January 2004

Conservation Department ranges are great places to "plink" and much more

Missourians can go target shooting any time at dozens of Conservation Department shooting ranges statewide. Many of the ranges are accessible to persons with mobility impairments, and five have full-time staffs. The staffed ranges provide safety supervision and instruction in outdoor skills from birdwatching and orienteering to cooking and wood carving. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)

Take your pick of classes in woodworking, hide tanning, birdwatching map and compass, or the traditional skills of rifle, shotgun and pistol shooting.

JEFFERSON CITY--Wintertime, and the living is . . . boring! No matter how much we love to curl up with a good book or surf the Internet, at times between New Year's Day and April Fool's Day most of us feel the need to get outdoors. When cabin fever strikes, some of the closest opportunities are found at shooting ranges operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The Conservation Department maintains shooting facilities at more than 60 conservation areas (CAs) statewide. Ten are accessible to people with mobility impairments. Five are outdoor skills training centers with full-time staffs and a mission that goes far beyond shooting.

The busiest time of year at Conservation Department ranges is September through December. Visitation can still be heavy on winter weekends, but the facilities typically are less crowded this time of year.

"Our ranges started out as places to sight-infles or practice trap shooting or pistol marksmanship," said Hunter Education Program Coordinator Rick Flint. "Through the years, we have expanded their mission to include teaching outdoor skills from orienteering to birdwatching. You can still get instruction in hunting and fishing, but just about anyone can find something to interest them at our ranges."

Flint said the five staffed ranges also are excellent places to take children who receive air guns or .22 cal. rifles as holiday presents to learn to use them safely. Some ranges even offer special programs just for this purpose. All are great places to spend a winter afternoon honing old outdoor skills or learning new ones.

The flagship of state ranges is August A. Busch Memorial Shooting Range and Training Center a few miles west of St. Louis. The 30-year-old facility has covered ranges to accommodate rifle and pistol shooters and archers. Shotgunners enjoy trap and skeet shooting. Range officers are on duty at all times to ensure safety. Indoor classrooms host seminars, workshops and clinics in map and compass, trout fishing, birdwatching, archery, field-to-freezer game care, wild game cooking, including how to make venison sausage and more than 100 other classes.

The Busch range is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Friday through Tuesday. The area's extensive archery shooting course is open from dawn to dusk daily. Day-long competitive archery shoots draw as many as 300 contestants, and local corporations sometimes reserve the facility for employee appreciation day events. Little wonder the range draws 35,000 visitors a year. For information about upcoming programs there, call 636/441-4554 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/busch/.

"The biggest advantage of a supervised range is that it has people dedicated to ensuring safety," said Range Supervisor Tony Legg. "A lot of people comment on that. It's nice, too, having people who are experts on shooting skills and firearms. You can get 10-minute, one-on-one classes when you need help."

Jay Henges Shooting Range and Training Center, located on Forest 44 CA, offers similar programs for people in southwestern St. Louis County. Novice training for new firearms owners and hunters, coupled with guided youth hunts for turkey and waterfowl, make this a favorite of youngsters and families with a yen to follow in their pioneer forebears' footsteps. This area also hosts a regional Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) event and hunter education day camps in June and July. Like the Busch area, the Henges range draws upwards of 35,000 visitors annually.

"We aren't just a place to shoot," said Henges Range Supervisor Greg Toczylowski. "We strive to offer programs for everyone. From time to time we hold family days where firearms and ammunition are furnished and we have shooting and safety instruction for all ages. It's amazing the variety of people who come out for those and other events."

The Henges range's winter hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For directions to the area or for program information, call 636/938-9548, or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/henges/.

On the opposite side of the state, the Conservation Department has two more staffed ranges. Parma Woods Shooting Range and Training Center in southern Platte County a few miles west of Kansas City is the newest of the five ranges, having opened in November 2001. In just a little over two years, however, visitation has soared to 15,000 per year. That popularity is due in part to the modern facilities and diverse programming.

The Parma Woods facility offers youth air rifle instruction, classes in predator calling, fly-tying, orienteering (map and compass) and introduction to pistol shooting. There are seminars on the biology and identification of birds of prey and hands-on activities like building bluebird nest boxes. Range Supervisor Dan Johnson said he is particularly excited about a workshop that will teach participants how to hunt snow geese during their spring migration and "Slime Time," a fun program for all youngsters about snakes, frogs, toads and salamanders.

"Getting outdoors at this time of year is nice, but people really appreciate being able to come inside and warm up," said Johnson. "Shooters know when they come here there will be trained personnel to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to. They like knowing that someone is going to be watching the person next to them."

Parma Woods' winter hours are noon to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call 816/891-9941 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/parma/.

Lake City Shooting Range and Training Center in central Jackson County opened its doors in 1989 and has since built a following that draws in 10,000 to 12,000 visitors per year. Range Supervisor David Wyatt said his facility gets lots of cabin-fever escapees this time of year. Programming spans the generations, with youth air gun classes, family shotgun days and new "community-center" classes geared to retirees who drifted away from shooting and other outdoor activities during earlier, busier stages of life.

"We want to get experienced outdoors people back outside with their children and grandchildren," said Wyatt. He said the Lake City Range has a reputation as being very strict about safety, which he considers a great compliment.

The Lake City range has two trap fields for shotgunners, plus rifle and pistol ranges with covered shooting positions. Upcoming classes include beginning wood carving, introduction to fly-tying, basic hide tanning, antler measuring and end-of-season firearms care.

Winter hours at the Lake City range are noon to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It doesn't have toilet facilities or an indoor area where shooters can warm up, so dress accordingly. Further information is available by calling 816/229-4448 or visiting www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/lakecity/.

The Andy Dalton Shooting Range and Training Center opened in 1995 at Bois D'Arc CA, northwest of Springfield in Greene County. With both trap and skeet ranges in addition to the standard covered rifle and pistol range, this is one of the state's best-equipped and most modern public ranges. It hosts the regional YHEC event in March, and a YHEC camp in July. Summer programs also include an outdoor skills day camp.

Upcoming programs at the Dalton range include antler scoring, shotgun and rifle reloading, wildlife identification and woodworking for wildlife. There will be hands-on instruction in canoeing and fishing at the area's lakes. Winter hours are noon to 4:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Monday. For more information, call 417/742-4361, or look them up at www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/a_dalton.

If all you want is to smell gunpowder, you can plink at cans and clay targets at one of the dozens of less elaborate, unstaffed shooting ranges on CAs statewide. Many of these consist of cleared spaces with earthen berms at one end, providing a safe backstop for rifle and pistol shooters. Shotgunners with their own portable target throwers can use the same spots to sharpen wing-shooting skills. These modest ranges provide legal places for target shooting, which is prohibited elsewhere on conservation areas.

Some unstaffed public ranges are more elaborate, with box berms to separate different shooting ranges, restrooms, covered shooting positions and other improvements. These include:
--Sugar Creek CA in Adair County, 660/785-2420;
--Rocky Fork Lakes CA in Boone County, 573/445-3882;
--Pigeon Hill CA in Buchanan County, 816/271-3100;
--Apple Creek CA in Cape Girardeau county, 573/547-4537;
--Scrivner Road CA in Cole County573/884-6861;
--Gallatin CA in Daviess County, 660/646-3335;
--Leadmine CA in Dallas County, 417/532-7612;
--Little Indian Creek CA in Washington County, 573/468-3335;
--Golden Valley CA in Henry County, 660/885-6981;
--Riverbreaks CA in Holt County, 816/271-3100;
--White Ranch CA in Howell County, 417/256-7161;
--Steele Training Complex in Pemiscot County, 573/333-4101;
--Mark Twain Lake in Ralls County, 573/735-4097;
--Mineral Area College in St. Francis County, 573/468-3335;
--Reifsnider State Forest in Warren County, 314/456-3368.

A complete list of public shooting ranges is available online at http://www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/.

- Jim Low -

Commission to meet in St. Charles March 11 and 12

JEFFERSON CITY--The Missouri Conservation Commission will meet March 11 and 12 at the Conservation Department's St. Louis regional office at August. A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area, 2360 Highway D, St. Charles. The Commission will meet in closed session at 3:30 p.m. March 11 and in open session at 8:30 a.m. March 12.

Commission meetings are open to the public. Items to be placed on the agenda for presentations or other business should be sent in writing to Director, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180; fax 573/751-4467 at least 10 working days before the meeting date. The deadline for the next meeting is Feb. 27.

People requiring special services or accommodations to attend the meeting can make arrangements by writing to the same address, or by phone at 573/751-4115.

Commission officers are: Stephen C. Bradford, Cape Girardeau, chairman; Cynthia Metcalfe, St. Louis, vice-chairman, Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, secretary and Lowell Mohler, Jefferson City, member.

-Jim Low-

LEWIS AND CLARK QUIZ

What now-extinct bird did Lewis & Clark record as being present in "emence" numbers in Missouri?

Answer: The Carolina parakeet.

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Group plans Missouri River "Rumble"

Hundreds of people will join the 2004 Great River Rumble Aug. 1-7, floating the Missouri River from Brunswick to Washington by day and staying in riverside communities each night. For more information, write to Great River Rumble, P.O. Box 3408, Dubuque, Iowa 52004-3408, or visit http://www.riverrumble.org/. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)

Join hundreds of other canoeists on a week-long adventure.

JEFFERSON CITY--What better way to observe the Lewis and Clark bicentennial than by retracing their steps on a 185-mile Missouri River canoe trip? That's exactly what Midwest River Expeditions plans to do during the 2004 Great River Rumble. Everyone who is interested in rediscovering the Missouri River is invited.

The voyage of rediscovery will begin Aug. 1 at Brunswick and wind up Aug. 7 at Washington. Along the way, upwards of 200 modern-day voyageurs will watch bald eagles and other wildlife, comb sandbars for arrowheads and artifacts from sunken riverboats, mark the passage of landmarks mentioned in Lewis and Clark's journals and explore local culture in river communities.

"This event is made to order for people who have always wanted to float the Missouri River but who lacked the experience or confidence to do it alone," said Rex Klein, president of Midwest River Expeditions, a non-profit organization. "It's a great way to learn the ropes while making lasting friendships."

If canoeing 20 to 30 miles a day sounds grueling, consider that simply drifting in the current carries canoeists downriver at 3 to 4 miles per hour. Moderate paddling effort provides enough speed to allow time for frequent stops to stretch legs and explore.

After each day's float, "rumblers" will spend the night in campgrounds in or near river towns. Overnight stops will include Glasgow, Boonville, Easley, Jefferson City, Chamois, Hermann and Washington. Access to showers and portable toilets is available at stopovers, too. Rumblers who prefer more luxurious accommodations can reserve rooms in hotels or bed and breakfasts.

Caterers and restaurants provide breakfasts and lunches in stopover towns. Floaters arrange their own sack lunches.

The cost is $125 per person. This covers insurance, showers, campground fees, transportation of floaters' duffle to each nightly stopover and the cost of a farewell banquet Aug. 7. It does not include other meals, shuttle service from Washington to Brunswick ($25 per person, $25 per boat) or canoe rental ($20 per day).

Rumble staffers are unpaid volunteers who donate their time to make the events possible. Midwest River Expeditions calls the annual event "a trip by the people, for the people." The group's goals are promoting enjoyment of big rivers and environmental awareness. For full details of the trip, visit http://www.riverrumble.org/ or write to Great River Rumble, P.O. Box 3408, Dubuque, Iowa 52004-3408.

- Jim Low -

Civilian conservationists recall making history

The "CC boys" may be old, but don't count them out yet.

by Phil Helfrich

JEFFERSON CITY--It was 10 a.m., and the mockingbirds were still jabbering about the previous night's storm in southeastern Missouri. Inside the Department of Conservation office south of Sullivan, Al Vaughn cautiously shifted his weight onto a swivel chair behind a desk. A truck accident, a replacement knee and 81 years of living will make a person cautious. Setting his cane against a file cabinet, Vaughn flashed his trademark smile. That expression often breaks the surface of a story he is about to tell.

"I joined right after my father had died," he said. "Mother had five children. There was no work. I couldn't find a job."

What Vaughn had joined was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The year was 1940. The teeth of the Great Depression hadn't let go of the country's backside yet. Unbeknownst to Al and 3 million other CCC enrollees, one of America's greatest social and conservation enterprises had but two more years of life.

"The group that I ran around with is all dead and gone now," Vaughn continued, pulling out some black-and-white photos from a manila envelope. One showed two 18-year-old boys. They were shirtless, wearing World War I army surplus trousers and sitting on top of a wooden sign that reads "Meramec State Forest, CCC Camp 2728."

The picture was snapped just down the road at what is now the Meramec Conservation Area. Like many former CCC sites, grown-over concrete foundations and scattered pieces of rusted metal are all that remain of the camp today. What happened there is headed for forgotten.

"It was a wonderful thing," Vaughn said in a soft voice. "I was very happy down there."

Created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, the CCC was intended to kill two birds with one stone. The twin targets were unemployment and the sad state of the nation's public lands. The idea was simple but big: move millions of men into the woods and have them fix the place up. In Missouri, more than 100,000 mostly skinny 18- to 25-year-olds lived in 41camps between 1933 and 1942.

Known as the "CC boys," these pioneer conservationists planted trees, fought forest fires, built lookout towers, constructed erosion-control check dams and helped dig and install Missouri's first three fish hatcheries. Some of their finest work -- stone dining lodges, cabins and picnic shelters -- still adorn state parks.

For this they earned $30 a month, $25 of which was sent home to their families.

"A dollar a day was top wages in those days," Vaughn remembered. He unrolled a copy of a camp site map he had managed to get his hands on and cleared a space on the desk. Setting a book and a paper weight on the map's edges, he pointed to Barracks No. 4.

"I think that was my barracks. I'm not sure. It was a long time ago."

What is sure is that nine wooden barracks housed 180 enrollees. Drawn to scale were a wash house, a mess hall, a hospital, a water tower and officers' quarters. The entire setup carried an air of military organization, not surprising since the army ran CCC camps.

Life for CC boys was more than work and yes-sirs. Each facility had a recreation hall, an education building and a baseball or basketball team. There was a boxing ring for working up a sweat or working out a dispute. Vaughn remembered most of the boys getting along, though.

"On Saturdays, he and five of those boys would pile into a couple of cars they kept hidden near camp, pick up their girlfriends and head for town. He remembered the tunes they played and the rugs they cut.

"Most of my friends were musicians," he grinned.

Trucks introduced themselves to Vaughn at Camp 2728. He liked the 1936 flatbed Fords used to haul the boys to work every day. He got so comfortable behind the wheel of a truck that "I pretty much stayed with that the rest of my life."

Although townsfolk often were leery of the CC boys, especially those who came to call on their daughters, many enrollees later married local girls and stayed with that for the rest of their lives. Such was the case with Vaughn. His future wife was the sister of one of his camp running buddies.

Little wonder Vaughn retains such fond memories of the people, place and time.

"It was one of the best things that happened during those days."I'd like to do something down there so people remember what happened," Vaughn said. One hundred twenty-seven easily operable, happy facial muscles switched on to emphasize the point.

You would be mistaken, however, to conclude that Vaughn and his smile were there just reminiscing. He was a man on a mission. Since that morning visit last year, He has tracked down and contacted six other men who were at Camp 2728. He meets with some of them regularly. He is working with the Conservation Department to put up a commemorative sign at the Meramec Conservation Area. After that he hopes to create a parking lot and a trail to the old camp site. He has visited the national Civilian Conservation corps Museum in St. Louis. He has learned that other CC boys around the country still are going strong, engaged in projects similar to his.

To cap his recent efforts, Vaughn has started a new local CCC chapter. When I found out he talked one of my Conservation Department co-workers into being the chapter's treasurer, my face could only do one thing.

If you were in the CCC and would like to share your story, call 573/290-5730, ext. 225. The National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (NACCCA), Museum and Library is located at 16 Hancock Ave. in Jefferson Barracks Historical Park, St. Louis. It contains more than 100,000 photographs, papers and other memorabilia from the CCC. For information, call 314/487-8666.

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LEWIS AND CLARK QUIZ

How many of the Missouri River's original 24,400 islands have been eliminated by channelization?

Answer: 24,000. These islands and the shallow-water habitat associated with them served as nursery areas for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife.

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New management emphasis benefits quail

A machine capable of clipping off 8-inch trees as if they were saplings and stacking them in neat brushpiles is one of the tools being used in Missouri's bid to bring back the bobwhite quail. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)

Work on conservation areas statewide aims to "Bring back Bob."

JEFFERSON CITY--"Bring Back Bob," the rallying cry for bobwhite quail restoration efforts, is fast becoming more than a slogan in Missouri. Around the state, private landowners, often with help of government and citizen conservation groups, are discovering how they can hasten the popular game bird's recovery. Efforts to enhance quail habitat on public land are shifting into high gear also.

"More than 90 percent of the state's land is privately owned," said Wildlife Ecologist Elsa Gallagher, who leads the Missouri Department of Conservation's quail restoration effort. "Any program to restore quail is going to succeed or fail there. However, lots of hunters' only option is public land. The conservation areas (CAs) that dot the state are an important part of quail restoration, particularly for those hunters."

Luckily for hunters, the Conservation Department has dozens of areas capable of sustaining sizeable quail populations. Since signing onto the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative last year, the agency has aggressively pursued efforts to restore quail habitat on its land.

Quail thrive wherever their habitat needs are met. Those needs include:
--Escape cover -- brushy areas that provide a low, woody roof that protects them from predators and weather
--Brood-rearing areas -- diverse stands of native, warm-season grasses with a sprinkling of seed-producing broad-leaf plants. These must be open at ground level for small birds to forage on insects. Crop fields sometimes serve as brood-rearing habitat, too.
--Small patches of bare soil
--Water

It isn't enough to "protect" quail habitat. Land that is left undisturbed quickly loses the diverse habitat elements that quail need. Maintaining these elements requires periodic disturbance of existing vegetation. The disturbance can be light disking, judicious grazing or prescribed burning.

The habitat elements most likely to be in short supply on conservation areas are escape cover and brood-rearing areas. Conservation Department workers are using familiar tools and specialized new equipment to ensure these are maintained.

The familiar tools include chainsaws and axes. These are most useful in areas where large trees and thick growth make using heavy equipment impractical. With thousands of acres of conservation areas to maintain, the Conservation Department uses a more mechanized approach where possible to get faster results.

Two pieces of equipment that are particularly useful make the rounds of conservation areas each year. One is the "shear blade," a wedge-shaped 8-foot, serrated steel cutter mounted on a bulldozer just above ground level. Running this implement through an old field choked with woody sprouts accomplishes in a few minutes what a crew of several people with hand tools would need hours or days to do. This tool is especially useful for making fields accessible to other equipment needed to eradicate undesirable cool-season grasses.

The most impressive mechanical wonder at wildlife managers' disposal is a "clipper" that grasps trees up to 14 inches in diameter by the trunk, snips them off at ground level and arranges them into brush piles. This is an excellent tool for removing trees from large areas that once were savannahs. Brush pile construction goes much faster with a tool that can cart whole trees around like saplings. Mechanization is helping the Conservation Department treat miles of forest edge and hundreds of acres of old fields in each of the state's regions annually.

Another way of getting the job done is to conduct "chainsaw days," when 10 to 15 workers converge on an area and tackle projects too big for the local staff. An example is "edge feathering" to soften the edge between fields and surrounding woods. This creates 30-foot borders with brush piles and shrubby growth. Such transition zones between forest and open land is especially beneficial to quail.

Doing this work by hand, rather than with the tree clipper makes it possible to build brush piles around trees that are felled with the trunks still connected to stumps. Some trees cut this way survive, and the living brush piles they form can last longer and provide better wildlife cover.

Areas where quail habitat work is under way include:
--Lamine CA in Morgan and Cooper counties;
--Whetstone Creek CA in Callaway County;
--Davisdale CA in Howard County;
--Scrivner Road CA in Cole County;
--Frost Island and Fox Valley CAs in Clark County;
--Deer Ridge CA and Sunnyside School Access in Lewis County;
--Indian Hills CA in Scotland County;
--Henry Sever Lake CA and White Oak Bend Access in Knox County;
--Lone Jack and Jim Bridger Urban CAs and James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area (WA) in Jackson County;
--Amarugia Highlands CA in Cass County;
--Settle's Ford CA in Bates and Cass counties
--Ranacker CA in Pike County
--Locust Creek CA in Sullivan County
--August A. Busch Memorial and Weldon Spring CAs in St. Charles County
--Columbia Bottom CA in St. Louis County
--Kessler Memorial WA and William R. Logan CA in Lincoln County
--Land around Stockton Lake in Cedar, Polk and Dade counties
--Bethel Prairie, Buffalo Wallow, Dorris Creek Prairie, Redwing Prairie and Pa Sole Prairie CAs in Barton County
--Treaty Line Prairie CA in Bates County
--Bois D'Arc CA in Greene County
--Robert E. Talbott CA in Lawrence County
--Capps Creek CA in Newton County
--Maintz Wildlife Preserve in Cape Girardeau County
--Apple Creek CA in Perry County
--Crowley's Ridge CA in Stoddard County
--Schell-Osage CA in Vernon and St. Clair Counties
--Four Rivers CA in Bates and Vernon counties
--Douglas Branch CA in Vernon County
--Connor O. Fewel WA in Henry County
--The Deepwater Creek, Grand River Bottoms and Bethlehem areas of Truman Lake.

Gallagher noted that habitat-enhancement efforts geared to increasing quail numbers also benefit a wide variety of other wildlife species. The needs of cottontail rabbits, another favorite of hunters, are almost identical to those of quail. Lots of non-game species also share the bobwhite's habitat preferences. Loggerhead shrikes, Henslow's sparrows, field sparrows, grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, bobolinks, meadowlarks, yellow-breasted chats, brown thrashers, prairie warblers and fence lizards all thrive under the same conditions.

"The work we are doing for quail is benefiting a wide range of species whose numbers have dwindled over the past 50 years," said Gallagher. "Missouri's participation in the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative will have positive consequences that extend far beyond hunters."

- Jim Low -

Fajitas, fritters are great ways to enjoy rabbit

This simple recipe turns lean cottontail meat into a juicy, flavorful entree.

JEFFERSON CITY-One of Missouri's most popular game animals, the cottontail rabbit, provides an outlet for hunters' energy when most other hunting seasons are closed. It's also a diner's delight. Weeks after most other hunting seasons have closed, rabbit hunting continues. Limits are liberal, and a hefty cottontail affords plenty of lean meat for the table. Recipes for rabbit cookery abound, but few are as simple and tasty as rabbit fajitas or "bunny schnitzel."

The main ingredient of Fajitas, a popular Mexican dish, is meat cooked with bell peppers and onions and served with flour or corn tortillas. To make rabbit fajitas, remove raw meat from the bone and cut into strips one-half inch thick. Sprinkle with Old World Red Rock Fajita seasoning, which is made in Kansas City. Let this stand in the refrigerator for two hours, then sauté in olive oil until cooked through.

Add a little water and lots of yellow onions and green or red bell peppers cut in strips. Simmer until vegetables are tender but still crisp. Serve with sour cream, grated pepper jack cheese and picante sauce on tortillas wrapped in foil and heated in the oven.

The second technique draws from the German culinary tradition of schnitzel. Take any type of meat, pound it flat, dip it in eggs, dredge it in breading, and sauté it in butter and you have a feast fit for a Kaiser.

Start by skinning rabbits as usual. Then remove raw meat from the bone. The thigh muscle and back straps provide the best portions for frittering.

Next, place the boned cuts on a heavy cutting board and pound them with a tenderizing mallet or the edge of a heavy plate until they are one-quarter to one-half inch thick.

In a deep bowl, mix one-half cup milk with two large eggs and mix well with a fork. In a shallow bowl, mix one cup of fine bread crumbs or crushed corn flakes with three teaspoons of My House All-Purpose Seasoning Salt, which is made in St. Louis.

Dip flattened rabbit portions in egg mixture, then dredge in seasoned crumbs. Repeat if you want an extra thick coat of breading. Melt one or two tablespoons of butter in a skillet and sauté fritters one at a time over medium heat on both sides until golden brown. Serve with bread and -- if you are inclined -- kraut.

For a reduced-fat version of this recipe, use only one egg and coat fritters lightly with nonstick cooking spray, then bake in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Nearly 100,000 Missourians hunt rabbits each year. Rabbit season runs through Feb. 15, with a daily limit of six and a possession limit of 12. If you hunt in parts of southeastern Missouri inhabited by swamp rabbits, be advised that your daily take may only include two swampers. Hunters in Missouri's far northern counties should know that jackrabbits are protected under the state's Wildlife Code.

A small-game hunting permit also entitles you to take cottontail and swamp rabbits with box traps, eliminating the possibility of biting down on a piece of buckshot. The same season and limits apply.

For more information about where to buy My House Salt, visit http://www.myhousesalt.com/pages/4/index.htm, or call 314/968-8808. Information about Old World Red Rock Fajita seasoning is available from Old World Spices & Seasonings, http://www.oldworldspices.com/, 816/861-0400.

-Jim Low-

LEWIS AND CLARK QUIZ

How much has the Missouri River been shortened by channelization since Lewis and Clark's time?

Answer: 127 miles. Manmade changes also have reduced the river's surface area by more than 60,000 acres between its mouth and Rulo, Neb.

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Taneycomo trout--Branson's quiet tourist attraction

Lake Taneycomo's terrific trout fishing was luring tourists to Missouri long before Branson became a renowned entertainment destination. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)

Decades before the Mickey Gilley or Shoji Tabuchi arrived, brown and rainbow trout were luring tourists by the thousands to southwest Missouri.

BRANSON, Mo.- Long before the Branson area earned national prominence for music and variety shows, people across the country knew the region as a destination for good trout fishing.

Today, Branson's huge splash onto the entertainment scene has shifted some of the spotlight away from one of the area's initial national draws - Lake Taneycomo. Once a main tourist attraction, the 2,080-acre lake has become somewhat overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of theaters lining Branson's famed "76 Country Music Boulevard." However, anglers from Missouri and elsewhere can attest to the quality fishing that continues to draw tourists to the area.

Consider these trout tantalizers:
--In 2001 during their annual late-summer sampling, Missouri Department of Conservation biologists found a brown trout that was 36.5 inches long, had a girth of 28.5 inches and weighed approximately 37 pounds. This would have easily surpassed the current state record of 26 pounds, 13 ounces.
--In 1997, a dead brown trout weighing 37.1 pounds was found floating in Lake Taneycomo. The carcass measured 41.75 inches in length, which was longer than the 40.25-inch length of the current world-record brown trout.

Reports like these draw anglers from far and wide. The annual impact of trout-related tourism on the local economy is estimated at more than $13 million.

Both rainbow and brown trout thrive in the lake, which is owned by Empire District Electric Company. The Department of Conservation manages the fishery of the reservoir, which twists along the old White River channel for 23 miles between Table Rock Dam near Branson and Powersite Dam near the community of Ozark Beach. The winding course of the lake provides an abundance of habitat for trout.

The lake, especially the lower end, and its tributaries also harbor a variety of warm-water fish species, such as largemouth bass. Private marinas and public fishing areas provide access to fishing opportunities for boat and bank anglers.

Taneycomo's trout story started in 1959, when the construction of Table Rock Dam created a large, deep lake. The water near the bottom of the lake stays a cool 48 degrees, even during the hottest days of summer. Cold-water discharges from the bottom of Table Rock Dam make Lake Taneycomo sort of a super-sized trout stream.

Sustaining the lake's trout population is the Department of Conservation's Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, located at the upper (west) end of Taneycomo. The hatchery stocks approximately 700,000 rainbow trout and 10,000 brown trout typically measuring 10 to 11 inches into the lake each year.

Taneycomo's excellent trout fishing is the result of more than ample fish stocking and cold water, however. Among the creatures flourishing in the rocky bottom of the lake are amphipods, known locally as fresh-water shrimp. Along with midges, small aquatic cousins of the housefly, these small crustaceans are a favorite food of rainbow trout and younger brown trout. Bountiful food means rapid growth for stocked trout. Conservation Department fish tagging studies show that rainbow trout stocked in the lake can grow half an inch or more a month.

The Department of Conservation's management efforts at Lake Taneycomo have earned national acclaim. In 2001, the American Fisheries Society awarded its annual Sport Fish Restoration Award to the Department for its work at Taneycomo.

Proof of Taneycomo's management success can be found in scientific data as well as national accolades. The numbers presented in the Conservation Department's recently completed 10-year study of the lake are the kind of figures anglers like to hear. When the study began in the early 1990s, Taneycomo was paying the price for its nation-wide fame. The lake was getting fished hard. Anglers caught many trout almost as soon as they were stocked. As a result, the number of large fish in the lake was on the decline.

The Conservation Department responded by creating a special-regulations area on a three-mile section at the lake's upper end in 1997. From just below Table Rock Dam to the mouth of Fall Creek, anglers may use only flies and artificial lures, and they must release rainbow trout between 12 and 20 inches long.

The new regulations are working. In 1996, surveys on the upper lake netted an average of 25 rainbow trout per hour. In 2002, surveys in the same area yielded more than 330 rainbow trout per hour. In addition, more than 13 percent of the rainbow trout population in this area exceeded 16 inches long, compared to none in 1996. Angler surveys show that fishing success has improved, too.

Lake Taneycomo's tremendous trout resource remains one of the reasons why tourism is king in Branson.

More information about trout fishing at Lake Taneycomo, as well as other trout fishing opportunities in Missouri, can be found on the Department of Conservation's website, www.missouriconservation.org.

- Francis Skalicky -

MDC seeks deer management ideas at public meetings.

Missourians are encouraged to express their opinions at 10 meetings.

JEFFERSON CITY-- In a perfect world Missouri's white-tailed deer population would stay at a level that provides sufficient hunting and nature viewing opportunities but causes no human-deer conflicts. Getting the deer herd as close as possible to an ideal level is a challenge that Missourians now have an opportunity to address.

The Missouri Department of Conservation wants public input to be a major part of its examination of the state deer herd. The agency has conducted several surveys to learn landowner and hunter opinions on deer management. The surveys found residents of areas with large deer populations want fewer deer to reduce the potential for deer-vehicle accidents and crop damage. Some hunters say they would like to see more large bucks when they go afield. The Conservation Department now wants to learn what the general public feels the optimal size and structure of the deer population should be.

"We're entering a new era in wildlife management," said Conservation Department Director John Hoskins. "During the early stages of the agency we worked with citizens to restore wildlife populations that were on the brink of extinction in the state. We were phenomenally successful in those efforts. Now we must shift our management goals to maintaining populations at levels where wildlife can continue to thrive, but also peacefully coexist with humans."

To assure that all issues concerning deer are addressed, the Conservation Department will hold meetings throughout the state to gather public input. The first meeting was held Jan. 6 in Hannibal. The remainder of the meetings scheduled to date are:
--Marshall - Jan. 13, 7-9 p.m. in the Saline County Criminal Justice Center, 1915 W. Arrow St.
--Columbia - Jan. 15, 7-9 p.m. in the University of Missouri School of Natural Resources, auditorium, 103 Anheuser-Busch Building, corner of Rollins Avenue and Hitt Street.
--Kirksville - Jan. 20, 7-9 p.m. at Patterson's Restaurant, east side of Hwy. 63 toward the north end of Kirksville, 1700 N. Baltimore St.
--Union - Jan. 22, 7-9 p.m. at the East Central College Regional Training Center, South of Hwy. 50, 1964 Prairie Dell Road.
--Kirkwood - Jan. 24, 10 a.m.-noon at the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, 11715 Cragwold Road.
--Milan - Feb. 5, 7-9 p.m. Milan Community Center, just off the northwest corner of the Milan square, 203 N. Market St.
--Eugene - Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Cole County R-V High School, on Hwy. 17, 2 miles east of Hwy. 54.
--Moberly - Feb. 12, 7-9 p.m. in the Moberly Area Community College Activity Center, 101 College Ave.
--Linn - Feb. 19, 7-9 p.m. Masonic Lodge, 202 S. 12th Street.

Meetings at other locations in the state will be scheduled in early spring.

"People often think deer management only involves hunters," said Hoskins. "While hunting is an important tool for controlling the deer population, hunters are just one of many groups with an interest in deer. Nature viewers, motorists concerned about deer-vehicle accidents and farmers who want to address crop damage also are among those who should have a voice in deciding the direction of our deer management program. I encourage all Missourians, regardless of your interest in deer, to come out to the meetings and share your ideas."

Missourians who cannot attend the public meetings are encouraged to contact the Conservation Department. For more information or to share your ideas about deer management issues, visit the Conservation Department's website, www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/, or write to Missouri Department of Conservation, 2004 Deer Management Options, 1110 S. College Ave., Columbia, MO 65201.

- Arleasha Mays -

LEWIS AND CLARK QUIZ

Which member of the Corps of Discovery was the best fisherman?

Answer: Silas Goodrich was generally acknowledged to be the expedition's best angler. Fish definitely was on the Corps' menu. Lt. William Clark recorded in his journal that they caught "upwards of 800 fine fish," including 79 "pike," 127 "Buffalow and red horse" and 490 catfish On Aug. 16, 1804.

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Dynamic duo promotes conservation education

Linda and John Everhart take a breather during last summer's annual Youth Fishing Derby at their Wilderness Lodge near Clinton, Mo.

Their 350-acre farm is a hotbed of outdoor fun.

CLINTON, Mo.--Even with its significant, statewide resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation cannot do it all when it comes to introducing youngsters to outdoor opportunities. In common parlance, it takes a village. Or, perhaps more to the point, it helps greatly to have a partnership with private property owners who are willing to provide either their expertise or land.

Linda and Johnny Everhart of Blairstown provide both.

The Everharts have been partners in conservation education for years. They have introduced hundreds of youngsters to hunting and fishing on their picturesque, 350-acre spread in west-central Missouri. Often with guidance and backing from Conservation Department volunteers, the Everharts conduct numerous fishing derbies, sporting clay shoots, duck clinics and youth hunts on their property.

"I grew up in a sporting goods store," said John, whose family owned and operated Everharts in Clinton for many years. "So it gave me more opportunity to be around hunting and fishing than most kids growing up. I got to hear and experience 'wild' tales a lot. It was only natural that I got my own boys involved. But not having grandkids yet, I've tried to get other kids involved.

"Unfortunately, the follow up isn't too good in a lot of youth programs. Too often the kids may get a first opportunity, but not another one until the following year. I try to make sure that the kids we're involved with get to come back as often as they like, whether it's to our place or somewhere else."

In fact, the Everharts often get more enjoyment from seeing youngsters participate in their first hunt or catching their first fish than actually hunting or fishing themselves.

"We're going to gear up even more each year," Linda said.

"We want to get the kids and even more women involved in the shotgun sports, especially sporting clays, right here at our place. We're going to have classes. That's our new goal for the new year."

Youngsters who visit the Everharts' "Wilderness Lodge" will experience some of the best hunting and fishing anywhere in the Show-Me State. The property is a mosaic of timber, native grassland and sparkling water. Waterfowl and deer blinds dot the area, and ducks, geese, turkey and deer are abundant. It is hard not to catch a largemouth bass, crappie or sunfish in their restored, tree-lined strip-mine pit that lures dozens of eager kids every year, along with passing eagles and osprey.

The Everharts' annual Fourth of July Youth Fishing Derby has become as popular as the fireworks that come later in the evening. In the decade-long run of the derby, some kids have accumulated collections of trophies.

As summer turns to autumn at the Wilderness Lodge, the emphasis turns to hunting. The Conservation Department offers a youth-only deer hunt two weeks before the start of the regular gun season, and each year at least one kid takes advantage of the Everharts' hospitality. Two years ago, in fact, the Missouri Outdoors TV crew documented a youngster's first deer hunt there.

Probably the most popular event is the Everharts' annual youth duck clinic and hunt. About three dozen boys and girls, many with parents in tow, showed up at daybreak for the classroom and hands-on workshop last fall. A week later the kids were back at the lodge, where each youngster was afforded his own adult guide and a blind for an actual hunt. The success rate was a whopping 95 percent.

"You bet the kids were enthusiastic," said Todd Meese, a clinic volunteer and the Conservation Department's Kansas City region outdoor skills supervisor. "You could see their excitement." He said such partnerships make a difference for the kids and for the future of hunting.

In addition to their direct involvement with kids in the outdoors, the Everharts are active in promoting conservation through the media. Not only do they write numerous newspaper and magazine articles, but for more than a decade they have produced and hosted the "Missouri Outback" radio show on KLRQ-FM in Clinton.

"From the time we started it, the whole intent was to be a source of information about the outdoors," Johnny Everhart said.

Currently, the Everharts are talking with several broadcast companies that are interested in a statewide network of the popular outdoor show.

Additionally, the Everharts produce a television segment of the "Missouri Outback," which regularly appears on KCEN-TV's "In Concert with Nature" program in Kansas City. Other packages featuring the Conservation Department's mobile aquarium and youth programs have appeared on WDAF-TV's news broadcasts in Kansas City.

For their efforts, the Everharts recently received the Conservation Department's Leadership Award, recognizing their service in conservation education. Also this year, the Everharts received the Missouri Trappers Association's President's Award for their television segment on a youth's trapping workshop in St. Clair County.

But for the Everharts, the biggest reward is not in citations or plaques, but the laughter and smiles from the kids they serve year after year at their Wilderness Lodge.

- Gene Fox -

2003 was an eventful year for conservation

The Conservation Department's news archives show a year of mostly good news.

JEFFERSON CITY--For Missouri's forests, fish and wildlife, 2003 was a mixed bag of good, bad and just plain surprising news.

Missouri anticipated the start of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial with sightings of two birds first described by the epoch-making explorers. In January, birdwatchers flocked to August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area (CA) to see a rare Clark's nutcracker. The sighting came on the heels of the discovery of a Lewis' woodpecker at Schell-Osage CA.

Another more familiar bird, the bobwhite quail, took center stage in February. Representatives of the Missouri Department of Conservation met with their counterparts from five other states to collaborate on a regional effort to reverse the bobwhite's population decline. The Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative is similar to the tremendously successful North American Waterfowl Management Plan, but is more ambitious. It brings together state, regional, federal and private efforts to bring back the bobwhite quail and other wildlife species whose numbers have declined as a result of changing land-use practices.

In March, the Conservation Department announced the results of field studies documenting the decline of sturgeon numbers on the Mississippi River. Concerned that commercial anglers might turn to the Missouri River to meet demand for sturgeon eggs, the main ingredient of caviar, fisheries biologists began considering options to prevent a similar decline in the Show-Me State's namesake river.

Also in March, genetic testing revealed that a mountain lion killed by a Kansas City motorist the previous October probably came from the western United States. Physical evidence indicated the cat probably was wild and free-roaming, rather than an escaped or released captive.

Missourians got good news in April, when results of tests on more than 6,000 deer from 30 counties came back negative for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The results were from deer killed during 2002. The Conservation Department is awaiting results from tests on another 6,000 deer killed by hunters in 30 more counties during the 2003 hunting season. The testing program will gather samples from Missouri's remaining counties during the 2004 deer hunting season.

In May, hunters posted a spring wild turkey harvest of more than 58,000. Besides setting a state record, the 2003 spring harvest demonstrated Missouri's continued wild turkey management leadership. The Show-Me State's combined spring and fall turkey harvest is about 70,000. The only other state whose annual turkey harvest is even in the ball park with Missouri's is Pennsylvania, where hunters bag about 44,000 turkeys annually.

In June, the Conservation Department reopened Columbia Bottom CA to the public after completing construction of a boat ramp, hiking and biking trails and a viewing platform overlooking the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Ongoing construction includes a visitor center and wetlands that eventually will harbor hundreds of thousands of waterfowl on their spring and fall migrations.

In June, the Conservation Federation of Missouri said farewell to Executive Director Denny Ballard, who accepted a job with the Land Learning Foundation. The Conservation Federation hired Dave Murphy to lead the state's largest citizen conservation group. Murphy previously worked as an executive for the National Wild Turkey Federation.

In July, the Conservation Department and the Missouri Department of Highways and Transportation announced a cooperative program to beautify Missouri highways by planting native wildflowers. Besides making travel in Missouri more attractive, the project will reduce mowing expenses. Other benefits include better prevention of soil erosion and fewer problems with exotic plants.

In August, a motorist killed another mountain lion on Highway 54 near Fulton. DNA test results are still pending, but like the cat killed in Kansas City, the most recent Missouri cougar appeared to be wild and free-roaming.

August, a hot, dry month in normal years, proved especially parched in 2003. The Conservation Department invited livestock producers to pump water from Limpp Community Lake in northwest Missouri, where a three-year drought had dried up private ponds and wells.

In September, the Conservation Department released a draft of a statewide catfish management plan and invited Missourians to comment on the proposal at a series of six public meetings. The plan aims to balance demand for more fish and larger fish. It also proposes ways of helping anglers find and take advantage of existing catfishing opportunities.

October saw the start of Missouri's longest deer season with a two-day Urban Management Segment in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas. Counting a two-day Youth Segment, an 11-day regular November Segment, a 10-day Muzzleloader segment and a nine-day Antlerless-Only Segment, Missouri hunters had 34 days to pursue deer with firearms. 2003 hunting regulations also made antlerless-only permits cheaper and more available than ever. When the final harvest was tallied in December, Missourians had checked in a record 254,367 deer.

At its December meeting, the Conservation Commission approved a new rule establishing a Missouri River Shovelnose Sturgeon Commercial Harvest Permit and setting seasons and limits for the harvest of shovelnose sturgeon. It also established refuge areas where commercial take of shovelnose sturgeon is not allowed. The new regulations go into effect July 1, 2004.

Missouri anglers had a fair year. A year-end check shows a new pole-and-line record for skipjack herring. A lucky angler tied the 77-pound, 8-ounce pole-and-line record for flathead catfish, and the record for hybrid black bass was broken twice last year. In the "Alternative Methods" category, 2003 saw a new black redhorse record.

Details of these and other Missouri State Fishing Records are available online at www.conservation.state.mo.us/fish/records/. The top conservation news stories of 2003 are archived at www.conservation.state.mo.us/news/out/2003/.

- Jim Low -

LEWIS AND CLARK QUIZ

Where did the Corps of Discovery spend the winter of 1803-04?

Answer: Camp River Dubois, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Missouri River. The site is near the present-day towns of Hartford and Wood River. This area will be the scene of several Lewis & Clark bicentennial events May 13-16. For more information, visit www.lewisandclarkillinois.org/.

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