TIMES-REPUBLICAN

If you’ve made it this far with your New Year’s resolutions, congratulations.

But like most people, the motivation will inevitably start to falter on this very day. According to an analysis by the athletic social media company Strava, Jan. 12 is the exact date when most fitness and exercise activities among its 31.5 million users begins to drop off.

Hence the reason I am proposing that to redefine New Year’s resolutions. Forget seven-minute Abs. Pursue these seven Natural Resource Conservation resolutions in 2020 instead.

1. Do something for the birds. Were you alive in the Spring of 1970? If so, you may have stepped outside and enjoyed listening to the cheerful song of the 2.9 billion more birds than there are now. A study published last September in the Journal of Science found that North American bird populations declined by 29 percent over the past four decades.

“Multiple, independent lines of evidence show a massive reduction in the abundance of birds,” Ken Rosenberg, senior scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Bird Conservancy, said. For more information and for seven simple actions you can take to help birds, visit www.3billionbirds.org.

2. Plant more trees…especially oaks. Following the theme of bird decline or perhaps preceding it, is the slow and steady loss of oak trees — not only in Iowa, but across the entire eastern United States. Data compiled by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service show an annual rate of oak forest decline of more than 5,000 acres per year since the 1950’s. Why? A combination of changing environmental conditions, the extinction of prairie fires which once covered the landscape, the continued harvesting, aging and natural mortality of the old oaks and a general lack of replanting new oak trees. In short, the replacement rate of oaks is far below the death rate.

Beyond the oaks, Iowa has experienced an even more acute loss in all forest land cover types over the past 10 years, including urban trees. Monitoring by the U.S. Forest Service has shown that for the first time since the 1970’s, Iowa is removing more trees than it plants (or simply allows to grow up in idle areas). In rural areas, we have experienced a net loss of 179,500 acres since 2009 and in urban areas we rank ninth in the nation in tree decline.

The good news is there’s no shortage of opportunities for help. Rural landowners often qualify for cost sharing programs and there are numerous grants available to urban and community residents for planting shade trees.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better — it’s not,” the Lorax said.

3. S.O.S. — Save our Soil. We often hear that soil is the most precious natural resource — a statement that’s difficult to argue given our agricultural heritage. In-state experts say that Iowa continues to lose it at an unsustainable rate. Scientists from the Iowa Water Center and Iowa State University Agronomy Department have looked at soil erosion estimates across the state and have estimated that since 1850, Iowa has lost nearly seven inches of topsoil from farms — 11 times faster than the rate at which soil rebuilds. The negative effects to streams, lakes and outdoor recreation economy is estimated that soil erosion of that magnitude has an equitable loss of more than a billion dollars annually in farm revenues.

Cover crops, reduced tillage, terraces, filter strips and strategic conversion to forests, prairies and pastures can help. Conveniently, the USDA recently just re-opened signup for the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program. Enrollments are being accepted until late February.

4. Keep the land green, waters blue and bottom lines black. Studies have shown that Iowa is one of the leading contributors to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico — not a prize that we wish to proclaim from the mountain top. Nitrate that flows into creeks and phosphorus that attaches itself to eroded soil particles drive algal blooms in surface waters both near and afar. The broadly-supported Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, initiated in 2014, came about as a result of the Mississippi River/Gulf Hypoxia Task Force and is being steadily advanced by state leaders on numerous fronts. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that we still have a long ways to go towards achieving water quality goals in the state.

Fortunately, many of the same measures that we can use to conserve the soil (see #3) work similarly well to prevent nutrient losses.

5. Help pollinators and insects. National Geographic reported last February on several high-profile academic studies over the past few years that show an alarming trend in insect populations. In one study in Europe, insect biomass declined more than 75 percent within 63 protected areas in Germany over the course of 27 years. Elsewhere, in Puerto Rico, biomass of spiders and insects have fallen between 10- to 60-fold since the 1970’s. Approximately half of all moths, butterflies, beetles, bees, ants and caddisflies that we have data for are threatened or in decline — many threatened with extinction. Given this information, it may come as no shock that the songbird population is also rapidly declining.

Researchers are reluctant to point to a single smoking gun as the sole cause of insect declines, instead citing multiple affronts: habitat loss and degradation, pesticides, pollution, changing environmental conditions, parasites and disease. For some ideas on how to help, visit www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/Iowas-Wildlife/Pollinators.

6. Take kids hunting and fishing. There is no substitute for taking your children, your grandkids, a nephew or niece, a friend or neighbor’s child outdoors and introducing them to the joy of fishing or hunting for the first time. Marshall County Conservation has a number of great nearby places to go along with upcoming Hunter’s Education classes: www.co.marshall.ia.us/departments/conservation/hunting.

Even if you just want to hunt for mushrooms, pick some berries or go birding, be sure to take advantage of the many events planned for the 100th anniversary of Iowa’s State Parks system this summer. With more than 70 parks statewide and some excellent local options, trails, cabins, campsites, picnicking and more, you won’t be disappointed. www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/Parks-2020

7. Get out there and enjoy it…while you can. Some of the dire trends presented in this column may leave you feeling a little depressed or dejected at the state of the environment, or worse, in complete denial of the issues. But in fact there have been several times in recent history where human beings have recognized that we are the cause of large-scale, regional or even global environmental issues and made course corrections to solve the problems. For example: acid rain. Ozone depletion. DDT & bald eagles. Leaded gasoline. Etc.

So for now, I hope to simply leave you inspired enough to turn off your phone, get off your couch, strap on your hiking boots, grab your birding binoculars or fishing rod and get outside. (Remember to take a kid with you!).

“It’s not enough to fight for the land; it’s even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious and awesome space.” — Edward Abbey

Heck, you just might burn off some calories and buck that New Year’s Resolution trend while you’re at it.

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Joe Herring is a Forester for the Iowa DNR

serving 12 counties in north-central Iowa.

He can be reached at joe.herring@dnr.iowa.gov.