Letter to the Editor:

An article in the Des Moines Register on January 28 has this caption “Iowa Cities Tackle Deadly Dams”. According to a group that calls itself the Iowa Whitewater Coalition, since 1900 one hundred ninety-two Iowans have drowned at dams. I am sure this group and the Iowa DNR have figures on how many of these were alcohol-related but it’s not in their best interest to put them in print.

These ‘river recreationists’ and the DNR cite public safety as the main reason to tear out all these dams. Seriously? If the DNR was that concerned about public safety they would stop over-populating the deer herd. Deer are being called North America’s deadliest animal. The article went on to state that 31 people have died at dams in the last 18 years. In that same time period there were 3600 people killed in deer-related accidents nationally. In Iowa alone, there are over 8000 accidents each year involving the over-populated deer herd. Iowa ranks number 3 for accidents with deer.

The article also says that going over a dam is a terrifying way to go. So is looking up and seeing a deer coming through your windshield at 55 mph. I don’t know how the DNR can justify spending millions of dollars to tear out these dams to create white water courses for a limited number of recreationists and ignore the quality of the water that affects the total population.

Merle Wilson

Jesup