Bellevue Field Station

Iowa Department of Natural Resources
206 Rose Street
Bellevue, IA 52031

The Bellevue Field Station Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) staff conduct monitoring of water quality, sediment, aquatic and floodplain forest vegetation, land cover and land use, macroinvertebrates, and fish communities along a 122-mile reach of the Mississippi River with Pool 13 at Bellevue, IA as the main focus in the middle.

Sampling involves standardized field methods coordinated with the other five LTRMP field stations. Monitoring data are currently being used to detect and explain long-term trends in the Mississippi River, to investigate the effects of commercial navigation, and to increase our understanding of the ecology of this large floodplain river so that we can better manage this multiple use system. 

The Bellevue Field Station facility, which we rent, was formerly a building used by a construction firm. We have three buildings on site. The main building contains the office, two boat bays, and the main maintenance area. A net shed is a small wooden building that includes a mouse-proof net storage area and a miscellaneous storage area. Finally we have a boat shed with four main bays for storage of boats and motors.

We have four permanent Long Term Resource Monitoring Program staff. All staff are in the Fisheries Management Bureau of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR). Current staff include the Team Leader, Dan Kirby, a Natural Resource Biologist. Dan also fills in for Technicians in their absence and does a majority of our data analysis. We have three specialists who are classified as Natural Resource Technicians. Mel Bowler is our Fisheries Specialist, Dave Bierman is our Water Quality Specialist, and Josh Peterson is our Vegetation Specialist. These folks conduct our day-to-day activities pertinent to their component.

Three to four Natural Resource Aids, or temporary employees, are hired each year to help with the field sampling and various other tasks. All staff employed at the station have degrees in various biological fields. Our station is supervised by Dave Moeller, the Regional Fisheries Supervisor for the Northeast Region of Iowa.

Day-to-day activities vary, but component monitoring is the number one priority of the staff and consumes a vast majority of time. In addition to collecting the monitoring data, staff are involved with a wide range of duties and projects associated with the Environmental Management Program. These include popular and technical writing, data analysis, administration, boat maintenance, vehicle maintenance, grounds maintenance, public relations, school group talks, assistance on other DNR activities, meetings, training, fish kill investigations, contaminant spill investigations, and numerous other activities.