Cedar Rapids Gazette: A pair of bills that would limit resources for acquiring public land were met with strong public opposition Monday. Landowners, hunters, conservation boards and others flooded subcommittee meetings in the House and Senate. In both cases, hundreds of people showed up with nearly as many people outside crowded meeting rooms as in the hearings. The bills — similar, but not identical — would sharply impede the acquisition by the state, county conservation boards and cities of land for public purposes. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation called House File 542 necessary to prevent state and local governments and private entities, such as the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and sportsmen’s’ groups, from buying land sought by farmers.