DNR offloading Iowa’s State Parks?!

I couldn’t believe my very own eyes; it really couldn’t be true, could it? For once, I was working on some research totally unrelated to the Iowa DNR, digging into the lesser-known but wonderful Rolling Prairie Bike Trail of North Central Iowa. There are 21 miles of paved bike trail in Butler County and 7 miles of crushed limestone, with most of the trail abandoned and unfinished in Franklin County.

I happened to be pursuing the Franklin County Conservation meeting minutes for the past year, looking for discussions related to why they abandoned this thriving trail that extends through neighboring counties. That’s when I came across some text I had to read, re-read, and then call contacts up in Hampton, Iowa, to confirm if this was actually true.

Turns out it was true. It’s troubling, something you couldn’t even make up if you tried.

I mean it’s not like I want to be “Gandalf Storm Crow,” from the LOTR series, after the series of critical articles I’ve written about the Iowa DNR in the past. If trouble comes and finds you, what do you do? Look the other way? Not me.

You won’t believe the nerve of what the Iowa DNR as done this time.

If you travel up the center of Iowa on Interstate 35 you will find a large empty area of gentle rolling hills between Ames and Mason City, this wonderful area we call North Central Iowa. It’s home to a growing area of windmills, that old Iowa River cuts it way underneath Interstate 35 with it’s wide band of trees and river bottom.

If you travel a few minutes farther north, unknown to you possibly, to your east is a small beautiful, and troubled, State Park. Beeds Lake.

Photos by … Iowa DNR!! https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Iowa-State-Parks/Beeds-Lake-State-Park

It has the fortunate, or unfortunate depending on your view, of being 1 of only a few actual “Lakes” found on the East side of Interest 35 in Northern Iowa. Being located in the heart of some of the most expensive farm ground in Iowa as caused Beeds Lake it’s own set of problems over the decades.

In fact, the water quality at Beeds Lake has been so bad, for so long, the Iowa DNR wrote an entire document about it with a title of “Whats wrong with Beeds Lake?”

The Iowa DNR has posted public notifications about not swimming at the public beach at Beads Lake State Park every years since 2000 according to this document! I want you to let that sink in. 24 years has gone by and Beeds Lake State Park has been an impaired body of water.

Are you asking … “Is Beeds Lake really that bad, is still that bad after all these years?” Why yes it is. As recently as August 2024 the Iowa DNR was reporting the public beach at Beeds Lake is unfit for swimming.

So what as the Iowa DNR decided to do with this State Park?

Ok, ok, so you’re probably still waiting for me to get to the point … what is it exactly the Iowa DNR has done with Beeds Lake State Park?  You probably won’t believe me, but here is a quote from the Board Meeting Minutes of Franklin County Conservation (where Beeds Lake is located).

“The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has approached the board regarding a possible management agreement with the board for Beed’s Lake State Park. The State would retain ownership, but the board would manage the park. After discussion, the board decided they would consider a management agreement with the State as long as the terms set by the board are met … ”

• Franklin County Conservation Board Meeting Minutes

“Public Comment: David Heyden and Robyn Kofoot were present to speak in support of the Conservation Board pursuing a management agreement with the DNR for Beed’s Lake. They believe there are many opportunities to improve the park under new management. They also updated the board on the projects the Friends of Beed’s Lake group has been working on to improve the park.”

• Franklin County Conservation Board Meeting Minutes

I talked with sources familiar with what is happening, who live in Hampton, and it is indeed true and I hope you grasp the gravity of what is happening and don’t let it simply slide off the tip of your mind with a “so what.”

Think for a moment.

This is a monumental shift for the Iowa DNR in the way they are approaching impaired bodies of water in our state. I encourage you to go read the document I previously linked that that Iowa DNR made themselves about how Beeds Lake has been chronically impaired for over two decades!!

“… Due to high E. coli levels, a number of swimming advisories have been posted at the state park beach since 2000 to protect swimmers from pathogens and disease.”

• Iowa DNR

In the same document the Iowa DNR also talks about what their role is …

… When a stream or lake doesn’t meet those standards, the stream or lake is placed on the state’s impaired waters list. The DNR then creates a plan which outlines ways Iowans can help improve the water quality in their community’s lakes and streams. “”

• Iowa DNR

So, after 24 years of Beeds Lake being impaired enough to have signs posted on its public beach, the DNR has decided to “culminate their efforts” to manage Beeds Lake by trying to hand off the the management of a State Park to a county, and bow out.

Think about that for a moment.

Sure, it can be hard to relate to a State Park you’ve never visited, but don’t let that stop you from being outraged. You should be mad. What if the DNR all the sudden decides that the State Park you grew up going to and playing as a child was too much of a bother. They simply don’t want to “deal with a State Park anymore.”

How would that make you feel? Your favorite State Park suddenly comes onto the chopping block for the Iowa DNR who simply don’t want to take care of it anymore.

You’re telling me that each local county in Iowa has the resources and expertise to manage the ecology and hydrology of our State Parks?  That is a rhetorical question, I’m assuming you know the answer to that.

So what the Iowa DNR has failed to do in over two decades in Beeds Lake State Park … create an actionable and effective plan in the surrounding watershed to create swimmable water … is going to be done by a county? Who has no control over the watershed outside their county?

Oh, and in case you missed it. Beeds Lake is a State Park. Shouldn’t this not only be managed by the Iowa DNR, but shouldn’t it be on the top of their list?? I mean there is a sign out in front that says State Park. They don’t have to go get permission from anyone to be there or work on it!!

Sure, you could argue that the DNR would struggle to control many of the low quality bodies of water in Iowa, like the Des Moines river, that have a massive and wide ranging watershed across the whole state might just be too much for the DNR to tackle (I don’t buy it.) But when you tell me the Iowa DNR is trying to offload a troubled State Park instead of trying to fix it? Well, that simply shouldn’t sit right with the average person.

I did reach out to the DNR and requested a comment from them on this situation. I have no heard anything back, but if I do, I will be sure to update this article.

We could all speculate on WHY it is that the Iowa DNR no longer wants to manage Beeds Lake (do you really think that’s the only one on the list?). But we simply won’t know unless they tell us. Money? Politics? Resources? Who know’s, and honestly, does it really matter?

The Iowa DNR owes more to the people of Iowa they are supposed to be serving. Deciding they no longer want to manage a State Park is simply unacceptable from any point of view.

Don’t forget that this is happening amidst all the other things they have been doing over the years. What else do you know about the direction our public lands and water have been going. Is this really something that surprises you that much?

Leave a comment, let us know!