(Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo)
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| Regulation changes on 21 conservation areas will require hunters to use steel or other nontoxic shot for all shotgun hunting, starting this year. The change is designed to reduce wildlife exposure to lead shot. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
The Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance aims to enhance recreational opportunities, mentorship.
JEFFERSON CITY-Thousands of young Missourians enjoy hunting or target shooting. Many belong to shooting teams or other organizations. Soon, they may be able to find out about one another's activities and pool their resources for mutual benefit, thanks to the newly formed Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance (MYSSA).
Since its first meeting in April 2006, the MYSSA has attracted five member organizations - the Missouri 4-H Shooting Sports, the Ozarks Trails Boy Scout Council, the Junior Shooting Sports Program of the Missouri American Legion, the Missouri Youth Hunter Education Challenge and the YMCA of the Ozarks. These groups represent 19,800 shooters.
The groups will hold a Youth Shooting Summit in the near future to discuss how to achieve their goals, which include:
* Publishing a calendar to coordinate youth shooting events.
* Providing opportunities for quality coaches' training.
* Investigating liability insurance for coaches.
* Identifying shooting ranges available for youth activities.
* Identifying other resources for shooting programs.
* Organizing a Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Summit.
* Overseeing regional and state tournaments.
* Incorporating more shooting opportunities in public and private schools.
* Seeking acceptance of youth shooting programs by Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Director Jan Morris said the MYSSA does not want to change the administration of other youth shooting programs or regulate their activities. It has no membership fees or dues. "We only want to help support their programs to make them more productive," he said.
MYSSA board members include Willis Corbett, Jan Morris, Dempsey Gottschalk, Lyndle Pruett, Paul Larsen, Lou Rupp, Lynn Kilpatrick, Bob Staton, and Dave Stogsdill.
For more information, contact Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance, P.O. Box 71, Imperial, MO 63052, myssa@charter.net.
-Jim Low-
Sign up now. Registration is limited to 40.
BLAIRSTOWN, Mo. - Hunters age 9 through 15 who want to learn about turkey hunting can register for the Youth Turkey Hunting Clinic March 24.
The clinic is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation. It will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Everhart's Wilderness Lodge northwest of Clinton. The event gives youths a chance to learn from experienced turkey hunters. Participants learn about turkey hunting rules and regulations, firearms safety, shotgun choke and shot selection, calling, tracking, decoy use and equipment. There is no charge for the clinic, and lunch is provided.
Registration is limited to 40 youths. Each youth must be accompanied by an adult sponsor. Adult participants may sponsor up to two youths. Youths are encouraged to bring their shotguns.
For more information, or to register, call (660) 885-6981.
-Jim Low-
Youth and adult divisions invite amateur and professional nature photographers to share their visions of one of Missouri's rarest ecosystems.
PUXICO, Mo. - If you missed the opportunity to enter the Mingo Swamp Flora and Fauna Photography Contest last year, now is your second chance.
The 21,676-acre Mingo National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Wayne and Stoddard counties is the only substantial remnant of the cypress-tupelo swamp that once covered hundreds of thousands of acres in southeastern Missouri. Drainage and logging converted most of the low-lying Bootheel region into rich agricultural land in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mingo NWR and the Mingo Swamp Friends started the photo contest to promote public awareness of the NWR, its plants and animals. Drury Southwest , Inc., is the contest's sole financial sponsor.
The contest has two divisions, one for photographers 18 and younger and one for those 19 and older. Amateur photographers compete in five categories - Mingo landscapes, native wildlife, native plants, artistically enhanced and people in nature. All entries from professional photographers are judged as one category, regardless of subject.
Entries in the landscape, people in nature and artistically enhanced categories must have been taken on Mingo NWR. Those in the people in nature category should show activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, photography or wildlife observation. Entries in the native wildlife and plant categories are accepted if they represent natural habitats on Mingo NWR, even if they were not taken there.
Only black-and-white and color prints are accepted, no slides or electronic media. Entry fees are $5 for up to three entries and $5 for each additional entry. First place winners in each category receive $25, second place $15 and third place $5. The prize for the photo selected as best of show is $100. The runner-up receives a $50 prize.
The entry deadline is 4 p.m. July 20. For entry forms and additional contest information, call (573) 222-3589. For information about Mingo NWR, visit www.fws.gov/midwest/Mingo/.
-Jim Low-
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| Opening-day attendance at Missouri's four trout parks is expected to be modest, since March 1 falls on a Thursday. Even so, hatchery managers plan to stock approximately 24,000 trout in anticipation of 8,000 anglers showing up for the event. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
At 89, this Jayhawk still gets a charge out of Missouri trout fishing.
CASSVILLE, Mo.-If arranging your honeymoon around a favorite fishing spot and spending an average of 65 days a year there qualifies as obsessive, Jack Overman is officially obsessed. The Pittsburg, Kan., resident has spent so much time at Roaring River State Park over the past 75 years that he has been granted the honor of receiving the first permit of the 2007 fishing season there.
Overman's attachment to the park began in 1932, when his father bundled him, his brother and mother into the family's boxy, black Dodge and headed across the Kansas-Missouri state line for a fishing trip. The beauty of the Ozarks captivated him instantly.
"We were amazed at the beauty of the spring and the rush of the clear water," he recalls. "We camped, slept in the car and really roughed it. At the end, we agreed that this is where we would spend our entire two week's vacation next year."
And so they did. Over the last 76 years, he has spent as much time as possible at Roaring River. When he got married in 1945, he and his bride, Doris, honeymooned at Roaring River. A journal he began keeping in 1985 shows that he has spent an average of 65 days a year at the park. Many years he spent nearly every weekend there during the fishing season from March through October, plus extended summer vacations.
A career that long is bound to encompass a lot of change, and Overman has seen his share. When he began fishing at Roaring River, a daily fishing tag cost 25 cents, and people camped wherever they liked. The Civilian Conservation Corps transformed the undeveloped site into the showplace visitors know today, quarrying rock and hewing logs to build the first hatchery building, Trophy Fish Lake, the magnificent stone lodge and dozens of other buildings.
Roaring River's accommodations were modest in the '30s. Overman recalls renting a cabin for $1.50 a day. It was 20 by 20 feet, stood on stilts and had a hipped roof. The lower 3 feet of the walls were wood, and the upper half was screen. Rolls of canvas could be lowered for privacy or to keep out rain. Campers brought their own cots and bedding. Now people rent air-conditioned cabins and camp in luxurious, motor homes with full kitchens and televisions hooked up to satellite dish antennas.
For Overman, the most significant differences between then and now are the dramatic increase in numbers of anglers and the advances in their equipment. He isn't happy about the latter.
"Back in the '30s, open-faced and closed-face spinning reels hadn't been invented yet, so it was all fly-fishing. That was work. It took some skill. Now anyone can catch trout."
Overman has vivid recollections of learning how to use a fly rod from an old hand at the park.
"He asked me if I had a dollar bill. I said, yes, and he told me to put it under my right elbow. He reminded me that if I tried to throw the rod (instead of using his wrist only), I would lose my dollar. He said 'Keep your elbow tight against your body, and let the wrist and rod do the work.' This was really the most enjoyable time to fish the river in my 76 years, because there was nothing but fly-fishing - no grubs, plastic eggs, worms, jigs and so forth. Just flies."
Now a veteran himself, he recalls many an opening morning when he had to dip his rod in the water repeatedly to melt the ice on the line guides. Other recollections involve hot weather. Overman tricked more than one newcomer to Roaring River into jumping into the water for relief from sweltering heat.
"It was always fun to bring new people to the park, get camp set up and say, 'Come on, let's get our suits on and jump in the river.' The yells and screams were worth the trip, as we hadn't told them about the 55 degree water."
The biggest trout Overman has ever caught was a 5.5-pounder landed on a 5.5-foot bamboo fly rod and a 2-pound leader. It now hangs on his wall at home.
A friend, whom Overman taught to trout fish, inconsiderately caught a monstrous 8-pounder on his fourth or fifth outing, and "To add insult to injury, he baked it!"
The Overman's daughter and her husband, who also live in Pittsburg, Kan., have become regular visitors to Roaring River, too. Their son has lived in San Francisco since 1976, but even that distance is not enough to prevent the western branch of the family from making regular pilgrimages to their ancestral fishing haunts in Barry County
Although crowds often vie for prime fishing spots at the starting siren each morning, Overman still manages to recapture the solitude of his early experiences at Roaring River. Late in the evening, during the last hour of legal fishing, the stream stands mostly deserted. That is when he wades out into the chill water. On any given evening, you might find him there contentedly casting a royal coachman, right elbow tucked firmly against his side.
-Jim Low-
Mandatory registration of bait dealers is one important addition.
JEFFERSON CITY-Missouri hunters and anglers should familiarize themselves with changes in 2007 hunting and fishing regulations, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. This year's crop of changes range from changes in bass length limits on individual lakes and streams to new requirements for bait dealers.
Conservation agencies nationwide are struggling to control invasive, exotic plants and animals that disrupt existing natural communities, sometimes with disastrous ecological and economic results. Aquatic pests are a special concern, and one avenue of entry for pests such as exotic crayfish is bait shops. To get a better handle on bait trade, the Conservation Department will require all persons, groups or businesses that sell live fish or crayfish to register annually. Registration is free. Registration is not required to sell preserved fish or crayfish, earthworms, mealworms, crickets or wax worms. Registration forms are available online at http://mdc.mo.gov/12483, or from conservation agents.
Other regulation changes effective March 1 include:
* Snagging, snaring and grabbing no longer are allowed for catching shovelnose sturgeon.
* Anglers no longer need trout permits to fish in Stone Mill Spring Branch in Pulaski County, unless they want to keep a trout.
* Bighead and silver carp may be used as cut bait, but not live bait.
* Winter catch-and-release fishing at Missouri's three state-owned trout parks will expand to four days, from Friday through Monday from the second Friday in November through the second Monday in February. Maramec Spring Park will be open daily during this season.
* Illinois commercial fishermen must be licensed in Missouri to fish and harvest shovelnose sturgeon in the Missouri portion of the Mississippi River adjacent to Illinois.
* In the Mississippi River, only shovelnose sturgeon 24 inches to 32 inches long may be taken by commercial fishing methods.
* The atlatl, a historic hunting tool, may be used to take small game and to take nongame fish under the same regulations as when gigging fish. Darts used with atlatls may not contain drugs, poison, chemicals or explosives.
* Hunters age 6 to 15 will have their own seasons for quail and pheasant Oct. 27 and 28. The youth pheasant season will be open only in the north zone.
* Electronic and electronically activated calls may be used or possessed only when hunting crows and furbearers.
* Furbearer seasons will be 15 days shorter.
* Bobcat pelts must be tagged by Feb. 15.
* The price of the Resident Cable Restraint Permit will decrease from $25 to $10.
* Commercially manufactured breakaways used with cable restraints must be rated at 350 pounds.
* A new $5 Resident National Guard and Reserve Small Game Hunting and Fishing Permit will be available to recognize Missouri service men and women. To qualify, purchasers must be, or must have been in the previous 12 months, mobilized and serving on full-time active military duty in the National Guard (in federal status) or Reserves. The application is available at http://mdc.mo.gov/9213, or by calling (573) 522-4115, ext. 3574.
* The surcharge for residents of states that charge significantly more for nonresident deer permits than Missouri does has been eliminated. However, the cost of nonresident permits has increased.
* To encourage recreational use of the Missouri River, boaters may camp at most riverside conservation areas on any suitable site within 100 yards of the river outside the navigation channel from April 1 through Sept. 30.
* Class I and Class II wildlife breeders must maintain records of animals that have died, as well as ones that have been sold.
* Hogs on big-game hunting preserves must be enclosed in fences made of 12-gauge woven wire at least 5 feet tall and topped with one strand of electrified wire. An additional 2 feet of such fencing must be buried and angled underground toward the enclosure interior.
* Fences on big-game hunting preserves may not be cross-fenced into portions of less than 320 acres.
For full details of these and other regulation changes, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/13249.
-Jim Low-
JEFFERSON CITY- The Missouri Conservation Commission will hold its next meeting March 15 and 16 at The Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake of the Ozarks.
The Commission will meet in closed session March 15. It will meet in open session at 8:30 a.m. March 16.
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 March 1.
People requiring special services or accommodations to attend Conservation Commission meetings can make arrangements by writing to the same address, or by phone at (573) 751-4115.
Commissioners are: Stephen Bradford, Cape Girardeau, chairman; William F. "Chip" McGeehan, Marshfield, vice-chairman; Cynthia Metcalfe, St. Louis, secretary; Lowell Mohler, Jefferson City, member.
-Jim Low-
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| The Conservation Department needs help assessing the condition of trails on its lands where January ice storms downed trees. The agency's Adopt-A-Trail Program offers a way to get involved in this work. For more information, contact program coordinator Teresa Kight, (573) 522-4115, ext. 3636, Teresa. Kight@mdc.mo.gov. (Photo courtesy of Bernie Arnold) |
Plans include informational workshops and a field trip.
ST. LOUIS-Missourians with an interest in the history, ecology or economic development of the Missouri-Mississippi river confluence can join other people, government agencies, businesses and nonprofit groups to discuss river issues at a conference titled "Meeting of the Waters: Cooperative Conservation, Recreation and Economic Development in the St. Louis Region."
The symposium May 9 through 11 will bring together diverse interests to share information, discuss issues and see the confluence during a field trip.
Fifteen multiple-track workshops will cover water quality issues, flood and flood plains topics, community planning, parks and trails, education, river culture and policy and the proposed Lewis and Clark Water Trail.
For more information, contact Mattie Lewis, University of Missouri-St. Louis Continuing Education, (314) 516-5655, mattieh@umsl.edu, or visit www.umsl.edu/meetingofthewaters.
-Jim Low-
Training will take place at multiple sites simultaneously via live video conference.
JEFFERSON CITY-Missourians who want to learn about wildlife biology and management can fulfill that ambition through eight 2.5-hour "Missouri Master Wildlifer" training sessions offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation, the University of Missouri Extension and the Missouri University School of Natural Resources.
Master Wildlifer is designed for landowners and wildlife enthusiasts who want to learn how to manage wildlife in forests, grasslands and farms. The eight-session course provides information on the biology, life history and habitat of a variety of wild animals, with an emphasis on species that provide recreational opportunities.
The course is conducted live through videoconferencing at 10 locations around the state. Sessions will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on consecutive Tuesdays and Thursdays between Feb. 27 and March 22. Further information is available from Bob Pierce, (573) 882-4337, piercer@missouri.edu, or Matt Seek, (573) 751-4115, Matt.Seek@mdc.mo.gov.
-Jim Low-
Prices for resident permits remain unchanged.
JEFFERSON CITY-Nonresidents will pay more for some Missouri hunting and fishing permits. Meanwhile, the price of one resident permit will decrease.
The surcharge that hunters from some states used to pay for deer permits has been eliminated for the 2007-08 permit year. However, the price of the following permits will increase.
* Nonresident small game permits will increase from $65 to $75.
* Nonresident firearms any-deer permits will increase from $145 to $175.
* Nonresident managed deer permits will increase from $145 to $175.
* Nonresident archer's permits will increase from $120 to $150.
* Nonresident spring turkey permits will increase from $145 to $175.
* Nonresident fall firearms turkey permits will increase from $95 to $105.
* Nonresident furbearer hunting and trapping permits will increase from $80 to $120.
* Nonresident annual fishing permits will increase from $35 to $40.
* Daily fishing permits (sold to residents and nonresidents) will increase from $5.50 to $7.
The prices of daily small-game hunting permits and nonresident firearms and archery antlerless deer permits will not change. The price of resident cable restraint permits will decrease from $25 to $10. The price of nonresident landowner deer and turkey permits will not change.
-Jim Low-
Sign up now to learn everything you need to know to pursue wily gobblers.
JEFFERSON CITY-Women who want to learn about turkey hunting have a chance to learn from experts at a two-day clinic sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The clinic will be held March 10 and April 28 at Duck Creek Conservation Area near Puxico as part of the Conservation Department's Missouri's Outdoors Women series. It is designed for beginners and will consist of a day of training on the first date and a guided hunt on the second. The training will include classroom and outdoor, hands-on training with firearms.
Subjects to be covered include the history and biology of the eastern wild turkey, hunting safety, equipment and techniques and shotgun shooting.
Applications are due by Feb. 23. Applicants must be at least 16 and will be required to purchase turkey hunting permits, which will be available at the clinic site on March 10. Those born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must complete a hunter education course and display their certification to purchase permits. Registrants will pay a $25 reservation fee that will be returned at the events.
For registration forms and additional information, contact Missouri's Outdoor Women, Turkey Hunting Clinic, Missouri Department of Conservation, 2302 County Park Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 or contact Mic Plunkett, (573) 495-2737, Mic.Plunkett@mdc.mo.gov.
-Jim Low-
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| Late January storms made a mess of thousands of trees. Many of those trees can still be useful, however, for everything from firewood to furniture. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
The Conservation Department and Forest ReLeaf offer help replacing trees on public land.
JEFFERSON CITY-After a devastating storm, communities face dozens of challenges. Human needs come first, but when governments get around to picking up the pieces of urban forests, the Missouri Department of Conservation and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri have programs to help.
The Conservation Department's Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) program is designed to help communities create and manage trees that make cities healthy, pleasant places to live. Grants through the program can help pay for tree inventory, removal or pruning of hazardous trees, tree planting and training of volunteers and public employees in tree care.
Applicants submit information about project cost and funding, site maps and drawings, management plans and a letter of approval from the governmental body that owns the proposed project site. The application deadline is June 1.
Grants are awarded competitively. A panel of judges assesses each proposal for value to the community, thoroughness of the tree management program, economic feasibility and the applicant's ability to promote, improve and develop a community urban forest.
Grant recipients receive up to 60 percent of total project funding. Communities with the National Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City USA designation are eligible for an additional 15 percent cost-share.
To receive a TRIM grant application and workbook, write to Community Forestry Coordinator, Forestry Division, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.
Forest ReLeaf, is the Missouri branch of Global ReLeaf - an international project of American Forests to combat global warming through tree planting. The not-for-profit organization empowers volunteers to plant and care for trees and forests, particularly those in cities and towns.
Forest ReLeaf provides trees and presents educational programs to promote stewardship of trees and forests.
One of Forest ReLeaf's programs, Project ReLeaf, offers reduced-cost trees each spring and fall for planting on public or not-for-profit property. Since 1994, it has distributed more than 28,000 balled and burlapped, 5- to 10-foot-tall trees from its nursery in Creve Coeur Park in Maryland Heights. The trees are ideal for parks or city streets.
Forest ReLeaf publishes catalogs listing available tree species, sizes, and prices in January and August. Ordering deadlines are in February and September. For more information, contact Scott Wagner, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, 4207 Lindell, Suite 301, St. Louis, MO 63108, phone (888) 473-5323. Or visit www.moreleaf.org.
-Jim Low-
With this calendar on your wall, you won't forget seasonal steps to better bobwhite habitat.
JEFFERSON CITY-One challenge for busy landowners who want to increase quail and other grassland wildlife is keeping track of seasonal management needs. When do chicks hatch? When do you burn, plant, spray and disk? Now, answers to those and many other questions about grassland wildlife management are as easy to find as looking at the calendar.
"Your Key to Quail Habitat" is a 32-page wall calendar with daily notes to help landowners meet their wildlife management goals. It notes key events, such as the start of quail nesting season, average dates of first and second brood hatches and other important milestones in the bobwhite quail's year.
Also included are reminders about the best times for management activities, such as planting food plots, and the last day for managing fields enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. The calendar has tips for easy quail habitat creation, ranging from placing old Christmas trees near existing brush piles in January to sowing wildflower seeds atop newly fallen snow in December.
Wildlife illustrations by Conservation Department artists David Besenger, Mark Raithel and Charles Schwartz accompany each monthly page. The calendar also devotes pages to special topics that include sericea lespedeza eradication, aging quail by examining their wings and a list of biologists who can provide technical advice and material assistance to landowners.
Although the calendar focuses on quail, the activities outlined in it benefit all sorts of wildlife, from colorful songbirds to box turtles.
To receive a free copy of the calendar, call the nearest Conservation Department or Natural Resources Conservation Service office and ask to speak to a private land conservationist.
-Jim Low-
Fishing gear and art supplies are among the prizes. State winners advance to a national competition, where two Missourians placed last year.
JEFFERSON CITY-Artists in grades four through 12 have until March 31 to enter the 2007 State Fish Art Contest. This year's competition offers more freedom than ever before.
In the past, entries had to depict the state fish of the artist's home state. This year, depictions of any state's officially designated fish are allowed. The only other requirement is that fish be shown in their natural habitats.
Information about state fish is available at the State Fish Art Contest Web site, www.statefishart.com. Full contest details and entry forms are available at the same site.
Three winners will be selected from each state in grade groups 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12, for a total of 150 winners nationwide. Prizes will include fishing equipment and art supplies. State winners advance to the national competition.
Missouri's state fish is the channel catfish. Last year, two Missouri youths placed in the national contest. Sisters Brie and Tiara Jenkins of Pittsburg won Best of Show in their grade levels at the state competition. Brie won first place nationally in 7th through 9th grades, and Tiara won second in 10th through 12th grades. Tiara's winning artwork is on the current Art of Conservation commemorative stamp sheet.
The entry deadline for the 2007 contest is March 31. For more information about the contest, visit www.statefishart.com or contact Brett Richardson, brichardson@wildlifeforever.org, (763) 253-0222.
-Jim Low-
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