"This is Iowa" campaign

[riffle]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Why? Do you want to scare people away?

I'm not a big believer in the value of promotional marketing as a use for my tax dollars. At least Nebraska's is different and kind of amusing.

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Maybe Iowa is not South Dakota. However, I hear the Driftless Area has some interesting landforms.

Pike's Peak State Park is worth a visit if you're ever in the area. Good views of the Mississippi, especially in winter.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by fezzador

To a lot of folks out West, even the Appalachians aren't real mountains.


There is a lot of spectacular scenery out west, but it's also very very brown. There's plenty of green to be had in Iowa.

I moved from the Midwest (near Iowa in far eastern Nebraska) to the west and what others are saying is true, that the area back there just doesn't have enough to really draw or keep people. No scenery, not a lot to do, no major cities close by...

And not all of the west is brown- there is a big swath of the west coast that is greener than you could ever imagine, and with the nice temperate winter weather things remain green even through the winter (nothing is as brown and ugly as a winter in the Midwest, that was seriously depressing to me throughout all the years I lived back there).

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by fezzador

To a lot of folks out West, even the Appalachians aren't real mountains.


There is a lot of spectacular scenery out west, but it's also very very brown. There's plenty of green to be had in Iowa.

Not as many CAFOs out West compared to Iowa, but goes with the territory. I recall reading an article last year about Des Moines possibly suing counties in the NW portion of the state due to extensive runoff of nitrites and nitrates impacting the costs of treating municipal water supplies.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by fezzador

That's not happening. There's too much money to be had in ethanol production, and most private landowners aren't going to just give up their land to the state out of the goodness of their heart. Even if they're paid handsomely for it, I think there's just too much personal pride at stake (these hundred acres have been in my family for five generations!)

Of course they aren't going to give their land away, but farmers do sell to someone paying a reasonable price, especially if they knew the property was going to be used for a state park.

Originally Posted by riffle

Iowa isn't Colorado (or the Black Hills) and never will be. The Appalachians would be a slightly better comparison, since there is a lot of old farmland there (which is what you would be working with in Iowa) and higher rainfall, but the geography is still different.

No, there won't be geological features of granite uprisings anywhere in Iowa, but I was referring to the animals. You don't have to have Rocky Mountain National Park to have things like elk and moose. There's about 5 sections (1x1 mile per section) of land near my parents house in Black Forest CO that are heavily wooded with a creek running through them. In this area there is at least 1 moose, a couple elk, lots of deer, hawks, an owl, and many more things. The numbers have grown only recently, with the moose and elk only appearing in the last couple years, partially because there's less dogs and the fences have fallen over.

Iowa has public land, but a lot of it is in little segments. If the state could buy up sections of land along some of the rivers and make a continuous unfenced and ungrazed space, it could support animals like bison and elk and antelope and a trail system for biking and such. That would go a long ways towards making the state more appealing.

[riffle]

My understanding is that moose are having a hard time even in northern Minnesota with pests and diseases during the warm summers. I don't think Iowa's climate is suited to them. Not sure about elk.

How many people would actually find the state more appealing for having elk and antelope? Blue Mounds in SW MN has bison, but I don't hear about a boom in lifestyle-seekers moving to Luverne lol.

Not trying to be argumentative I enjoy Iowa's state parks and would love to see more public land.

Iowa does have quite a few long off road bike trails, FYI.

[smpliving]

This was in the Cedar Rapids paper this morning. Looks like it's becoming more of a reality. I know it's been in the works for a long time and would be a really nice addition for Cedar Rapids.


https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Ci...511818562.html

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by riffle

My understanding is that moose are having a hard time even in northern Minnesota with pests and diseases during the warm summers. I don't think Iowa's climate is suited to them. Not sure about elk.

How many people would actually find the state more appealing for having elk and antelope? Blue Mounds in SW MN has bison, but I don't hear about a boom in lifestyle-seekers moving to Luverne lol.

Not trying to be argumentative I enjoy Iowa's state parks and would love to see more public land.

Iowa does have quite a few long off road bike trails, FYI.

It could be that there'd be disease vectors for moose in Iowa but elk seem to be doing fine in Arkansas and Kentucky, and Iowa was well in their historical range.

It's not that having animals and public land would be some sort of growth panacea, but it would help round out the other positives that Iowa can offer.

Solutions like the lake article above are good examples of how you can take things already there and make them publically usable and better.