Bill would limit Iowa DNR’s ability to buy land at auction. But will it advance?

• Bills in the Iowa House and Senate would limit the Iowa Department of Natural Resources from buying land at auction with some exceptions.
• The House bill failed to advance out of committee on Tuesday, meaning the bill will fail to clear Friday’s “funnel” deadline unless it passes a Senate committee this week.
• Conservation groups call the bill another attempt to limit public lands in Iowa, while the Iowa Farm Bureau disagrees with the exception letting DNR buy land in some circumstances.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources would be barred from buying land at auction — with some exceptions — under House and Senate bills that are opposed by conservation groups.

The bills, House File 714 and Senate Study Bill 1198, would block the DNR from purchasing land at auction. The department would only be allowed to buy or acquire land from a willing donor or seller.

But the legislation’s future is uncertain ahead of Friday’s “funnel” deadline, which requires most bills to pass a committee by the end of the week in order to remain eligible for consideration this year.

The bill includes an exception that allows the DNR to acquire land at auction or from a nonprofit that acquired the land at auction “if the acquisition is in furtherance of a local or statewide conservation or recreation plan.”

Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt, said he considers that exception “one of the more important paragraphs in there” but said he’s open to discussing the language if groups have possible changes in mind.

“My goal is to allow for that circumstance where none of us in this room can foresee that it will be imperative that the state acquire it,” he said. “And I think it’s important that we have that outlet, or relief valve, or whatever you call it.”

A range of conservation groups showed up at House and Senate subcommittees on the bill Tuesday to testify against the legislation, while lobbyists for the Iowa Farm Bureau and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association said they oppose the bill’s exception that would allow the DNR to buy land in some cases.

The House Natural Resources Committee did not bring the bill up during its meeting Tuesday, meaning the bill will will fail to clear the funnel deadline unless it passes a committee in the Senate.

Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said he expects to see a proposed amendment to the bill that the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee would consider, but he did not have the language of the amendment as of Tuesday morning.

Legislation introduced last year would have banned the DNR from buying land at auction without exception. That bill failed to advance.

According to the DNR, about 1% of Iowa’s land is public land controlled by the DNR.

Over the last two decades, Iowa has lost nearly 1.8 million acres of farmland to development and other uses, for a 5.5% decline, according to a 2024 U.S. Census of Agriculture. Nearly 586,000 farm acres were lost in the last five years.

Iowa DNR has not bought land at auction for more than 20 years

Todd Coffelt, legislative liaison with the Department of Natural Resources, said the department does not currently buy land at auction and has not done so for the last six years, as long as Director Kayla Lyon has been in charge.

Coffelt told senators it has been 20 years since the DNR directly bid on land at an auction. He said the six-year time period referred to the DNR buying land from a different group that had acquired it at auction.

At the House subcommittee, Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton, criticized protests of the bill as “the boy who cried wolf.”

“I mean this is ridiculous, guys,” he said. “This doesn’t change a darn thing.”

Harris called the bill common sense.

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “It just locks it in because Director Lyon and this administration will not be there forever. Let’s make sure that we continue this policy.”

Harris asked Coffelt whether the DNR’s current policy is not to acquire land at auction.

“Yes,” Coffelt said. “For the last six years, we have not competed at an auction to acquire land.”

“And if a third-party group, nonprofit group, some of whom are represented here today, acquire it through an auction, would you guys acquire that land?” Harris asked.

“No,” Coffelt said.

Conservation groups say bill is ‘another beat of the drum’ to limit public lands

Joe Jayjack, with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, said the bill is “another beat of the drum” by Iowa lawmakers to limit new public land or limit the DNR’s ability to buy public land.

He pointed to last year’s bill preventing the DNR from buying land at auction, and a Senate measure this year that would repeal Iowa’s constitutionally protected Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

“Land has to go to auction for all kinds of reasons, and this is restricting a potential buyer from folks that have to go to auction to sell the land,” Jayjack said.

Fred Long, president of the Iowa Conservation Alliance, said the price of land is unaffordable because large farmers have more money and can pay higher prices.

“That’s what’s keeping the young farmer out,” he said. “It isn’t the little bit of land that the DNR acquires, because if some guy bought most of what they have and tried to start farming, he’d go broke on it.”

Daniel Gibbons with Linn County Conservation said public lands and recreation opportunities are important to attract residents and businesses to Iowa.

“The benefit of public land is growing with a state where our goals are to bring our kids back,” he said. “We want to bring businesses, we want to bring new residents here. And it doesn’t take very long looking at the research that the next generations are really craving that outdoor wildlife and recreation experience.”

Iowa Farm Bureau appreciates limits on DNR land buying but opposes bill’s exception

Matt Groenwald, a lobbyist for the Iowa Farm Bureau, said the organization appreciates lawmakers’ efforts to restrict how much land the DNR can buy.

“We know that every acre owned by government is an acre of lost opportunity for our farmers,” he said. “Many times these acres could be used by farmers, especially young farmers, beginning farmers, cattle farmers, farmers looking to grow their operations so they can thrive in rural Iowa, raise their families in rural Iowa and send their kids to school.”

But the organization is registered as undecided on the bill because of the bill’s exception language.

“The inclusion of paragraph two would codify a currently unused practice by DNR and does not achieve our members’ goal of eliminating taxpayer dollars from competing against our citizens at auction,” Gronewald said.

Jake Swanson, a lobbyist for the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, echoed similar points.

“Our farmer members do not want to see government representatives bidding against them at an auction,” he said.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.