unknown at this time; (5) numerous herbicides were detected in groundwater but, Atrazine, Bladex, and Dual were the most frequently detected. All the compounds detected, with the exception of one detection of Eptam, are prohibited from use on refuge. Detections, particularly of Atrazine, Bladex, and Dual, were seasonal, coinciding with peak agricultural use periods. Consequently, herbicides are apparently moving from nearby privately-owned croplands and entering the groundwater on refuge. Concentrations of detected herbicides did not exceed EPA drinking water advisory levels,
There were some differences of opinion between project investigators on the water quality monitoring results. Refuge investigators believed the actual impacts of some of these levels of pesticides are unknown, while Extension Service investigators assumed there were no impacts to refuge plant or animal life because none were observed.
Another of the objectives of this project was to establish an alfalfa weevil parasite insectary on refuge. This process began in 1988, with two releases of the alfalfa weevil parasite, Bathyplectes anurus. which is the larval parasitoid. In 1989, the adult parasitoid, Microctonus aethionoides was released on two sites. Survival and propagation of these parasites coincides well with the existing refuge haying program, which incorporates delayed cutting until July 15th. 31
A 1990 detection survey recovered five species of alfalfa weevil parasitoids, two of which were definitely released on refuge. The origin of the other species is unknown. All, except one, were new Harrison County records. The adult parasitoid, Microctonus aeithiopoides. had the highest parasitism rate at 54 percent. So, we are off and running on this biological control.
In addition to the above parasioids, a refuge release of (Lydella Thompsonii) was effected by Extension Service investigator Buske in August. This small parasitic fly was released to potentially control corn borers. It will be moni tored for effectiveness. 33-205-91 TR
A further objective of the project involved outreach. To partially accomplish this goal, two leaflets were developed describing refuge farming and IPM. One leaflet was designed for distribution to professional resource managers, while the other was written for the general public. Over the course of the project, 1,700 target audience contacts were made using newsletters, personal consultations, small group workshops, large group presentations, field tours, brochures, print news media, electronic news media, and poster presentations. Private organizations, public agencies, and the general public were the audience reached. At least seventeen news articles were published discussing various aspects of the project in local, area, and regional publications.
Yields also were analyzed over the course of the project, with similar results obtained to those previously recorded by refuge personnel since yield comparisons began in 1979. Results indicate field corn and soybean yields have been essentially equivalent between the two farming rotations.
Soil testing also was conducted during the three-year study to determine differences, if any, in soil characteristics between 32
the two rotations. Soil organic matter was one of those characteristics analyzed. Sampling indicated there was no significant difference in organic matter between biological and conventional rotations in silty clay soils. However, the organic matter content was significantly greater in silty loam soils for the biological crop rotation than in the conventional crop rotation.
Considerable soil testing for phosphorous and potassium also was conducted. Tests indicate that while potassium levels are extremely high in the croplands, and require absolutely no application to produce a crop, phosphorous levels are quite low and probably require application to promote good yields. It is not definitely known that phosphorous application will increase yields since the current Bray 1 soil-test procedure, used to measure phosphorous, is often skewed by the alkaline soils found on refuge. Consequently, further soil testing for phosphorous should be undertaken with a lab which utilizes methods of testing not impacted by alkaline soils.
Sweet clover also was evaluated for this project to determine if it is really a viable nitrogen source for biological farming. Soil testing suggested that sweet clover can be the sole source of nitrogen, and produce optimum yields. But, it also became clear that stand conditions varied considerably throughout the refuge, and resulted in a wide range of potential nitrogen impacts towards the following year's corn crop.
The refuge got a lot of good information from this Leopold study, which will aid us in our future management decisions. Special thanks go to Marco Buske, Principal Investigator and Gary Guge, Co-Investigator, both with the Iowa State University Extension Service, for all their valuable time and advice,
Grasslands
The station's comprehensive Grassland Management Plan calls for the eventual establishment of 1,000 acres of introduced cool-season grasses and 500 acres of native warm-season grasses.
Since the plan's completion, approximately 451.5 acres of cool- season grasses have been planted, including 61.6 acres during 1991. All plantings took place in September. Species planted include Lincoln brome, Alkar tall wheatgrass, Oahe intermediate wheatgrass, yellow blossom sweet clover, and vernal alfalfa. Success of these plantings is questionable, as very little rain fell after planting and most seeds laid in dry soil until covered with 12-inches of snow on the first of November. 33
6. Other Habitat
Ten acres of the former North Beach shoreline were disked two times for vegetation control to promote potential nesting by least terns and/or piping plovers.
In addition, the three-acre peninsula north of the Sandbar area was disked to meet the same objective. Also, this point is a favorite loafing spot for mallards and Canada geese when maintained in an open condition, free of heavy vegetation. The 35-acre sandbar also was disked to promote potential nesting by least terns and/or piping plovers.
8. Having
The refuge currently maintains 103 acres of alfalfa hay. Management of alfalfa hay changed in 1987, with the annual first cutting date being delayed from June 20 to July 15 to promote completion of nesting by ground nesters, particularly waterfowl. To compensate cooperators for this inconvenience and the loss of a viable first cutting, cash rent on alfalfa was reduced to $5 per acre. This fee, which is based on a three-year average market value, was increased to $10 per acre for 1990. In addition, the three-year market value average was increased to a 5-year average, since the recent drought years would have increased 1990 fees to $20/acre, four times the 1989 price. Increasing the refuge assessment to a 5-year average helped reduce extreme fluctuations in cash-rental rates. For 1991, the cash-rental rate was $15 per acre based upon the above.
With the change in 1989 to crop-share farming, alfalfa was retained as a cash-rent crop, because the refuge has no use for alfalfa hay. The amount of rent owed by cooperators for hay harvest is simply subtracted from the amount owed to that cooperator for food plots and farming services provided to the refuge. Consequently, the cooperator does not have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for alfalfa. The system works well, and meets our management objectives because some mallards have been observed nesting in refuge alfalfa since 1987.
9. Fire Management
Other grasslands were scheduled for burning, but excessive moisture prevented timely burning. Some of the native grass fields are in bad shape, with far too much woody vegetation.
We really upgraded our fire-pumper equipment in 1991 with the purchase of a one-ton Chevrolet 4x4 pickup, with duals on the rear axle, for $14,775 and a 300-gallon Wayjax Pacific fire-pumper, with foam capability, for $11,916. 34
One native warm-season and s ix cool-season grasslands, totaling 23.0 acres and 50.0 acres, respectively, were burned in 1991. Response by grasses was good, but the extent of fall regrowth was limited by reduced rainfall in September and October. 32-226-91-TR
10. Pest Control
Regional herbicide management changed in 1988 with a list of accepted herbicides being supplied by the regional environmental contaminants office. This list now includes 25 non-restricted-use herbicides, which can be used on station upon approval by the Project Leader, This list was retained for 1989 and 1990, but was further reduced in 1990 and 1991 by three herbicides which are not feasible or acceptable for use in this area. Cooperators applied eight of these herbicides for control of sunflower, cocklebur, buttonweed, foxtail, and other weeds in agricultural fields.
Roundup was applied twice on the gravel along the entrance road's edge to control invading vegetation. In addition, Roundup was spot- applied to control vegetation (primarily cool-season grasses) invading the buffalograss lawn at the visitor center. Other weed control included some musk thistle mowing in extremely dense stands.
Musk thistle has recently become a problem in a few of our cool- season grasslands. Since spraying is not a desirable choice, releases of a parasite, Dinovllus Conicus. were planned for 1990 and 1991, but this weevil was unavailable. Hopefully, the release can occur in 1992, and this biological control will become part of our integrated pest management program.
No insecticides are used afield. Baggan bait was applied around the visitor center to rid the area of roaches, crickets, millipedes, and spiders. As part of the IPM program within the museum storage area and work areas, Baygon bait was replaced during 1990 with boric acid, but was found to be ineffective.
Live traps, glue traps and Ropux were used to control mice within the visitor center. 35
14. Farmers Home Administration Conservation Easements
The Burson easement in Taylor County, had fenceline clearing and fence construction com pleted to eliminate neighboring cattle from encroaching on the prop erty. 34-190-92 SVR
This easement contains deep draws with 100-year-old burr oaks, that provide a haven for wild turkeys and deer within the vicinity. Reports of considerable poaching within this area may remain a problem, since it is a two - and-a-half-hour trip each way from the refuge.
Numerous dump sites were discovered on many of the properties. Arrangements are being made to have FmHA clean these up.
The Langstraat easement in Sioux County had to be resurveyed, because the survey posts were removed by either hunters or landowners prior to posting. Many of the subsurface markers were discovered during the survey, making the endeavor easier than first assumed.
Several wetland restorations and other habitat enhancement activities are being considered for newly proposed easements. FmHA's delay in selling and recording the properties, as well as processing caretaker agreements, has slowed activities.
The Bruck property in Harrison County has good potential for waterfowl use. However, overgrazing has compromised the integrity of the pond's earthen dike. Refurbishing to stabilize the impoundment will be our first priority. Seeding of the dike and around the ten-acre pond also is planned.
The Flanigan property in Monona County already has an adequate marsh, which may be improved on after evaluating spring and early summer.
Finally, the Hunt easement in Pottawattamie County has potential for wetland enhancement work in a previously farmed wetland draw. 36
15. Private Lands
Private lands requests increased this year, with projects involving channelization and minimal effect requests taking up a considerable amount of time. Within our 18-county Private Lands Management District, a total of 20 properties were reviewed in seven different counties, with four agreements initiated through the Soil Conservation Service.
One cooperative en hancement project was completed during the year, amounting to five acres in Woodbury County. And, it didn't take long for the birds to respond. 34-186-91 KM
Snyder Bend, a state-managed wetland area near the Missouri River, (owned by the Corps of Engineers and leased by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources), was enhanced by lowering the sandy-bottomed wetland and creating nesting islands for Canada geese, once Snyder Lake's elevation was lowered.
Heavy Equipment Operator Cunard and Maintenance Worker Marquardt aided Iowa Department of Natural Resource's personnel for nearly two weeks to accomplish this project.
Walnut Creek's new Ko- matsu Dresser got its initial workout on this job, although we had one heck of a chore getting it to the worksite. This dozer is too high and and too wide for trans portation to most Private Land's jobs. However, this monster can really push dirt! 34-185-91 KM 37
Another CRP wetland project in Carroll County, which was originally planned for this year, had to be delayed, when a floodplain permit was not granted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the 60-acre VanHorn wetland restoration effort. The Soil Conservation (SCS) and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are trying to iron out the problem.
Two wetland restoration projects reviewed in Sioux County are currently awaiting SCS survey and design. These wetland enhancement projects will probably be contracted out locally, as funding is available, because of their locality.
The District's only CRP wetland restoration within the Missouri River Valley was looking good when visited in May, with blue-wings in flight. 34-189-91 SVR
During the year, three minimal-effect determinations were granted, with one requiring mitigation. Seven minimal-effect determinations were denied. One swampbuster violation was mitigated in Plymouth County by Biologist Root on the Beelner property.
Two wetland determinations in Sioux County, which were being challenged by the landowners, were reviewed by Farm Bill Coordinator Van Riper with SCS district conservationists. Finally, no commenced determination activities were addressed during the busy year.
G. WILDLIFE
1. Wildlife Diversity
DeSoto Refuge sits like an island among the thousands of acres of cultivated croplands that now cover the Missouri River bottomland. The diversity that was once a part of this area is all but gone. But, biodiversity is maintained on the refuge through many management practices, including development and expansion of waterfowl breeding pair and brood habitat; placement of wood duck boxes and improvement of nesting habitats; shrub and tree plantings; native grass seedings; intensive grassland, cropland, and water 38
management; moist-soil unit development; and other routine habitat manipulations which maximize edge and habitat diversity.
2, Endangered and/or Threatened Species
Due to harsh weather late December and January, bald eagles left the area, along with all waterfowl. By February, a few returned. In mid-March, there were over 30 eagles preying on spring-migrating ducks. All were gone by April 10th.
The first eagle to return in the fall migration was an immature, which actually arrived on August 25, nearly two months earlier than normal. By the end of November, a total of 53 eagles were observed using the refuge.
The interior least tern and the piping plover continue to be of concern to refuge management. In an attempt to attract the birds, roughly 1,800 linear feet of the former North Beach shoreline, some 35 acres of the Sandbar area, and two acres of Sandbar point are maintained as potential nesting sites.
These areas are period ically disced to control vegetation, and least tern decoys are set out. The areas are maintained primarily as alternate relocation sites should catastrophic events occur on the terns more tenuous, but preferred, nesting sites along the Missouri River. 10-071-91 MS
Northern harriers (endangered in Iowa), eared grebes, and long-eared owls (threatened in Iowa) were seen on the refuge during the year. Solitary ospreys were seen at various times during the early spring and fall.
3. Waterfowl
! Winter Period (January - February)
Winter hit hard last December and pushed the ducks and geese out of I the refuge before the first of the year. The entire month of January was void of birds. However, early in February several hundred Canada geese and nearly 2,000 mallards returned, and began to use the open water created by the aeration system, which is operated to reduce winterkill of DeSoto Lake's sport fishery. 39
Spring Period (March - May)
Waterfowl numbers began to build up in March and, by mid-month, a total of 4,500 ducks and several thousand geese were using the refuge. Early April saw a few more waterfowl arrive, but they were quickly gone, A total of 12 different species of ducks were observed during the period, including several species of diving ducks.
Four broods of Canada geese were observed on the refuge in May. This is the second year that Canada's have successfully nested on the refuge since they were established. There also were several wood duck broods observed, and at least one mallard brood. A big surprise was a pied-billed grebe brood of seven. This was the first one in several years.
The primary nesting species here is the wood duck. Nesting boxes have been used on the refuge since the 1960's. The program was reno vated two years ago, due to high dump-nesting and low hatching success. 5-116-89 JO
We witnessed a dramatic improvement after moving the 41 boxes from over the water and back into the timber. The percentage of eggs hatched went from nine percent success in 1988 to 42 percent and 63 percent in 1989 and 1990, respectively. A total of 17 boxes brought off successful nests both years. However, 1991 is a puzzle. Although the success was even higher at 79 percent, only 114 eggs were laid, (compared to roughly 300 during the previous two years) and 91 hatched. Why such a drop in the number of eggs laid? We did find several squirrel nests and five wren nests in the compartments. These energetic birds filled the entire box with twigs. In two boxes, they covered up wood duck nests. If they are driving off the hens, we could be in for a real problem.
Summer Period (June - August)
Canada geese started nesting on DeSoto last year. This year, we produced at least four broods. Twenty-eight Canada geese were present during the molting period. The broods of Canada geese did well throughout the summer, having the lake basically to themselves. 40
The sight and sounds of the Canadas are a nice addition to a summer visit, a rarity before their 1986 reintroduction.
By the later half of August, early migrants began to arrive; pelicans, double-crested cormorants, more Canada geese, blue-winged teal, and mallards.
Fall Period (September - December)
This year, we experienced the strangest fall migration ever. Very few birds were on the refuge throughout September and early October. Only 50 snow geese had arrived by the 29th of October. By noon that day, the sky was full of geese. And, by that evening, over 150,000 geese were on the refuge. It continued to "rain" geese as they were being driven out of the Dakota refuges by severe weather. They funneled in from over a mile high, a fantastic, continuous spiral. By the evening of the 30th, over 500,000 snows were on the refuge. Going from 50 to maybe 550,000 geese in less than 30 hours was phenomenal, and a tremendous sight to see. Equally amazing was the mass exodus the very next day, as really bad weather hit the area. Only 29,000 geese remained, along with about 30,000 ducks, almost all mallards.
A telephone effort was undertaken to find out just how far south the birds would travel as a result of this early storm...all the way to the Gulf Coast, or just out of the storms reach? The next refuge south of DeSoto is Squaw Creek, but they were as frozen up as we were. More phone calls brought little news of where the geese had gone. We did find out that one of their congregation areas was Clay County, Arkansas. The assumption was made that this was the end of the fall migration, as far as DeSoto was concerned. Boy, were we wrong!
On November 13th, back they came. Over 350,000 snows returned on warm southerly winds, much to everyone's surprise. The birds moved around through the Missouri River valley using DeSoto, Riverton and Forney's Lake state refuges in Iowa, Squaw Creek and the new Bob Brown State Refuge in Missouri. Avian cholera hit the flock, and all these areas began picking up dead geese. Luckily, the birds didn't stay long after their return. By November 20th, only 160,000 remained at DeSoto, and by the end of the month, we were down to 30,000 snow geese. By the end of December only 25,000 geese remained.
The ducks peaked on the 16th of November, with 50,000 birds, mostly mallards. Although this is much lower than the refuge has had historically (the objective level is 230,000 and there are records in the 1960's of 750,000), this was a pretty good showing compared to the last few years. The waterfowl numbers continued to drop throughout December, and only 3,000 remained by the end of the month, 41
Canada geese numbers held constant with 300 birds throughout the late fall. A few Ross1 geese were seen this year. Very few white- fronted geese were noted.
Total goose use for the year was 4,962,090. This was substantially lower than the average for the last five years of 13,635,769. Duck use was 947,000, also much lower than the five-year average of 3,281296. Total waterfowl use this year was about half, totaling 5,909,790, compared to the ten-year average of 10,274,046.
4. Marsh and Water Birds
Humans were not the only ones enjoying fishing on DeSoto Lake. Pelicans, great blue herons, green-backed herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, double-crested cormorants, eared grebes, pied-billed grebes, and even a white-faced ibis all were seen using the lake to grab a meal.
The seasonal migrations of both pelicans and cormorants can, at times, be a spectacle.
5. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns and Allied Species
Ring-billed gulls are the only numerous gull on the refuge. Franklin's gulls were observed in April. A few Wilson's phalaropes were spotted in the fall. Except for numerous killdeers, it was a slim year when it came to shorebirds.
6. Raptors
Red-tailed hawks were numerous in the area again this year. Several pairs nested on the refuge. Other hawks included northern harriers, rough-legged, Swainson's, Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks. Other raptors observed were American kestrels, turkey vultures, osprey, merlins, and bald eagles. An unusual sighting occurred in August, when several members of the staff observed a golden eagle. Two months later, just north of the refuge, a golden eagle was found dead. Chances are it was the same bird, since they are rarely seen in eastern Nebraska.
A single barn owl was spotted on the refuge, the first one in a couple years. Great horned owls are numerous, and nest here. Eastern screech owls also nest here and use the wood duck boxes every winter. Barred owls are only seen occasionally now, but are probable nesters.
7. Other Migratory Birds
The annual Spring Bird Count was held on April 27th. About 20 Omaha Audubon members participated. A total of 92 species were observed. 42
The refuge's mourning dove population continues to proliferate. Hundreds nest on the refuge.
Bluebirds, woodcock, common crows, belted kingfishers, tree swallows, and northern rough-winged swallows were frequently- observed during their respective nesting seasons. The only unusual sightings included a prothonotary warbler and a veery. A pretty quiet year.
The annual Christmas Bird Count was held December 21st. Over 20 people counted 47 species.
8. Game Mammals
The white-tailed deer is the only big game animal that resides on the refuge. A ground transect count was done just prior to the muzzleloader hunt, and 130 deer were counted. This was a little lower than average for the count. But, the deer appear to be healthy, and their habitat is in good condition. A lot of information is being gathered on the refuge's deer population through a graduate student's project. See Section D.5.
Another graduate student, Marion Borgmann, from the University of Nebraska, completed her thesis on Ground Foraging Mammals of DeSoto.
10. Other Resident Wildlife
There is definitely not a shortage of pheasants. The soybean fields around the refuge are full of them during the winter months. The bobwhite quail appear to be doing well. There were several early winter ice storms, but it didn't seem to affect them. The milo food plots may have made a difference here. Elsewhere, especially in Nebraska, we heard of both species being found starved, due to heavy ice storms which struck in November.
The turkey population also continues to thrive. Since their reintroduction in 1986, their numbers have steadily climbed. More young were seen again this spring. The population is estimated at approximately 50 birds.
So, what can a birder really delight in during the summer months? Well, there is a constant din of dickcissels in the refuge alfalfa fields. Seemingly, every sign post has its own resident red-headed woodpecker. And, the woods are alive with the clatter of red- bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers.
The refuge does not have a trapping program and no fur bearer management has ever been necessary. There has been a definite increase in muskrats and mink since the lake renovation. Numerous muskrat mounds can be seen in the expanding cattail beds. The beaver have appeared to increase, building a few large lake lodges, much to the public's delight. However, they may have just 43 relocated, since all inflow ditches were dry or intermittent in recent years.
The raccoon population always seems to be too high. Two almost fully grown raccoons were deposited on the refuge this summer, probably after someone decided it was not much fun to raise them anymore. The two became very annoying for fishermen when they started pulling in stringers of fish, and running off with them. Several picnicking families became terrified of what they thought were rabid raccoons, when these bandits jumped up on their picnic tables and helped themselves to picnic goodies. One even pried open a little girl's hand to remove the Cheeto she was holding, before the parents could grab the girl away. These critters were finally coaxed into a cage with an ice cream sandwich, and removed to the closed west side of the refuge. Three others, which showed obvious signs of distemper, had to be disposed of this fall.
Fisheries Resources
The annual DeSoto Fishery Coordination Committee meeting was held on February 21st. Representatives from the Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources were present. Some of the topics discussed were the fisheries problems, condition of the lake, and future management objectives. No changes in regulations are foreseen within the next few seasons.
Approximately 5,409,527 sport fish were stocked this year, bringing the total fish stocked since renovation to over 25.9 million. Now, that looks like a lot, but when you consider most were fry, taint so many.
Stocking for the year was as follows:
Month Species Number Size April Northern 3,000,000 Fry Pike April Walleye 2,400,000 Fry September Channel 6,327 9 Inches Catfish September Channel 3,200 7 Inches Catfish
Due to increases in the number of roughfish (carp and buffalo-fish), four groups of commercial fishermen were issued special permits for roughfish harvest. One or more of the permittees were allowed to fish from mid-March throughout the public use season and up through October, when their use didn't conflict with primary waterfowl concentration and public use. Commercial netting was not allowed 44 during weekends, when sport fishing use increased. These fishermen removed a total of 51,290 pounds of roughfish.
DeSoto Lake monitoring was conducted throughout the year to determine changes in water clarity, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen at specific depths and locations. There had been a continual decline in water clarity over the last three years. However, this year, the decline started to reverse itself. Secchi disk readings, that reached a low of 0.15 meters in the summer last year, improved this year. After an algae bloom occurred in July, disk readings went from approximately 1 meter to one-half meter. In August, more extensive algae blooms occurred, reducing Secchi disk readings to a low of 0.25 meters. These improvements, although slight, do present an increase in clarity over 1990.
The maximum pH level of the lake in 1991 was 9.1, which is a decline from the maximum pH reading of 10.4 recorded in 1989.
The electrical aeration system was activated on January 3rd and ran through March 2nd. No problems were encountered with the system this year.
Summer water temperatures did not cause any severe problems this year. No fish kills occurred. The main reason was probably due to high water levels. The lake's outlet tube was opened on June 19th, to draw the lake down. It was closed on July 5th, effectively lowering the lake by nearly two feet.
Due to the fact that the lake lacks adequate fishery habitat, there has been an on-going effort to improve conditions. This winter, approximately 500 tons of rip-rap rock were placed in 10-ton piles on the lake ice. The rock piles held together best in shallow water.
The lotus beds expanded despite high water. Control may be re quired in the future. 40-204-91 GG
Submergent vegetation growth, which has been declining, increased this year due to improved water clarity. The algal blooms were not 45
nearly as extensive as year's past. Possibly, this was due to cooler lake temperatures as the result of runoff.
Fishery surveys, accomplished by electrofishing and netting, were conducted in March and October. Fall sampling indicated a very strong young-of-the-year population of largemouth bass, the largest since renovation. In addition, adult bass numbers (6" or greater in length) increased from 2.1 per acre to 2.6 acre. Numbers of bass in the 8-12 inch range also increased over previous years. This was specifically important since these age classes had been substantially locking in prior surveys.
Surveys also indicated stable populations of northern pike and walleye pike. No reproduction was noted, but the condition of existing fish was excellent.
Crappie population were found to be "improving" with numerous fish in the 6 inch range. These should be harvestable (9-10") by the fall of 1992.
Bluegill were not abundant and very few were netted that exceeded 6" in length.
Flathead populations were very good and the fish initially stocked averaged 12 to 18 pounds in size. All size classes were in excellent condition and, for the first time, some evidence of reproduction was discovered.
Carp populations appeared to be declining and carp, on average, were in very poor condition.
Buffalofish populations appeared to be stable and in good condition.
In addition, very few large bullhead fish were discovered, but a significant number of fish in the 7-8 inch range were netted.
Disease Prevention and Control
A bald eagle collected in January had died of lead poisoning and two other recovered eagles were sent into the lab for diagnosis as well. A golden eagle, brought in by local Conservation Officer Richard Johnson in October had died of trauma, probably suffered in a vehicle collision, since it was found in a road ditch in Harrison County, Iowa.
A bald eagle which had been found by a muzzleloader hunter on December 8th, (their scouting day) had died of secondary poisoning from avian cholera, the disease transmitted through ingestion of diseased tissues. It was found in a historic roosting area on the refuge. Since this is the third eagle so documented on this refuge, we suspect that secondary poisoning may be fairly common. It behooves managers to consider this as another factor for the speedy 46 removal of waterfowl carcasses from wetlands during cholera outbreaks.
During mid-November, an outbreak of avian cholera occurred among remaining waterfowl. A series of ice and snow storms accompanied extreme cold weather and severely stressed the goose population. A total of 255 snow geese were collected during the third week of the month and incinerated in a unit borrowed from the Nebraska Game and Park Sacramento-Wilcox Wildlife Management Area. This burner required extensive repair prior to incineration. In the future, we hope to build our own unit, because disposal has been a reoccurring problem here, and whenever we have a minor outbreak, shallow-marshed refuges like Squaw Creek, Bob Brown, Riverton and Forney's Lake (Iowa DNR), and Schilling Wetland Management Area (Nebraska G&P) have major problems. In all, over 5,000 birds were picked up in the lower Missouri Valley during late November. National Wildlife Health Research Center autopsies on three snow geese submitted confirmed our assumption that the birds were dying of cholera.
Three raccoons which displayed obvious signs of distemper had to be controlled and disposed of this fall.
H. PUBLIC USE
General
The refuge experienced the lowest overall public use in the last decade. Total visits were 332,596, the lowest since 1979. The ten- year average of visits to the refuge is 395,000. The visitor center hosted only 127,468 people, the lowest visitation since it opened in 1981. Winter, spring, and summer use remained much like previous years. No changes occurred in exhibits or programs on the refuge. Environmental education and recreational uses remained fairly constant. So why the drastic decline? All you needed to do was listen to the questions the public were asking this fall. The question heard more often this fall than even, "Where are the restrooms?...was, "Where are the geese?"
The fall migration came and went so fast that the public essentially missed it, November is normally the busiest month of the year. Last year's visits to the refuge in November totaled over 70,000. This year, only 32,000 visitors came. November is usually a nightmare of traffic backed out on to Highway 30, parking lots overflowing, directing traffic all weekend, etc. Little of this occurred this year. The geese didn't stay, therefore, the public didn't come. The following chart compares 1991 visitor numbers to the ten-year average. 47
Comparative Visitation Data (Visitor Numbers)
1981-•1990 Average 1991
Interpretation 448,277 346,482 (Visitor Center) (178,231) (127,468) Environmental Education 8,379 7,999 Consumptive Wildlife Recreation 48,293 41,450 Non-Consumptive Wildlife Recreation 196,059 216,447 Non-Wildlife Recreation 56.454 689
Total Public Use 713,462 613,067
Total Refuge Visits 395,500 332,596
The drop in interpretation is due to the effects of the fall migration. This influenced both the amount of people coming into the visitor center and the number of people traveling the fall auto tour route.
Environmental education visits have steadily increased since the visitor center was opened in 1981, and has reached the saturation level during certain periods.
Three consumptive wildlife uses occur on the refuge. There is the hunt program, which consists of a waterfowl hunt, a muzzleloader deer hunt, and two archery deer hunts. The small drop in this year's number of visits is primarily due to the decline in waterfowl hunting visits. If there are few geese, few hunters come. Fishing visits have not reached peak pre-renovation levels. The last consumptive user group are the mushroom hunters. This use has shown a dramatic increase over the years, going from a couple thousand to over 8,000 visits each spring.
Non-consumptive wildlife recreation increased compared to the last ten years. These uses, including; picnicking, wildlife observation, trails, boating, photography, etc., have steadily increased since the 1984 closure to active recreation pursuits.
The dramatic drop in non-wildlife recreation is due to the closure of the lake to high-speed powerboating, waterskiing, and swimming by the mid-1980ls. Peaks in the 1970's were nearly 200,000 people, compared to the few who still use the refuge for family reunions, business picnics, walkathons, etc. today.
Summer visitation from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day totaled 126,050, with over 10,500 on the Memorial Day weekend, only 1,162 on the Fourth of July, and another 7,360 on the Labor Day weekend. Overall, this season's use was only slightly lower than last year. The summer public use season was extended from September 30 to October 15th, in order to provide for some fall fishing during cooler weather. 48 a. Entrance Fee System
This was the fourth year of entrance fee collection. Self- registration stations are located near both entrances to the refuge. Another mobile, self-registration station is located in the visitor center. Compliance is poor. Visitors who should be paying, are not, and senior citizens who do not have to pay, are. All in all, it's a very confusing and frustrating system. A total of $48,684.41 was collected in entrance fees during the fiscal year.
Fiscal Year Entrance Fee Data
Refuge $2.00 Paying Total Year Cost Receipts Visitors Visits
1988 $19,483 $60,534 30,267 382,003 1989 $23,039 $61,750 30,876 386,030 1990 $20,145 $56,087 28,044 390,929 1991 $23,590 $48,684 24,342 371,139
Cost effectiveness of the above program remains poor, with costs exceeding returned revenues by approximately 15 percent. In addition to the time spent dealing directly with the receipts, the staff spends a great amount of time trying to explain the system to the confused public. The fee booths also cause extreme traffic tie-ups during busy November weekends, but they weren't too much of a problem this year.
Group/commercial fees accounted for $1,695, duck stamps sales totaled $7,980, and Golden Eagle sales came to $2,550. When added to the two-dollar self-registration receipts, this comes to a total of $60,909, which is $2,838 less than last year's receipts. A total of 1,888 Golden Age and 81 Golden Access Passports were issued during the year. Time spent in issuing passes, explaining the system, listening to complaints, and accounting for funds, detracts from the positive public services we used to render. b. Public Information
Response was made to 11,239 public inquiries, which continues to climb by leaps and bounds each year. This includes 9,947 telephone responses. A total of 1,292 written responses also were provided. All of this keeps the phones ringing and the computers humming.
A total of 33 news releases and four public service announcements were sent to appropriate sectors of the news media throughout Iowa and Nebraska, as well as major South Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri media. This included up to 166 television, radio, and press outlets, and 43 other sources. 49
Information was frequently provided to journalists from Home and Away magazine and the Omaha World-Herald, Blair Enterprise. Pes Moines Register. Council Bluff's Nonpareil. and Lincoln Journal-Star newspapers for special articles and coverage of the December poaching case (see Section H. 17), The poaching case was picked up by the Associated Press and received national attention.
A Hong Kong television station, TVB, filmed on the refuge. The footage will be used along with other sites in the U. S. for four half-hour documentaries.
Over 50 interviews were provided to newspaper and magazine representatives during 1991. Numerous radio and television interviews also were provided by members of the staff. A total of 33 interviews were given. Topics ranged from goose migration, bald eagles, fishing, opening of the summer season, and from the Bertrand. to the poaching case. Staff traveled into Omaha to participate "live" on four midday news shows with John Mooney on KETV, Channel 7. c. Public Relations
Off-refuge programs, exhibits, and assistance with public relations matters were provided to other Service entities, outside agencies, and public forums.
Numerous questionnaires and information packets were sent to many areas including The Wildlife Atlas. Omaha Primary Telephone Directory. 1992 Iowa Visitor's Guide. Iowa Calendar of Events. Official Museum Directory 1991. AAA/CAA Regional Tourbook, and Iowa Tourism Guide.
Slides were loaned to individuals, organizations, and publications. The Washington Office used several slides of the Bertrand collection for cultural resources brochures, the Iowa State University Extension Office, Nebraska Game and Park's Aquatics Education Office, and the Basic Refuge Manager Academy, to name a few.
The Nebraska Tour Guides were given a tour of the refuge and information to assist them in their summer jobs at Interstate wayside facilities. Also, the Nebraska Junior Miss Pageant contestants were given some special attention on their tour,
d. Off-refuge Programs
Several members of the staff and many volunteers traveled far and wide to give 18 off-refuge programs to over 600 people. The topics of the programs varied almost as widely as the audience. Programs were given to church women, scouts, hunt clubs, optimist clubs, and even pre-schoolers. 50
Two career day programs were participated in at area high schools.
The refuge's film library did some traveling, also, primarily to organizations beyond the staff's or volunteers travel limitations. Films were loaned to many schools, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, scout groups, historical societies, senior citizen centers, other national wildlife refuges, and the National Park Service. The Wilson Island State Recreation Area borrowed several films each month during the summer for their weekend outdoor theater program.
e. Signs and Publications
A total of seven replacement signs and one decal were produced by the Regional Sign Center. An additional order of 24 standardized signs and 24 decals were purchased from UNICOR.
Due to the expense of refuge brochures, only 1,000 were distributed to the local Iowa and Nebraska state tourism offices and welcome centers. Demand for refuge brochures remains high.
The refuge staff worked on a new application process for the waterfowl hunt, A tri-fold application was devised, which the prospective hunter fills out and mails in for the drawing. A small quantity were printed locally. Some bugs still need to be worked out.
2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students
During much of the year, the refuge bustles with the activity of school children.
Special programs provided to the students included prairie appreciation, waterfowl migration, arti facts, wildlife week, and a wildlife art show. 45-128-91 MS 51
January through April brought over 900 students to the refuge. May was by far the busiest month with over 3,200 students (156 classes) using the refuge. This month's use continued to grow, with a 20 percent increase over last year. The majority of these groups work on the Artifacts and Lifestyles packet provided by the refuge as part of their program.
Even the summer months saw over 700 students involved in environmental education. In the fall, the rush starts again. One week in September is set aside for Prairie Appreciation Week. This program teaches the students the importance of prairies, with both indoor and outdoor exercises. Nearly 500 students were accommodated in this five-day program. Over 2,200 students came to learn about waterfowl migrations during the months of October and November. The groups worked on the Birds in Migration packet during this time, and viewed the migrating waterfowl from both the visitor center and other access points. During the year, a total of 7,907 students participated in environmental education on the refuge, still 10.8 percent below last year's use. Numerous teachers also borrowed films, slide shows, and video tapes to use in their classrooms.
Many colleges also use the refuge, including, Dana College, Iowa Western, Midlands, and the University of Nebraska.
Due to limited staff, refuge volunteers are called upon to help with the education programs. With so many school groups and so few volunteers, the volunteers are first assigned to new user groups, and then to as many repeat-user groups as possible.
Outdoor Education - Fishing Clinics
To celebrate National Fishing Week, a very successful fishing clinic was held on June 8th. Fishery Biologist Milligan got plenty of atten tion when he displayed this big flathead cat fish. 45-127-91 SVR
Over 50 Omaha boys, most of whom came from underprivileged homes enjoyed a day of fishing on the refuge. This was a cooperative effort between the refuge staff and volunteers from Zion Baptist Church, providing instruction and support services, and Nebraska Game and Parks, providing fishing equipment (40 poles) through their aquatic education program. 52
Then, a total of 76 inter-city youths and 25 adults partici pated in another clinic held in August. Here Student Trainee Coleman helps a lad with a "monster" fish. 45-126-91 SVR
The kids learned about knot-typing, fish clean ing, fish identification, etc., and even had a fish cookout, thanks to their support team. 45-125-91 JO
Special Agent Cleveland Vaughn has worked hard to organize these annual clinics for Omaha inter-city children, and to get everyone to pitch in and help. He is a go-getter, and we love him!
Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers
The refuge hosted three teacher workshops, with a total of 74 teachers participating. The first was a Project WILD workshop, cosponsored with Nebraska Game and Parks and Creighton University. Midland Lutheran College also held a workshop for student teachers. A third was held in conjunction with Dana College and 21 middle- school science teachers.
Interpretive Foot Trails
The refuge nature trails were enjoyed by over 66,000 visitors. Two of the refuge trails, Wood Duck and Cottonwood, have interpretive leaflets. Volunteer naturalists provided 366 visitors with guided walks on refuge trails. Volunteers Dorothy and Frank Hardy provided 53 a second season of "trail patrol", keeping the trails free of litter, performing light maintenance, and informing the refuge staff of heavy trail maintenance like trees, four feet in diameter, which had fallen across the trails.
Interpretive Tour Routes
The fall auto tour ran from October 15th through November 11th. Average visitation over the last five years has been 54,000 people. Due to bad weather and the lack of snow geese, only 25,800 people drove the tour route this season.
Guided tours of the refuge were provided for 455 visitors. Most of these groups are conservation-oriented, tour groups, which call ahead for reservations. Volunteers provided the majority of these tours, with minimal staff involvement.
Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations a. Self-guided Exhibits
The DeSoto Visitor Center holds a variety of excellent special exhibits. The first is the Student Art Show throughout the month of March. This year was the eighth annual show. Of the 572 entries allowed in K-12, the artworks of over 380 students were selected from 38 participating Iowa and Nebraska schools for entry in the exhibit. Awards were provided and all participants received a special personalized certificate. Over 3,400 visitors enjoyed the exhibit in the multi-purpose room.
The "Reflections of Nature from the National Wildlife Refuge System" photographic show was on display during the months of April and May. Featured were 30 images from various refuges by Karen and John Hollingsworth, which show the diversity within our refuge system.
During the month of June, the center hosted the Eighth Annual Wildlife Photography Exhibit and Sale. The exhibit included 481 works by 17 Iowa and Nebraska photographers. A total of $454.50 worth of local photography was sold.
From September 14th through the 22nd, Prairie Appreciation Week was held. This exhibit is primarily set up for environmental education purposes during the weekdays, and it's also open to visitors during the weekend. Volunteers go afield with the students in conducting their prairie appreciation exercises.
The Ninth Annual Wildlife Art Exhibit and Sale was held during the month of October. A total of 200, two-and three- dimensional works by 25 Iowa and Nebraska artists were 54
displayed. Sales totaled over $2,700. Individual artists were featured on weekends during the show. b. Visitor Center -
Visitation was dropped below 127,500 people. This year, the average visita tion since the center opened in 1981 has been nearly 180,000. N38-01-91 Com
The early months of the year are fairly sparse in visitation. Summer use of the center picks up and, of course, the fall use is usually very heavy. The month of November usually sees as many as 45,000 people through the building to observe the migration.
Once again, the lack of snow geese and cold, snowy weekends affected visitation. Only 19,000 people vis ited to the center during November. 42-152-90 GG
The orientation film, "Seeds of Change", is shown hourly during the week, and on the half-hour on weekends and during heavy use periods. A total of 32,426 people viewed this introductory film, in addition to all school groups.
The center contains exhibits on cultural history, natural history, wildlife, conservation, and Service-oriented displays. Two galleries feature displays on the steamboat Bertrand. and the effects of westward expansion on the habitat and wildlife of the Missouri River Basin. There also are two large wildlife-viewing areas in the Refuge Today Gallery. The 55 areas are often filled to capacity when the snow geese are present.
The center's Federal Duck Stamp display was revised for 1991- 1992. A wildflower information guide is placed at the Information Desk, spring through early fall. It is updated periodically to include photographs of flowers currently in bloom. The multipurpose room was set up in the fall with taxidermy mounts of waterfowl, information on the flyways, and a waterfowl art display.
The Bertrand Excavation film, which is housed is a "shipping crate", was transferred to video. The old 8mm-film system was of poor quality and caused numerous heating problems. The video monitor and tapes have been working well in the crate.
Binoculars are available to visitors for free use. This service is very popular with waterfowl and eagle observers, Damage to loaned binoculars is slight and infrequent.
Bertrand Collection - For the first three months of the year, the museum's clerk-typist aptly managed the normal affairs of the Bertrand Collection, She also oversaw the implementation of an important insulation contract in the Cargo Storage Area.
During inclement weather, the star columns and exterior walls of the museum sweated profusely, causing high humidity in the environmental chambers and puddles of water on the floor (arrow). In addition to the adverse affect on museum objects, including the acid-free boxes on the left containing 3,700 boots and shoes, the concrete flooring suffered from paint loss peeling. 52-119-89 LP
These conditions resulted from the nature of the building's architecture, combined with the special environmental requirements of the collection. Although exterior insulation had been recommended, a contract was let to insulate the 56 exterior-exposed wall on the inside of the storage area. Thousands of objects had to be temporarily relocated and accounted for as a result.
The insulation of the exterior wall was one of four projects required as a result of the Office of Inspector General's 1989 audit of the refuge museum program. In March, the new museum curator entered on duty. The first order of duty after orientation was to begin addressing the Inspector General's report. All unaccessioned objects were added to the museum property Inventory and assigned catalog numbers. Of the 174 objects listed as "missing", more than 70 were accounted for. The objects had never been surveyed because previous managers believed they could account for the missing objects as administrative errors, which occurred during several collection moves from one location to another. The next logical step is a 100 percent inventory of the collection.
All museum catalog records have now been transferred to a computer database to facilitate this inventory. See the sample sheet on the following page. The manual process was responsible for the inventory errors, given the enormity of the collection (estimated at 200,000 objects). The database developed is compatible with the National Park Service Automated National Cataloging System (ANCS). Since the NFS is responsible for developing a museum object cataloging system for the entire Department of Interior, this seemed the logical route. For the last several months, a good portion of our curatorial staff's time has been devoted to this project. Apart from inventorying everything in the collection, each object must be described according to the standards adopted by NFS and most professional museums, Chenhall's Nomenclature. To date, about ninety-five percent of the collection's inventory is computerized. A total of 4,958 records have been recorded, totaling 69,539 objects. Large quantities of objects (nails, leadshot, etc.) are cataloged by their lots or measures, such as 275 pounds, 138 bags, 19 boxes, or 24 jars.
Given approval of the Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement between the various preservation offices and the Service, implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan was begun. A budget was developed for the first year of implementation. Position descriptions were written for two museum technicians and one museum specialist. The museum specialist position was filled through the Chicago Federal Job Fair, and Jeanne Harold entered on duty December 15.
Two of the boat's large paddlewheel cams, exhibited outside of the Cargo Storage Area, were treated for corrosion. Wall paint had adhered to the backs of the cams. In the rush to get contracts completed by the official opening date of the center in 1981, they were apparently applied to the wall 32/27/92 r T j BERTRAND COLLECTION INVENTORY | | U. S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE j I I Catalog Number Components/Comnents Objects Name Number of Objects Storage Unit Condition/comments
r Object Location: H-EX
PESO-000053/ BOTTLE (PEPPER SAUCE)* 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000063/ CAP 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000067/ PANTS 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000072/1,7.10,13,18,20 BLOCK, ALPHABET 6 0.00 EA
DESO-000096/9 SPOOL (THREAD) 1 0.00 EA j DESO-000107/1-30 BLOCK 30 0.00 EA
DESO-OOOIU/1-5,7 SAFE, HATCH 6 0.00 EA
DESO-000116/1,3,6,7,13,18,21,22,23,28 a- PEN (HOLDER) 10 0.00 EA
DESO-000117/1-5 COMB 5 0.00 EA
DESO-000119/ BUCKLE 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000123/1 SPOOL (THREAD) 1 0.00 EA i DESO-000128/7-12 COMB 6 0.00 EA
0ESO-000139/1-6,8,11 BOTTLE (PICKLES)* 8 0.00 EA
OESO-OOOU2/ BOX 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000155/ PIPE (BOWL) 1 0.00 EA
0ESO-000161/1 SCISSORS 1 0.00 EA
DESO-000165/ BEAD 10 0.00 EA 57 before the wall paint dried. One was treated by a contractor, the other in-house by our new museum specialist at about a fourth of the cost. The damage to the wall is no longer visible thanks to the fine work of Maintenance Helper Hinkel.
Fire-resistant filing cabinets for conservation and cataloging records were purchased this year. They were badly needed to achieve professional standards for museum record protection. Air purifiers were set up in the Cargo Storage Areas. Some ventilation equipment was bought to regenerate the lab facility. Some time was spent accumulating information for development of a laboratory hygiene plan, as required under federal law. Two conservation contracts were effected to work on metal and textile objects.
A surprise artifact conser vation project occurred because one of the Cargo Viewing Area glass windows adjoining the storage area shattered, for reasons un known, Unfortunately, minute slivers of glass spewed over all the textiles on display. One object was broken. Larger pieces of glass were removed from fabrics, but microscopic pieces are still embedded in some artifact materials. 52-118-91 JO
Exhibit maintenance continued. The housekeeping and integrated pest management plans were implemented. Sensitive museum objects were rotated. The storage area was cleaned. Textile fade cards were installed in exhibit areas to determine the extent of light infiltration affecting objects. Taxidermied materials were surveyed for insects. Suspect materials were sealed in plastic and frozen. High incidences of mice infestations occurred during January and in July. Environmental monitoring continued and a hygrothermograph was placed in the exhibit gallery. Small hygrometer/thermometers were purchased for exhibits. 58
As in years past, Dr. Larrie Stone, a microbiologist from nearby Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, perform ed the annual con dition survey of perishables in the collection, 49-174-91 JO
He reviewed over 750 foodstuff items in storage and on exhibit. Some 21 items were later treated as a result of the survey.
Three hundred and thirty museum objects were numbered and entered into the cataloging system. They had not been cataloged in the past. The artifacts on loan to the National Bison Range were returned. They substituted Bertrand collection materials with reproductions which were more appropriate to their interpretive themes.
The curator spoke with a variety of groups including visiting VIP's, the Outdoor Writers* Association of Nebraska, the Elkhorn Iowa Danish Museum volunteers, and various scouts and school groups. Time spent with a group of students from Iowa State University resulted in three papers written about the collection, one of which was presented at a professional historical conference.
Research trips provided some stimulating U J - " siLwr" ifti , ; r materials to further inter i'/ .i pret the collec staa-,•: s • - 1 •• tion, including some period photographs from Montana. 49-171-91 JO 59
The complete business papers of Frank L. Worden, one of the Montana consignees of cargo, were reviewed at the Mansfield Library at the University of Montana in Missoula, A ledger including a list of cargo lost on the Bertrand was among those records.
Additional areas of Montana visited included Helena, Virginia City, and Deer Lodge. Correspondence with the Robert Campbell House Museum in St. Louis shows that references to the consignors of Bertrand goods may be found at the St. Louis Mercantile Library. Other reference trips included the Western Heritage Center in Omaha, Ft. Atkinson in Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska, and the Sioux City Public Museum.
The museum curator also visited the Danish Museum in Elkhorn, Iowa, and provided their volunteers with a program about museum objects preservation.
Three publications will carry references to the collection in 1992, the National Register Publishing Company, Wilmette, Official Museum Directory 1992. a photographies collection survey for a directory of Iowa Photographies Collections compiled by Richard Vest of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and America's Ancient Treasures: A Guide to Archeological Sites and Museums in the U. S. and Canada by Franklin Folsom of Boulder, Colorado.
Other Interpretive Programs
The staff presented talks and programs to a variety of groups. Other than educational groups, a total of 111 organized groups and bus tours, containing 4,537 persons, visited the refuge. Orientation talks regarding the Service and refuge are provided, when staff are available. A total of 3,298 people received this orientation.
Slide programs, talks on endangered species, the refuge and wildlife management, and the Bertrand. were all subjects of numerous programs given to groups by the staff and volunteers,
A total of 258 Boy Scouts and 26 Girl Scouts, (as best we could determine), were given talks. The groups come with various requests to meet their badge requirements. This always keeps the staff person giving the talk jumping, never knowing what the groups will want to know about next.
Weekend wildlife films were enjoyed by 4,355 visitors throughout the year. Many of the same local folks come each Saturday and Sunday to enjoy a film. The feature is shown twice each weekend afternoon. The series includes a special program shown during Prairie 60
Appreciation Week. Films are discontinued from mid-October through November due to the normally high weekend visitation levels during the waterfowl migration.
HuntinE a. Waterfowl - The controlled waterfowl hunt was held again for the eighteenth consecutive year. The hunt ran from November 1st through December 10th, a total of 40 days. This hunt takes place on the Iowa portion of the refuge.
Changes were made this year, due to the extensive staff time involved in administering the hunt. A three-part hunt application was prepared. The application, if completed correctly, has the prospective hunter filling in all the sections and return address. Also, no money was required with the application. This saved a lot of staff time and effort. More refinement is required to streamline the application process, and, hopefully, it can all become computerized eventually.
The advanced reservation drawing was held on October 8th, The remaining dates were filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. A total of 397 reservations were made. Only 387 hunters used the blinds, which is down dramatically from the 591 last year. The geese did not cooperate. The snow geese piled into the refuge just before the hunt started, and left just as quickly. Only an average of 29,000 geese were on the refuge during the first half of November. The birds did build back up during the middle of the month, but the numbers fluctuated dramatically from week to week. It was a terrible fall for goose hunters.
The hunters bagged 190 birds, including 166 geese and 24 ducks. However, they had to put in 1,767 activity hours to do it. That worked out to over nine hours per bird. This number is down though, compared to the five-year average of 11.8 hours per bird. The reported crippling loss also was significantly reduced, only 27 compared to the average of 63. The number of shells fired was low, with 1,329 shots fired, much lower than the 2,956-shot average. Again, the dilemma, ...a quality hunt or not? Many hunters complain about the time invested with so few birds bagged. Others express positive feelings of being able to just be out in the morning and see thousands of birds take wing. Quality or not, . . .up to the individual recipient.
Financially, the hunt is expensive. The money brought in through reservations, blind fees, and decoy rentals amounted to $2,682. The costs include putting out blinds, placing numerous signs, overall administration, check station 61 operation, law enforcement, etc., which comes to $4,796.34. Definitely a costly hunt, which draws fewer hunters each year.
Off-refuge goose hunters did not seem pleased with the new regulation regarding no goose hunting after 1:00 p.m. in Iowa. This regulation is an attempt to increase the take. When the reasoning behind it was explained to them, they understood the logic, but still were not happy with it. Hunting off-refuge was not good this year either, except during a few blustery days in November.
Muzzleloader Deer Hunt - The three-day muzzleloader hunt was a big success. One hundred permits were issued by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and 97 hunters participated in the hunt. The hunt ran from December 14th through the 16th, with a scouting day on the 8th. The weather was very nice on all three hunt days.
The hunters re corded 1,431 ac tivity hours to harvest a total of 62 deer. This put the success rate at 63 per cent, which is the highest since the hunt was es tablished in 1976. 39-070-91 SVR
Muzzleloader Deer Harvest Data
Age and Sex Number Taken
Adult Male 28 Fawn Male 5 Adult Females 17 Fawn Females 12
The anti-hunting group which plagued the archery and muzzleloader hunts last year was not present this year. We hardly missed them.
Archery Deer Hunt - Archery deer hunting occurs on Nebraska and Iowa portions of the refuge. License requirement and season lengths were consistent with regulations for the state in which the hunting occurred. The hunt requires little effort on the part of the refuge staff, and is enjoyed by 62
numerous hunters. Our best estimate of use and the harvest comes from a combination of a voluntary registration and officer observations. Not specific, but a darn good guess!
Nebraska - 1,072 Visits 3,217 Hours 17 Deer Harvested Iowa - 210 Visits 630 Hours 6 Deer Harvested
Fishing
Severe January temp eratures did not deter the ice fishermen. Numerous brave souls ventured out onto the ice to try and catch the big ones. 40-206-91 GG
Ice fishing over the last two winters has proven to be very good. Those that persevered were rewarded with some very large northern pike and largemouth bass, a few walleyes, and an occasional crappie.
On April 15th, the summer public use season began, and with it came the bass fishermen. Angler use was down on the refuge, compared to last year, and so was the catch. 40-205-91 GG
Walleyes seemed to be the only sport fish biting in the early part of the season, and then everything dropped off. There was one very pleased fishermen who caught a record largemouth bass, weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces, A total of ten official fishing tournaments were held on the refuge, with a few others unrecorded.
As stated in Section H. 2, Special Agent Cleveland Vaughn worked with the staff to host two Omaha inter-city youth fishing clinics on the refuge. 63
A total of 128 kids had a good time during the clinics. For some, this was their first fishing experience. Some were lucky, some were not. The summer fishing season was extended to October 15th, in hopes that the fishing would pick up as the weather cooled. It didn't. 45-124-91 SVR
10. Wildlife Observation
Wildlife viewing from the visitor center is excellent in season, especially for waterfowl. The refuge also has a tower at the North Lake Observation Area. This tower is fairly old, and plans are to replace it with a handicapped-accessible facility. There also is a photoblind, which is available to the public upon special request.
Due to the refuge being open for ice fishing throughout January and half of February, general visitors were able to access much of the refuge. This also allowed for increased viewing of bald eagles along the Missouri River. The road remained open to the North Lake Observation Area tower throughout most of the year, giving the public the opportunity to view migrating waterfowl from that vantage point as well.
More and more visitors are seeing turkeys as their numbers increase. Viewing of the refuge deer herd is always popular. Many local people drive out to the refuge toward the end of the day to simply drive through and see wildlife. Since the closure of the lake to high-speed boating, beaver and muskrat activity has increased to the delight of visitors. Also, there have been numerous observations of mink on the refuge in recent years.
One of the most sought-after sightings is of a bald eagle. Thousands of people come to the refuge to get a glimpse of one. The eagles cooperate quite well, and, in season, not many visitors leave unhappy. 64
Wildlife observation increases each year. As the public becomes aware of nature and the environment, they want to experience it first-hand. The fact that DeSoto only 30 miles from a major metropolitan area allows for many people to come and get a close "taste" of nature. This attraction is often aided by the local media, which likes to feature seasonal wildlife occurrences at DeSoto.
Other Wildlife/Wildlands-Oriented Recreation a. Nature Trails
Non-interpretive nature trails re ceived approxi mately 40,000 visits. Use on the Missouri Mean der Trail, adjacent to the visitor center, remains highest due to its close proximity. 2-131-90 GG
The Bertrand Trail is located beside the Bertrand Excavation Site. This trail is very short, diverse, and is very popular with those that visit the interpreted site. b. Mushroom Hunting
Mushroom hunting is permitted in designated areas from April 15 through May 31. This is a very popular activity among local people. It also can be a very big headache for the law enforce ment staff. N46-01-91 GG 65
Areas open for mushrooming are marked on the regulations map, but many people feel the "big ones" are in the closed areas. It then becomes a game of hide and seek from the officers. Some get darn sneaky about it, camouflage and all! The game ends when they get caught, pay a fine, or, worse yet, forfeit their mushrooms. Oh, how they cry! But the bad part is these interlopers are having a significant impact on the wildlife resource, disturbing nesting birds, and white-tailed does heavy with fawns.
c. Boating. Canoeing. Sailing
Less boating activity is recorded each year. Only 315 visits were recorded in 1991. Many canoes, and, occasionally, a small sailboat are seen on the lake. (Boating attendant to fishing is not recorded in this category).
The days of high-speed powerboating are almost forgotten. It has been eight blessed years! Only one complaint was heard this year.
d. Bicycling and Walking
Many people enjoy touring the refuge by bicycles or walking. Entire families haul their bikes out to the refuge to spend the day biking. Others come from the adjoining Wilson Island State Park, where they may be camping for a weekend.
14. Picnicking
Picnic areas are available throughout the refuge from April 15th through September 30th. Over 22,000 visitors came to enjoy the area and picnic this year.
Picnic tables at the Cottonwood Nature Trail remained available for use by school groups, involved in environmental education activities, after the public use season closed. However, use by school groups is not counted in the recreational picnicking category.
16. Non-Wildlife-Oriented Recreation
Non-wildlife-oriented use is practically non-existent now, representing less than one-half of one percent of what it was a decade ago. Such use is along the line of reunions and business picnic, and an occasional charity bike or walkathon. Total use in this category is less than 700 visits. 66
Group use included an Elderhostel outing in September. A total of 250 people participated in the six-mile Volks March walk. The partic ipants in the annual Iowa Rag-Brai, a bike trip across Iowa, also came to the refuge in droves at the start of their event. 46-106-91 TR
17. Law Enforcement
A major effort was made to close pending cases this year. This proved to be more difficult than originally thought. During the amount of time that passes throughout the various phases of the legal process, many offenders change residences and jobs one or more times. This makes it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to locate these individuals at a later date. It is not unusual for six months or more to pass before a court date is set, and then another six months may pass before an arrest warrant is issued. Factoring in other delays, a violator can easily have over a year to move from place to place. Twenty-two cases were pending at the end of 1990.
Summary of Violations Still Pending at the End of 1990
Total Prosecuted Court Cases Cases Types of Violations Violations Fines Pending Dismissed
Hunting Invalid Federal Stamp No State Stamp $150 Unplugged Gun 50 Late Shooting 150 Wanton Waste 50 Fishing No License 400 Undersized Fish Vehicle No Trailer Lights 25 No Drivers License Trespass No Life Jackets 1 50 Controlled Substance TOTAL To" $875 11 67
Eleven of the above cases had to be dismissed, since it was impossible to locate the individuals involved. Some of these cases dated back to 1988. Ten other cases were closed when the violators were contacted and convinced to pay the fine. Several of these individuals had arrest warrants issued for them. They decided it would be easier to pay the fine than go to jail. Only three cases are pending at the present time.
As in year's past, refuge officers spent most of their time on potential resource violations. Enforcement of the entrance fee system continues to be a problem, with voluntary compliance averaging about 80 percent. The use of roadblocks was very limited due to other law enforcement priorities and a lack of personnel on weekends. When roadblocks were used, the approach was to establish a roadblocks, stop all traffic, and cite all individuals that did not have an entry permit. This approach requires at least two officers, and cannot be done when there is very heavy traffic. Due to general understaffing, training requirements, and other commitments, only one officer was on duty during many weekends, At other times, more urgent problems required the attention of officers.
Summary of 1991 Violations
Warning Total Tickets Prosecuted Court Cases Cases Types of Violations Issued Violations Fines Pending Dismissed
Trespass 2 30 $1500 Destruction of Public Property 1 200 Entry Without Permit 7 200 Late Shooting 2 100 Illegal Take Wildlife 1 200 Fishing No License 2 200 Over Limit 1 50 More Than 2 Lines 1 4 200 No Navigation Lights 3 75 Vehicle Violations Off Road Operation 1 50 No Trailer Lights 1 25 Speeding 1 50 Parking 1 25 Careless Operation 1 100 Spotlighting 1 TOTAL 4 56 $2,975 68
Traffic Control - Due to inclement weather and erratic geese flights, an annual DeSoto ritual did not occur. The hordes of visitors that seasonally invade on the weekends before and after thanksgiving failed to show up. Officers only had to direct traffic on one weekend afternoon, and then for just four hours. While the fall season went smoother without the huge crowds, it did not seem the same.
Hunting violations - showed a substantial decline. There were several reasons for the decrease in hunting violations. Iowa experimented with earlier ending hour for goose hunting in the southwest zone. Shooting hours ended at 1:00 p.m., instead of sunset, for most of the season. This eliminated the large numbers of hunters that usually follow the geese as they go out to feed in the afternoon. In addition, the geese spent most of the season feeding over in Nebraska. Since hunting from the roadway is prohibited in Nebraska, there were fewer potential violations to deal with. It is more difficult to find and observe hunters in Nebraska, especially in the hills. With the erratic movements of the geese and the snow storms, it was frequently hard to find either geese or hunters!
Fishing violations - also were down. This can be partially attributed to a very good growing season for morel mushrooms. A wet spring brought a large number of morels, and, in turn, a large number of mushroom hunters. Most mushroom hunters restrict themselves to open areas, but many seem to think all the best hunting grounds are in the closed areas. Officers were kept very busy trying to keep people out of the closed areas. This was done by high visibility patrols, extra signing, education, and a substantial number of prosecuted trespassing cases. All this activity coincided with the busiest portion of the fishing season, forcing officers to reduce the amount of time spent checking fishermen. The remainder of the fishing season was relatively slow, resulting in resultant fishermen and fewer violations,
Thefts - Another disturbing development was thefts from parked vehicles. Two breaking and entering thefts occurred during June, both at the South Beach Recreation Area boat ramp. The first involved a stereo taken from a parked vehicle. The second involved an outboard motor and depth finder taken from a boat left at the ramp. During early fall, four parked vehicles had windows broken out and items taken from the interior. The thief shows a remarkable amount of daring, twice breaking into vehicles parked in front of the visitor center. The other two break-ins occurred at the Cottonwood Nature Trail parking lot. The thief tended to grab anything that was handy, sometimes taking items with little value, while leaving more valuable items in the vehicle. Some of the measures taken to try and apprehend those involved included increased patrols, plain clothes patrols, and stake-outs. Unfortunately, none of these crimes were solved. Since visitors routinely leave parked vehicles unlocked, with valuables in plain 69 view and unsecured, perhaps more problems like this will occur in the future.
Vandalism - increased during the year. During March, two acts of vandalism occurred. The first incident resulted in damage being done to a number of gates on the interior of the refuge. Apparently, someone drove a vehicle up to the gates, positioned a vehicle bumper against the gates, and pushed with the vehicle until the gates gave way. This process was continued until eight gates were damaged. It is believed this activity was in retribution for an earlier prosecution.
Several weeks later, someone attempted to steal two entrance fee boxes. The attempt was unsuccessful, but minor damage occurred to the fee boxes. This one's handle was broken off, and it took a pretty good beating. 48-119-91 GG
Poaching - On December 3rd, an officer on routine patrol in a closed area, discovered the site of a major deer poaching operation.
Initial investigation revealed blood trails in the snow and ice, drag trails, and evidence indicating that several deer had been killed, dragged to the river (without field dressing), and removed by boat. A week later, the bloody drag trails were still visible at a Nebraska boat ramp where the deer had been loaded into vehicles. 48-120-91 SVR 70
In all, six deer were confirmed to have been killed. Five were removed by the poachers, and one doe was left at the site. Additional evidence also was collected, including complete and partial arrows, cigarette butts, and other physical evidence.
This was a particularly flagrant violation, because it occurred in broad daylight over the Thanksgiving weekend. The signs showed that a large number of deer were driven from a historic bedding area within the inviolate sanctuary, through a narrow neck of brush and timber, where they were gang-shot at close range. Of the six deer killed outright, none traveled over 300 yards before dying. The archers selectively shot big bucks at first, since three trophy- sized deer were checked in.
As the investigation grew, special agents and conservation officers from Iowa and Nebraska joined in. It was discovered that five local men from Blair, Nebraska, had killed and checked-in five deer (four bucks and one doe) on December 1st on Nebraska archery permits. Several of these men were known for their poaching exploits. Rumor had it that these deer had been illegally taken in Iowa, possibly on DeSoto, and transported downriver to a Nebraska boat ramp. One of these men was interviewed twice during the same day. Initially, he stated the deer had been taken in a closed area (located in Iowa) on DeSoto. But, when asked to give a signed affidavit, he claimed the deer had been taken legally in Nebraska. His story was full of claims and contradictions, which were quickly disproved. The other four men refused to be interviewed, stating they wished to consult with an attorney first. All five men eventually retained the same attorney.
After sufficient evidence and information had been collected, six search warrants were obtained. Five homes and one business were searched by a team of 17 state and federal officers. Items seized during the searches included a boat with motor and trailer, several bows, dozens of arrows, deer meat, antlers, boots, waders, and many other related items. Iowa Conservation Officer Johnson and Special Agent Vaughn confer in the wee hours after the raid. N48-03-91 KJ 71
In addition, some drugs and paraphernalia were found in two of the homes. After the final touches were added to the case, the five men were offered a plea-bargain by the U. S. Attorney's Office. The men each pleaded guilty in Magistrate's court to a Lacey Act violation and were fined $1,000 each, placed on three year's probation, banned from Desoto NWR for three years, and ordered to forfeit all items seized. In addition, two of the men were charged with Nebraska drug violations, and the state of Iowa may seek liquidated damages for the deer killed.
Service officers did an excel lent job on this investigation. Because of their solid docu mentation of evidence, good cooperation between agencies, and excellent public partici pation, this poaching case required only one month from violation to prosecution in U.S. Magistrate's Court. It has to be some kind of record! N48-02-91 KJ
18. Cooperating Associations
The Midwest Interpretive Association (MIA) has completed its tenth year of operation. Revenue received from the sale of books, artwork, photographs, t-shirts, postcards, and posters at DeSoto totaled $47,398.39. This is 18.6 percent lower than last year's total, due to the lack of visitation this fall.
Bruce Barkley serves as the MIA's full-time Business Manager. Along with DeSoto, the Association also administers outlets at Mingo, Crab Orchard, Squaw Creek, and a five-month, seasonal operation at Tamarac. Two additional satellites were added this year. Swan Lake NWR started during the first part of August, and the second sales area began in mid-August at the Gavins Point Dame Visitor Center on Lewis and Clark Lake, with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers a facility near Yankton, South Dakota.
Direct contributions to the refuge totaled $1,127. This included sponsoring both photography and wildlife art shows, computer programming/development for the station's public use interactive computer, sponsoring a fishing clinic, printing waterfowl hunt 72
reservation forms, and purchasing books for the library. A breakdown of MIA sales activities during the year follows:
Percent of Contributions Outlet Gross Sales Assn. Sales Rendered
DeSoto $47,398.39 64.0 $1,227.79 Mingo 8,502.28 11.5 109.49 Tamarac 4,928.67 6.7 1,219.29 Crab Orchard 1,545.60 2.0 0 Squaw Creek 8,608.30 11.6 1,000.00 Swan Lake 2,358.75 3.2 0 Lewis and Clark 736.52 1.0 0 Total $74,078.51 100.0 $3,556.57
New sales items were added to the sales area including a Steamboat Bertrand coffee mug, insignia ball cap, and patch, and snow goose and Bertrand marble etchings.
I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
1. New Construction
In August, the maintenance crew installed four new culverts and stoplog structures on three wetland units near the visitor center. This will allow precise water management on any given unit as needed. The new gravity-flow stoplog structures also were installed in the existing moist-soil unit, which were put to good use this fall.
A second moist-soil unit is in progress and would have been completed for late fall experimentation and use if the Halloween storm hadn't stopped progress. What originally looked like a 65- acre unit was reduced to a 45-acre impoundment, because the maintenance crew kept running into sand lenses which "surfaced" as they built the low levees. The lenses had been missed during the core sampling. Some small lenses were just subsurface, and no wider than a few yards. In one instance, the crew simply dug the sand out and replaced it with hydric soil. In other instances, the levee had to be moved. But, the weather didn't cooperate and the stoplog structures were not in place before the ice and snow came.
2. Rehabilitation
Two new concrete-encased, above-ground fuel tanks were finally wired for electricity and put to use in November. Delays were encountered, after Evans Engineering removed the underground tanks, in 1990, and the State of Iowa Department of Natural Resources 73 indicated that we had a soil contamination problem. Over 100 tons of contaminated soil was replaced with clean soil, after which TerraCon, Inc. from Omaha ran several test wells to monitor the contamination.
Monitoring results this year finally indicated that the fuel had evaporated or i-Oft-— - diluted, allowing standards to be met for the new tanks to be installed. The construction of the new concrete pad was accomplished by force- account . 35-166-91 SVR
The placement of the 1,000 and the 500 gal lon tanks, as well as the wiring, had to be contracted out. The new fuel station looks sharp. 36-141-91 SVR
The interior of Quarters 81 was painted in December through a local contract with Bob Riesland for $320. Several repairs were handled by Maintenance Worker Ken Marquardt while it was vacant.
Replacement of faulty alarm system modules and the straightening of a damaged set of basement doors in the rear of the visitor center apparently has corrected the reoccurring false security alarm calls that were occurring in October. Officers were being called out every evening that a storm occurred, or whenever the wind blew. 74
A series of large window breakages occurred in September and October. Two exterior windows were replaced; one due to a suspected owl collision, a second one from an interseal that separated. The third occurrence was one of the large interior viewing windows in the Cargo Viewing Gallery, which apparently was shattered due to some point of stress or from an earlier blow to the window. Contractual repairs for these three windows totaled over $3,500. 52-117-91 JO
The visitor center's new theater seats were readjusted to provide optimum viewing capabilities, especially for those seated toward the back of the theater. The theater's screen was raised as well. 45-129-91 CM
Maintenance management system funds were put to good use this year to correct a severe water leak enigma, when the visitor center's roof parapet capping and window caulking was awarded to Capital City Con struction of Jefferson City, Missouri, for $24,750. 52-120-92 SVR 75
Work commenced in October and was finished in November, after a delay due to the Halloween blizzard. The window recaulking portion of the contract amounted to $7,000 of repairs.
New carpet, costing $962, was laid in the Cargo Viewing Gallery and on the Refuge Today Gallery steps in January by a local contractor, Jack Custer, from Logan, Iowa.
Delta Asphalt Inc., of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was awarded a contract for the resurfacing of 3,000 feet of the pri mary access road near Bullhead Pond, for #23,221. This work was accomplished in October. 35-168-91 SVR
All tractors used for pulling rotary mowers had 1/4-inch thick, protective poly-carbonite rear guards and one-inch metal mesh guards installed to meet current safety standards.
Thanks to the use of the Woodbury County hydraulic tree spade, the maintenance staff transplanted nearly 50 native trees in picnic grounds and other public use areas. The rental cost amounted to $750.
Two new handicapped- access picnic tables were purchased for $700 this year. They will be secured on concrete pads, with one at the South Gate Recreation Area and the other at the Cottonwood Nature Trail's picnic grounds. 46-105-91 SVR 76
Ten, one-cubic-yard, garbage dumpsters were purchased for $3,600 this year. They replaced several dilapidated trash containers, which were leaking trash all over public use areas.
Major Maintenance
The John Deere 2440's clutch was replaced for $551, and the transmission on the big Mack truck was overhauled for $1,616, during the year.
Once again, Automotive Mechanic Monty Storm found sufficient parts and repaired the old military 6x6 pumper truck unit, so that the 1,000 gallon back-up fire fighting vehicle may hold up for at least one more season.
There are times when Monty really gets into his work. But then, a guy's got to hustle in order to keep an aging vehicle fleet in running condition. 36-139-91 GG
Renovation of the South Gate restrooms continued with the purchase of new toilet panels for handicapped access, at a cost of $1,188, and dismantling of old the panels. Plans are for the new facilities to be ready for use by the 15th of April.
The past four years of drought took its toll on many of the mature cottonwood trees on the refuge. Due to the potential hazard, those in high use areas, such as picnic areas, were cut down. Special Use Permits were issued free of charge to the public, to cut up and collect the wood for personal use. However, there is not much demand for this softwood.
As in the past, considerable time was spent mowing roadsides and boundaries. Several years ago, a reduction in the width of the roadside mowing was implemented to provide additional habitat and reduce maintenance costs. But, rough growth encroachment required some additional attention this fall and the station's batwing mower was equal to the task. 77
Some of the station's maintenance needs couldn't be addressed this year, due to in sufficient funding. Some of our public use facilities are looking shabby and are fast becoming safety problems 35-167-91 SVR
Without belaboring the point, the headquarter's building is an ever- increasing safety concern for the staff and general public. Delays occurred again, and an A & E contract was not awarded in Fiscal Year 1991.
The headquarter's floor is dropping, leaving cracks of up to two inches in in terior concrete block walls, which puts stress on plumbing, electrical lines and the headquarter's staff. 35-169-91 MS
The exterior walls are beginning to show signs of damage with hairline cracks. Another feasibility evaluation will have to be made before proceeding further.
4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement
A new Chevrolet Cheyenne 4x4 dual-wheel pickup arrived this spring and was quickly transformed into our new fire pumper transport vehicle, with a 300-gallon water unit.
Two refuge vehicles were declared surplus during the year; the 1979 and 1976 Dodge 1/2 ton pickups, which sold for $1,142 and $900, respectively. One other vehicle was declared excess, for trade-in.
A new Sears table saw, costing $900, was received during the year. 78
Two new Stihl 044 chain saws, costing a total of $934.26, were delivered in December,
Our patrol boat's old 50-horsepower Johnson outboard motor finally gave up the ghost, and was replaced with a 40-horsepower Johnson acquired through surplus.
Modifications to the refuge's 30-foot, heavy-equipment trailer were completed by Mingo Job Corps, with loading ramps completed by force- account .
Three 50-foot sections of new 16-inch Crisafulli pump hose were purchased for pumping of moist-soil units and for wetland recharging. The total cost was $4,184.
With the establishment of the Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge, and their lack of avail able storage space to safeguard equipment, we were on the receiving end of a considerable amount of new equipment this year. 36-140-91 SVR
The list of equipment stored, safeguarded, prepared, and/or put to good use, (here or elsewhere), included: Komatsu Dresser crawler tractor, a big John Deere tracked excavator, two Case 2096 tractors, two all-terrain fire wagons, (with trailers, fire pumpers and tanks), a Case front-end loader and backhoe, a Ford semi-tractor and lowboy trailer, which we fitted and put in operation in July, a Ford diesel dump truck, a Dodge 3/4-ton, (4x4) pickups, 2 Dodge half-ton pickup, a Miller grass drill, and a Pettibone Hydro-mower. By the time Walnut Creek is fully operational, their equipment will have all the bugs worked out, and will be fully broke in.
Communications Systems
Telephones - The aging and outdated OKI telephone system was finally replaced. We now have a state-of-the-art telecommunications network. It is comprised of two separate, but compatible systems; one a AT&T System 25 located at the visitor center, and a AT&T Merlin system at the headquarters. The biggest problem which had to be overcome was trying to develop a system which would work reliably given the distance between our two primary buildings (approximately 3/4 mile). We are sure glad that, after much thought and deliberation, David Gustafson, Region 3's Telecommunications 79
Specialist, designed this communications system. To everyone's surprise (even AT&T technicians), it works beautifully. The system was installed for $21,379, and it should provide the refuge with all the telecommunication capabilities it will require well into the next century.
Federal Telephone Service (FTS) lines were installed shortly after the new equipment was in place, and our new FTS number is 271-4207. Give us a call, so we can find out if it works!
Radios - Since establishment, this station had operated on the low- frequency assigned to national wildlife refuges. We lived with the limitations of this frequency for years. In 1991, we received enough fire funding to replace virtually all mobile and portable low-band radios with multi-channel high-frequency units. A total of 24 mobile units and eight portable hand-held units were purchased, and installed for a total of $15,241.
While these new radios have not solved all our radio communications problems, we no longer have to contend with skip, dead spots, and the effects of solar flares on our radio communications, and safety has increased because now station personnel are within communications distance virtually anywhere on the refuge.
Computers Systems
Two computers were purchased at the end of the year for use within the visitor center museum section. One is a Northgate desktop computer, with a 386 processor, 4MB RAM, 200 MB hard-drive, with math coprocessor. The other is a NEC portable with 1MB RAM, 40MB hard-drive, with VGA/LCD display and math coprocessor. These computers are being used to convert the large volume of manually maintained museum records to the Automated National Cataloguing System, currently being used by the National Park Service.
The large machine is used to store the vast amount of information that has been collected about the artifacts in the collection, and it provides an extremely easy method to manipulate that data. The portable computer unit can be carried into the artifact storage area and used to input data "on the spot," for later downloading into the larger machine. Conversely, information can be transferred from the large computer to the portable unit, and, instead of carrying a filing cabinet into the cargo area, you have that equivalent Information in the size of a small briefcase. This small computer has proven to be "handier than a pocket on a shirt".
In February, we received a Dell computer, which was transferred from Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This brings the total number of computers at this station to seven, still not enough. 80
While this station is a long way from having a "chicken in every pot" or a computer on every desk, we are making headway in the computerization of DeSoto Refuge.
J. OTHER ITEMS
Cooperative Programs
Missouri Chutes Refuge
A conceptual refuge planning process is under way for a 137- mile stretch of the Missouri River, between Sioux City, Iowa, and the con fluence of the Platte River below Omaha. 38-058-91 GG
But, like the "Big Muddy" itself, the plan is often cloudy and cluttered with debris. The problem is communications. There appear to be too many agencies involved, and too many issues. The basic concept is to cooperate with other agencies in acquiring and coordinating management of a series of old chutes and oxbows along the Missouri River corridor. This upper section of the navigable river has experienced some of the worst degradation, siltation, and loss of adjoining wetlands. There are federal lands, state lands, county lands, and tribal lands involved within this segment of river. There are Iowa lands on the Nebraska side of the channel, and vise-versa. There is Omaha-Winnebago Tribal lands on both sides. There are private lands scattered throughout the reach, and darn little public access anywhere. An inventory and prioritization of potential acquisition sites was completed during the period.
How it gets really involved is trying to figure out where the Corps mitigation priorities are, and excluding the state's (Iowa and Nebraska) mitigation priorities from our considerations. The idea is to work outside their mitigation priorities and save whatever other wetlands and wildlands are salvageable now, or within the foreseeable future. But, the states keep changing their minds on mitigation priorities as they meet acquisition resistance, or run into willing sellers. It gets confusing! This river is deep, and 81 always murky. Sometimes, we don't know whether we are sinking or swimming. Right now, we are treading water, and looking for a horizon.
Anyway, the first of the potential acquisitions which may eventually come under our jurisdiction is Boyer Chute, a 2,000-acre bend just downriver, from DeSoto on the Nebraska side. All but two tracts (roughly 600 acres), have been acquired by the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resource District within the last few months for cooperative development as an urban refuge. Downtown Omaha is only eight mile downriver. They want the Service to take over management once development is completed. One aspect of this project is that the U. S. Corps of Engineers has planned, and is proceeding, with renovation of the silted-in Boyer Chute as a "demonstration project". They actually plan on running up to a tenth of the river's flowage through three new grade structures after the two- mile chute is reopened. If this works, it could be the progenitor of of similar projects up-river as Corps mitigation proceeds, assuming it proceeds.
The Service's Memorandum of Understanding with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resource District has not been signed yet. We awaiting review and final details on the extent of their development, designs, and specifications before committing ourselves. The planned NRD and the Corps development will exceed 4- million dollars. If the Service accepts fee title and operational responsibilities in 1995, limited public use could begin as early as 1996. A Draft Environmental Assessment has recently received public review and comment. The Service was represented by Region 6 personnel at a multi-agency-sponsored public meeting, and an open house is planned in January, 1991, in Fort Calhoun, to discuss the Service's role.
Under its Missouri Corridor Project, the Papio-Missouri River NRD is currently considering an active acquisition role in other Missouri Chutes proposals, including sites like Lower Bullard Bend and Glovers Point, which lie upriver from DeSoto on the Nebraska side of the channel.
In a similar fashion, Manager Gage provided a tour for the Board of Directors of the lower Platte-South NRD. They wanted a familiarization with the Missouri River Corridor Project's potential resource problems as they begin consideration of riverine acquisition and enhancement downriver.
Some experimental water management was effected along the Missouri on private lands, with a little seed money from Region 6. The Nebraska Habitat Renewal Foundation is an active group of sportsmen, who have long been concerned with declining habitat along the Missouri River, and decided to finally do something about it. DeSoto gave them an excess low-lift pump to experiment with. They got required permits and developed a pumping station on leased 82
Nebraska land at Tieville Bend, just north of Decatur on the Iowa side of the channel. With some Region 6 funding, they were able to build a couple of low dikes across the old chute and pump 204 surface acres of water on an otherwise dry marsh during the fall migration. Thousands of ducks responded, and even a few geese dropped into this refuge area sporadically. This foundation and their efforts were the subject of three televised media events on local stations. They did a good job of pointing up the need for Corps mitigation action along the Missouri. Maybe, they even had some impact on the 52-million dollars, which have recently been apprpriated for mitigation measures in a four-state area. We have known for a long-time that authorization does not necessarily mean appropriations. This appropriation isn't a pot of gold, but it is a start.
2. Other Economic Uses
A special use permit has been issued to Valdamars Deklaus from Blair for years to keep 25-50 bee hives on the refuge in three apiaries. The annual fee of fifteen dollars takes care of our administration, and the bees provide in a valuable service.
Some folks ask why we don't charge our commercial fishermen for the removal of roughfish. If we did, we would not have the sustained yield or volume of removal we currently enjoy, around 50,000 pounds per year. Our goal is remove a maximum number of carp and buffalofish to maintain our sport fishery. In fact, our Fishery Management Plan even considers an incentive payment to encourage higher yields. Obviously, commercial fishermen prefer buffalo over carp, and they fish accordingly. Then too, they aren't going to fish any harder than what they can market. While we have never actually tried the incentive payment idea, it remains a potential management alternative, this case!
3 . Items of Interest
ATTRA
In April, a low- input sustainable agriculture workshop was held at DeSoto to introduce Approp riate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) to 21 Service employees from Region 3 and 6. 33-206-91 GG 83
Two other farm tours were given to conservation organizations and familiarization tours also were given to Service personnel and state agency representatives. A biological farming workshop also was presented to the station's cooperators in March in preparation for their cropping year.
Academy
The Basic Refuge Man agement Academy saw its final season at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska. We have always enjoyed this association with other Service personnel, and have had some fun pic nics too. 30-138-91 SVR
Blair Bridge
The new Blair Bridge over tne nissoun on u. b. mgnway JU was finally completed and opened in July. What a relief for the staff and visitors. The narrow, old bridge became unsafe, and always constricted traffic. There had been a long history of vehicle accidents and near misses. The metal spans were still being removed and the site being cleaned up at year's end.
Congressional District Change
Iowa will experience a reduction in Congressional Districts as of January 1, 1993. At that time, the shift will place Harrison and Pottawattamie Counties (and the refuge) in a new, larger Congressional District 4, represented by Congressman Neal Smith, D- lowa. Our Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot, R-Iowa, will shift to South Central Iowa, District 3. Congressman Lightfoot has not been too supportive of our refuge programs; in fact, introducing bills to reinstate active recreation programs after we closed to swimming, high-speed powerboating, and waterskiing. However, Congressman Smith has been an active supporter of the refuge system and primary benefactor in support of Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge, being the third-ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee. We look forward to this future association.
Congressional Contacts
There were several Congressional contacts this year. Congressman William Hughe's office called to inquire about the Bertrand, its 84
history, conservation of artifacts, and related information on the center. Kathleen Dahlquist from Senator Exon's office visited the refuge in March and later called regarding cooperative farming, entry fees, and refuge programs. She was quite impressed with the center.
Managers Gage and O'Barr met with former Iowa Congressman, William Scherle, reviewed his personal papers on the Bertrand and received donations for our archives. Bill (on left) and his brother hold two prints which were donated. 49-172-91 JO
Center Pivots
The only type of irrigation that occurs locally is center pivots. A center pivot can irrigate a quarter section or nearly a section of land, roughly 600 acres of agricultural land, in one rotation. They are having an impact on groundwater degradation and contributing to surface water contamination. Three new center pivots were installed adjoining the refuge last year. The refuge is surrounded by them. And, we can only remain concerned by their impacts upon our ecosystem.
Loess Hills D.U.
The Loess Hills Ducks Unlimited Chapter from Council Bluffs has adopted litter control along DeSoto's U. S. Highway 30 frontage.
Listen to this!
The refuge's visitor center was used by Office of Personnel Management to give the Clerk/Typist test to eleven local residents on February 13th. A certificate for our vacant Clerk-Typist position was received within a week. Believe that?
4. Credits
All managers, the wildlife biologist, and administrative personnel wrote segments of this narrative. All compilation and computerization was finalized by Administrative Technician Wanda Harbottle. Project Leader George Gage edited the final report. Credits for photos are shown in individual captions. 85
K. FEEDBACK
Awards
The new On-The-Spot Award program became effective with the Director's Order No. 36 in August. It is a really quick and easy way of providing employees recognition for special acts or service. You simply use your discretionary judgement for a monetary award, for up to a $250 limit. All it takes is second-level supervisory approval, and often can be accomplished in the same day that it is initiated, so long as you have a telephone and a fax machine. If you aren't using this award mechanism, try it. It works slick!
Vision
Region 3 folks have spent a lot of time discussing and refining our "Vision" statement, a new total quality management thrust. At times, I am overwhelmed with our Vision, and my support. And, while our regional Vision tends to perpetuate plenty of support, it doesn't necessarily benefit the wildlife resource. Today, there are just too many people offering us the opportunity to compete for their deligated funds, while they build their legions. We manage with Vision, but without sight. We need to look further, beyond our empire building, and put the big bucks out there with the ducks. Our Vision shouldn't be all that complicated... or overburdened. A Modest Proposal
"I can't stand this proliferation of paperwork. It's useless to fight the forms. You've got to kill the people producing them."
...Vladimir Kahaldze (Addressing a Communist Party conference)