Dr. Mark Rassmussen presenting to a group at Iowa Sate University Curtiss Hall.

“Our Prairie Rivers of Iowa board is excited to welcome Mark Rasmussen! Mark brings a wonderful understanding of our mission and is able to give a new vision as we move forward with our water quality and pollinator programs,” announced PRI Board President Reed Riskedahl.

Rasmussen has an impressive resume of professional history, service, teaching, research writing, speaking, obtaining funding, awards, technical reports, and patents (and this is the shortlist)!

In addition to his leadership at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Rasmussen spent four years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a research microbiologist (two years as a supervisory microbiologist and division director) providing technical guidance and research support related to regulatory decisions regarding drugs, additives, and contaminants in animal feeds and much more. For about 18 years he worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal Research Service, and National Disease Center in Ames, Iowa as a microbiologist and researcher. In 2000 he was appointed lead scientist/microbiologist. As a scientist for the Eastman Chemical Company, Mark conducted research in various aspects of animal nutrition and microbiology with an emphasis on cellulose digestion and fermentation.

The accolades, awards, research papers, presentations, patents, and recognition for academic and other service are too many to mention, but it’s safe to say that Rasmusen’s work in the field is extraordinary.  Highlights include a U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s Award for Food Safety and has been awarded a couple of U.S. patents.

The idea of creating a pollinator-friendly yard is finally taking root, and the notion of a perfect lawn, along with its expense, is being weeded out. Clover lawns are one of the latest trends yard owners are trying out in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. This new kind of lawn is often touted to support pollinators, require less up-keep, and lower pollution. But do they live up to the hype?

A hairstreak butterfly on a dandelion.

A lucky four-leaf clover.

Do clover lawns benefit pollinators?

Simply put, some clover lawns can provide benefits to some pollinators. If you really want a clover lawn, the best method for wildlife (and your wallet) is to passively allow clover to enter your lawn. This practice requires you to mow less and stop using herbicides, which will keep pollinators in your area healthier.

While there are some benefits to having a clover lawn, they are small from a broader point of view. At the end of the day, adding clover to your lawn adds a few species of nonnative plants in your area, which often provide sub-optimal nutrition to native pollinators. Keep in mind that many pollinators are specialists and will not visit nonnative clover. Additionally, it may be difficult to keep the clover on your own lawn, and out of natural habitats. In contrast, planting a pollinator garden, even a small one, adds multiple native flower species and provides high-quality habitat to native pollinators. Planting within a garden also doesn’t require you to rethink your entire lawn. Finally, a garden is a stronger challenge to the status quo, as planting a diverse and beautiful garden is a lot harder to be annoyed about than nonnative dandelions and clover in your front yard. It is better PR for pollinator habitat: a neighbor with a more traditional mindset for a lawn will not appreciate the spread of “weeds”, but may be open to the idea of creating their own native plant garden.

A sweat bee visiting a native clover.

More About Rick:
• Attended Iowa State (majoring in Horticulture) after getting an Associate Degree in Electronic Engineering Technology
• Retired from City of Ames Electric Services in 2015
• Interest in prairies began as a volunteer at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
• Member of the Panora Conservation Chapter of the Izaak Walton League and the Iowa Environmental Council
• Recipient of INHF’s Hagie Heritage Award (2020), the Olav Smedal Conservation Award, and an IOWATER Volunteer of the Year Award (both in 2006)
• Served in the Army National Guard, 1988-1993

Rick and his wife Carol Hansell, both Iowa natives, live just north of Ames where their home overlooks prairie, woodlands, and the Skunk River Valley.

During Black History Month we pay tribute to a sometimes overlooked, yet highly significant, piece of African American history that took place along the Lincoln Highway in Ames, Iowa.

A portrait of Nancy and Archie Martin hangs in ISU Martin Hall in their honor.

From the late 1920s through the early 50s, the Martin household gained a reputation as caring, generous, and supportive of those seeking to better themselves through higher education. Finally, it became apparent to the Martins that they could no longer house all the students of color in need. According to family tradition, Archie used his enthusiasm as a proponent of equal treatment of Black students to discuss the issue with then Iowa State College President (1912-1926) Raymond A. Pearson which eventually resulted in the ability for students of color to reside in campus housing.

The historic home (circa 1920) where Nancy and Archie Martin housed Black students attending Iowa State College. Photo credit: Ames History Museum, Courtesy of the Martin Family.

“Their home symbolizes the family’s legacy,” said Wirth, “This property is an outstanding cultural resource located on the Lincoln Highway and should be preserved. Few resources remain that are tied directly to the early lives of African Americans in Ames. This period of ownership by a Black family is nearly unheard of.”

Besides Carver, other notable guests at the Martin home include Iowa State College African American athlete Jack Trice who tragically died as a result of injuries he sustained during the second play of his second college football game. Additional guests at the Martin home included James Bowman who served with the Tuskegee Airmen and as a Des Moines school administrator, and Samuel Massie who worked on the Manhattan Project and became the first black professor at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Archie and Nancy Martin outside their home during the 1940’s. Photo credit: Ames History Museum, Courtesy of the Martin Family.

Sources:
Ames History Museum and Board Member Sharon Wirth
Martin Legacy Foundation Co.
Iowa State University of Science and Technology

Forget about buying roses – in the great words of Shania Twain, “that don’t impress me much”. To impress me, you’d have to match the energy of male moths. Instead of dropping cash on last-minute flowers, male moths are willing to fly miles for a first date, dodge dangerous predators, and out-compete other males, all while most humans are fast asleep.

But how exactly do moths find each other? Many are nocturnal, some aren’t brightly colored, and they can be tiny*. Plus, female moths generally stay put and let the males come to them. So what is the male moth’s secret to finding love in the black abyss of a night sky? The key is their incredible sense of “smell” through their unique antennae!

A moth’s antenna seen through a microscope. Note that it is covered in fine hairs!

While the journey to mate may be arduous for males, female moths have their own complex decisions to make. Female moths only release small amounts of pheromones in hopes of attracting male moths with very sensitive antennae, which indicates they are fit and healthy. Additionally, she only mates with the first male to find her to ensure he is a strong and fast flier, another indicator of good health. Female moths don’t have genetic material to waste on mediocre males – they put high amounts of energy into creating their eggs. However, if the mating period goes on and the female hasn’t attracted a mate, she will start releasing higher amounts of pheromone. This intensifies her call, making her easier to find. Besides intensifying her call, the female can also tailor when and how often she calls. These strategies help ensure that she receives the best male possible and that her energies were not spent in vain.

The world of moths remains a mystery to most people. Considering the intricacies and drama involved, it deserves to be a topic of regular discussion! If you are at a loss of what to talk about at your next Valentine’s Day date or gathering, consider bringing up moth mating. It’s sure to add interest to an otherwise trite Tuesday.

*Some moths are diurnal (active during the day), many are brightly colored, and some species are huge!

**Pheromones are chemicals released by animals that change the behavior of other animals of the same species.

The videos are less than 90 seconds and are best viewed on a smartphone in portrait mode.  The first few were me talking from my office, but I’ve already started taking field trips (Fact #6 was filmed in front of an effluent pipe) and I hope to feature guests whose job or advocacy work intersects with the Clean Water Act.

I want this to be relevant, so I will sometimes follow up on a fact with some commentary or include a link to policy recommendations from other organizations.  For example, here’s a report from the Environmental Integrity Project on how to close the gap between the CWA’s goals and reality. Yes, I work for an environmental organization and we would like some more environmental protection, please.

However, I can understand why many people see environmental regulation as burdensome.  I hope that a better understanding of how the system works (or doesn’t work) could help us find some common ground.  My perspective on environmental law is informed by a stint at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources where I learned how complicated it can be to fill a small amount of wetland legally, and how often people got away with filling a large amount, illegally.  What if fewer projects needed a permit, but we had tougher enforcement?  Wouldn’t that save more wetlands on balance, while leveling the playing field and reducing compliance costs for most businesses?

And if common ground is out of reach in today’s political climate, hey, it’s just some short videos.  Enjoy!

Prairie Rivers of Iowa is not the sort of environmental group that follows the goings on at the state capitol (that would be our friends at the Iowa Environmental Council) but the success of our watershed projects is very much affected by state and federal policy.  A big part of our work is environmental education, but often “is a river still polluted and what can we do about it” is a legal and political question as much as a scientific question.  I hope this tricky case study from the Cedar River will illustrate why we need more people to learn about and talk about environmental policy to make it more transparent, fair, and effective.

My New Year’s resolution for 2023 is to write fewer long articles like this one and more bite-sized lessons.  For the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, we’ll be sharing 50 short facts (one a week) on social media about that important and complicated law.  Here are the first five:

1) The Clean Water Act (CWA) is 50 years old but it still has a big influence on how we evaluate and protect water quality in rivers and lakes.

2) The Clean Water Act is a federal law but is implemented at the state level, with oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In Iowa, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is responsible for issuing permits, setting standards, and assessing the condition of rivers and lakes.

3) The Clean Water Act requires public notice and public comment for many decisions. Staff at environmental agencies read and take seriously public comments, so it’s worth speaking up and having your voice heard.

4) The Clean Water Act also gives concerned citizens the standing to file suit if there is an ongoing violation that hasn’t been enforced, or if the Environmental Protection Agency is not fulfilling its mandatory duties.

5) Decisions by courts and federal agencies can come into conflict with state legislatures, which control the budgets for state agencies. For example, in Iowa there are over 700 river segments and lakes on the waiting list for a cleanup plan, because Department for Natural Resources doesn’t have enough staff to keep up with it.

There is a joke that TMDL stands for “Too Many D*** Lawyers.”  Most state agencies ignored the part of the Clean Water Act dealing with TMDLs until a series of lawsuits by environmental groups in the 1990s.  The Cedar River TMDL was actually written under a court order in 2006.  The TMDL estimated that only 9% of the nitrogen in the Cedar River watershed was coming from regulated point sources of pollution like sewage treatment plants and factories.  Most of the reductions would need to come from agriculture, through voluntary conservation programs.  Still, the plan called for capping the pollution from point sources at the 2006 amount and not adding any more.  However, it seems that the DNR did not follow the TMDL when writing permits over the next decade, and did not enforce permit violations.

One of the most surprising violations is from a drinking water treatment plant in Waverly.  I don’t think of drinking water treatment as generating pollution, and maybe that’s why it was initially overlooked.  The facility uses reverse osmosis, which gives you cleaner water on one side of the membrane and dirtier water on the other side.  The facility has been discharging wastewater with 37.7 mg/L of nitrate into the Shell Rock River (a tributary of the Cedar).  When the DNR added a permit condition that nitrate be brought down to 9.5 mg/L, the Iowa Regional Utilities Association protested, claiming that compliance would cost them $1 million.  If my math is correct, bringing the facility into compliance would avoid only 5 tons of nitrogen pollution per year.  The TMDL calls for a reduction of 9,999 tons per year.  Enforcing this permit as written does not seem like a fair or effective way to protect water quality in the river, but I suspect there would be an easy fix if the TMDL were revised.

Side note: The Cedar River starts in Minnesota and has several major tributaries, including the Shell Rock River, West Fork, and Winnebago.  It’s a big watershed that usually gets divided into smaller chunks (i.e. there are separate watershed management authorities for the Upper, Middle, and Lower Cedar).  The TMDL actually recommended prioritizing conservation in the Upper Cedar, but at some point, the focus got shifted to the Middle Cedar.

Are water quality based-effluent limits still needed?  Maybe not, but the frustrating thing about this case is that we get don’t get a revised pollution budget that shows how other strategies will protect drinking water in Cedar Rapids.  We don’t get a public debate over what’s not working with this law and an opportunity to change it.  Instead, we get excuses for why a revised TMDL can’t be done and isn’t needed.  Some of those excuses are legitimate: the chronically underfunded DNR has a lot of TMDLs to write and not enough staff to do it.  Some of the excuses are flimsy: apparently, the document mishandled nitrogen units in a way that was too subtle for me to notice on the first read-through but serious enough to make the whole thing unworkable.

Well, you know what they say.  You can lead a state agency to water, but they can’t make it drinkable.

(Apologies to my respected colleagues at DNR.  I can’t resist a good pun!)

Just a few weeks ago, the hope of tomorrow was seeded in the middle of an empty field.

I turned my dusty Ford Ranger off a quiet two-lane highway in Marshall County into a dead grass waterway, soon to be planted with native prairie seed. I pulled up next to Chuck’s vehicle.

“Well, today’s the day, isn’t it,” he said, smiling despite the icy November wind. We were finally putting seed in the ground.

A Rough Start

It can take more effort than you think to plant a prairie in a grass waterway. Firstly, Chuck Stewart, of Ankeny, doesn’t live in Marshall County; he rents his field to a farmer, who plants traditional crops like corn and soybean. Secondly, the grass waterway was planted with smooth brome (a tough European grass), making it difficult to plant anything else in it. Lastly, the previous landowner had created the grass waterway without using any government programs. This last fact made it difficult to qualify for USDA programs to help fund the cost of planting a prairie strip in the waterway. Many NRCS and FSA (Farm Service Agency) programs stipulate the ground must be currently in production to receive funding. Landowners who don’t qualify for NRCS and FSA programs, like Chuck, can have a difficult time finding programs to fund prairie projects on their land.

“The reason I started this prairie project was to establish a site that will draw not only pollinators but all kinds of wildlife,” said Chuck. In order to do this, he needed expertise from environmental-based organizations, such as Prairie Rivers of Iowa.

Finding a Way

Although he could not receive funding from traditional USDA programs, Chuck did, however, have a few things going for him. He initially had David Stein, a former watershed coordinator at Prairie Rivers, conduct a site visit and create a restoration plan.

“Prairie strips [are] one of the best ways farmers can get into conservation practices and habitat building,” David Stein said when asked about this project, “You’re taking unproductive land out of intensive use and replacing it with a small area that provides amazing benefits for the farm and surrounding environment.” For Chuck, some of those benefits include a reduction in runoff and erosion, increased water infiltration, and of course the perennial beauty of native prairie, pollinators, and other wildlife.

Additionally, Chuck was able to secure a 50% cost share from the Prairie Partners Program to reduce the expense of native seed. Chuck also had a neighbor, Henry, who had some prairie-planting experience and owned a native seed box for his tractor. Having a willing, experienced neighbor to help plant and manage the future prairie made this project much more cost-effective than hiring someone out of town.

Seeds of Hope

As Chuck stepped down from the tractor at the end of planting, it was hard to imagine that the dull-gray strip of land would one day be full of color and life.

“We did it!” He said with a grin, “I hope the neighboring farms will see the results and consider planting prairie themselves.” It is our hope that more farmers will see the value of turning silent areas into vibrant habitat, with bird calls, bees, and dancing flowers breaking the monotony of row crops.

If you are interested in implementing prairie on your property, and are unsure of where to start, contact Jessica Butters, Pollinator Conservation Specialist, at Prairie Rivers of Iowa, HERE.

Many Thanks:

“In summary, I want to thank Prairie Rivers of Iowa staff David Stein and Jessica Butters. David developed a detailed plan outlining the process, and Jessica prepared an outline for the timing of each step, from preparing the seedbed to the ongoing steps of maintaining the prairie.” – Chuck Stewart

We would also like to thank Henry Rolston, Allendan Seed Company, Jon Judson, and Ty Mason.