Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The permittee must possess a valid N.W.C.O. permit and a valid furharvester license and habitat stamp. Partners or assistants must also possess a valid furharvester license and paid the habitat stamp fee.
1. Be at least 18 years of age and possess a valid driver’s license.
2. Pass a written examination with a minimum score of 80% before a permit is issued. If an applicant fails the examination, they must wait 45 days before being permitted to retake the examination. If the applicant fails the test a second time, they must wait a period of six months before reapplying.
3. Not currently be under any license suspension or revocation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources or any court.
4. The applicant must successfully complete an oral, in-person interview with a representative of the department to determine the applicant’s knowledge of wildlife and wildlife capture techniques, and to determine if the applicant has the ability to provide effective services to the public.
5. A $ 25.00 testing fee will be assessed when the applicant successfully completes the test. (Permit renewals will be $ 20.00).
6. Possess a valid fur harvester license and have paid the habitat stamp fee.
There is a $25 testing fee
Permit renewals are $20 and are good for one year (expire on January 10th of each year and are not transferable)
Chapter 114 Nuisance Wildlife Control
Chapter 110 Trapping Limitations
The permittee is not authorized to capture or possess any wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened..... This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the capture or possession of bobcats, spotted skunks, hawks, owls, eagles, migratory birds, waterfowl, and songbirds. When a nuisance wildlife problem involves an endangered or threatened species, the local state conservation officer must be contacted, and the office will determine how the situations should be handled.
Wildlife Damage Management
Iowa Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators
Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators (NWCO)
Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator Guidebook
Contact the state conservation officer in the county you reside
Send records to:
Randy R. Edwards
Wallace State Office Building
Des Moines, IA 50319-0034
Chapter 110 Trapping Limitations
571—110.6(481A) Trap tag requirements. All traps and snares, whether set or not, possessed by a person who can reasonably be presumed to be trapping shall have a metal tag attached plainly labeled with the user’s name and address.
Species defined as game mammals or furbearing mammals (with the exception of Endangered or Threatened species) may be relocated or euthanized. Euthanization is a recognized and approved method of nuisance wildlife control and is recommended particularly for striped skunks, but may be utilized with opossums, raccoons, beavers, woodchucks, or other species of common wild mammals. It is required for those fur-bearing animals that you believe to be sick or diseased.
Relocation of large numbers of common species can:
- spread disease to resident populations
- compound nuisance wildlife problems in nearby residential areas
- increase predation of ground, shrub, and cavity nesting birds and their eggs
- disrupt social and behavioral mechanisms in resident populations
Due to these important reasons, euthanization of nuisance animals is preferred.
See page 29 of the Manual
Each permittee shall keep records of their nuisance animal control activities. Such reports shall be summarized on the Department provided report form and shall be sent to the DNR's Law Enforcement Bureau by the 31st day of January each year. Timely submission of this report is a condition for permit renewal. Detailed records, documenting the landowner's name, address, phone number, dates of service, service person's name, species of nuisance animal and control methods used, shall be kept on file and up to date at the business location specified on the permit. Permittee's shall allow, at any reasonable time, a Department official to examine and inspect such records and animals in their possession. The report form is available on page 50 of the Manual.