Okoboji Blue Water Festival

The Okoboji Blue Water Festival has fast become an Okoboji summer tradition. Join fellow lake lovers this Saturday, August 13 for a full day of fun along the shores of our majestic lakes. Schedule of 2022 Festival Events • 8 AM-Chalkstock • 8:30 AM-James L. Pease presentation “Connecting Wildlife and Water Quality” • 9:30 AM-Kid’s … Read more

RV Parks & Campgrounds in the News

IGLA has been monitoring the number of proposed campgrounds at both the county & city level in our area.  Here are headlines from the past 6-months.  People are paying attention.

Iowa DNR Treating Eurasian Watermilfoil in Iowa Great Lakes

SPIRIT LAKE – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil is growing at multiple locations in East Okoboji Lake, Upper Gar Lake, Lake Minnewashta, and Lower Gar Lake in Dickinson County The Iowa DNR Aquatic Plant Management team monitors 153 sites at the Iowa Great Lakes each year. Each site is visited … Read more

Supervisors Approve Planning & Zoning Recommendations

June 28, 2022 Dickinson County Board of Supervisors approved a recommendation from the county’s Planning & Zoning Commission to move campgrounds in areas zoned R-1 suburban residential & resort enterprise from permitted uses to conditional uses in those areas.  Zoning Administrator David Kohlhaase says the move will allow for some “additional checks & balances”. At … Read more

Gillnetting Season

Gillnetting has started on the Iowa Great Lakes. Mike Hawkins, Fisheries Biologist with the Iowa DNR, stated that the process for Northern Pike is already underway.  Netting Walleye & Muskies are slated to begin in a week or so. Gillnetting allows for the harvest of eggs to be hatched and delivered throughout the state to … Read more

SF2312 Threatens Environmental Groups & Landowners

Many must have been wondering whether there was something in Iowa’s water on March 4, 2019. That morning, thousands of Iowans from all corners of the state and with little notice, moved and spoke as one. In the weeks prior, email accounts, text messages, and social media were buzzing with rumors of a concerning proposal … Read more

Bur Oak Blight Continues to Plague the Lakes

(Des Moines)– The only oak species that is native in all of Iowa’s 99 counties is facing some disease issues. The D-N-R’s Tivon Feeley says they are seeing a lot of Bur Oak Blight, which is a fungus that appears on the leaf. He says Burr Oak Blight numbers have been “kind of fluctuating,” and … Read more

DNR Updates Impaired Waterways List

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources seeks public comment on its updated lists of Iowa’s impaired waterways, including several bodies of water within Dickinson County. Emerson Bay, West Lake Okoboji Lower Gar Center Lake Diamond Lake Little Spirit Lake Pleasant Lake Little Swan Lake Silver Lake Little Sioux River Prairie Lake   Both Marble Lake … Read more

Melissa Etheridge Headlines Blue Water Festival

The Okoboji Protective Association announces Melissa Etheridge to headline Blue Water Fest. One of rock’s most enduring and favorite female singer-songwriters will headline the evening concert at this summer’s Okoboji Blue Water Festival on Saturday, August 13. Melissa Etheridge – the artist with the raspy, smoky voice who has remained one of America’s favorite performers … Read more

Proposed Silver Lake Development Stirs Controvery

A public hearing regarding a developer’s request to rezone land from Highway Commercial to Resort Commercial was held on Monday, Feb. 14th’s Lake Park City Council meeting.  Seth Hellinga is proposing to build 63 cabins on the south side of Silver Lake.  Water quality, safety, boat volume, noise and aesthetics were concerns posed by the … Read more