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| The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Nature Shop has nature-related holiday gifts, ranging from DVDs and audio CDs to calendars and field guides, for every age. To see the full selection, visit www.mdcnatureshop.com. You also can purchase gift items at Conservation Nature Centers and Conservation Department field offices. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Ideas gathered at these meetings will help the Conservation Department develop hunting regulations that have popular support.
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to know what Missourians think about deer management. To find out, the agency has scheduled 16 public forums in January and February.
--Springfield, Jan. 8 at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, White River Room, 1935 S. Campbell Ave.
--Joplin, Jan. 9 at Wildcat Glades Audubon Conservation Nature Center, 201 W. Riviera Road
--St. Joseph, Jan. 10 at Missouri Western State University, Potter Theater, 4525 Downs Drive
--Chillicothe, Jan. 11 at Chillicothe High School, Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center, 2801 Hornet Road
--Kirksville, Jan. 14 at Days Inn, Highway 63 & Route 6
--Hannibal, Jan. 15 at Quality Inn, 120 Lindsey Drive
--Union, Jan. 22 at East Central Community College, 1964 Prairie Dell Road
--St. Louis, Jan. 23 at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, 11715 Cragwold Road, Kirkwood
--Poplar Bluff, Jan. 17 at Three Rivers Community College, Tinnin Fine Arts Center, 2080 Three Rivers Blvd.
--Perryville, Jan. 24 at Perry Park Center, 800 City Park Drive
--Waynesville, Jan. 28 at Waynesville Middle School, Parker Fine Arts Building, 1001 Historic 66 West
--West Plains, Feb. 11 at the West Plains Civic Center, 110 St. Louis St.
--Marshall, Feb. 4 at Marshall High School Little Theater, 805 S. Miami Ave.
--Linn, Feb. 7 at St. Georges Church, 611 E. Main St.
--Kansas City, Feb. 5 at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center, 1401 NW Park Road, Blue Springs
--Sedalia, Feb. 6 at State Fair Community College Public Meeting Room, 3201 W. 16th St.
More information about the meetings is available by calling the nearest Conservation Department office or visiting www.mdc.mo.gov/16184.
Missouri’s deer herd is estimated at 1 to 1.5 million. It supports an annual harvest of nearly 300,000. Conservation Department Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen said the agency has put hunting regulations in place over the past few years to allow landowners to manage deer numbers on their land. He said one goal of the state’s deer-management program is to ensure that deer hunting opportunities meet hunters’ expectations for quality and quantity. Another important goal is to prevent the number of deer-vehicle accidents and deer damage to crops and other property from reaching unacceptable levels.
To ensure that it can meet these goals in the future, the Conservation Department continually considers and tests hunting regulation changes that enable it to regulate the number of does - female deer - taken by hunters each year.
“Doe harvest is the key to controlling deer numbers,” said Hansen. “It takes only a small number of bucks to mate with female deer and keep a population growing. Taking does out of the population is the only effective way to prevent a herd from growing or reduce its size when necessary.”
Hansen and other state officials are concerned by demographic trends among deer hunters. As a group, they are aging. As baby boomers drop out of the deer hunting population, the number of deer harvested can be expected to decrease. Deer harvest data also show that older hunters are less likely than younger ones to shoot deer, leading Hansen to expect further declines in deer harvest. To offset these trends, the Conservation Department is looking for ways to change the deer herd’s population dynamics. The most effective way to do that is to increase the doe harvest.
For the past four years, the Conservation Department has been testing a regulation designed to increase the percentage of does in the harvest each year. The goal is to develop a method of shifting the sex ratio of the deer herd permanently toward a decreased percentage of does. Then, if the deer harvest declines in future years, they will still be able to keep deer numbers in check.
The regulation currently being tested prohibits hunters in 29 counties from shooting bucks that do not have at least four 1-inch points on one side of their antlers. The idea is to force hunters in the test area to pass up shots at some antlered deer and increase the odds that they will see and shoot antlerless deer, most of which are female.
“The regulation has not shifted as much harvest pressure onto does as we had hoped,” said Hansen. “It has increased the doe harvest a little in some counties, and it is having the secondary effect of producing more large-antlered deer in the pilot area. A lot of hunters are very happy about that. In fact, a lot of hunters in other areas say they would like to see the four-point rule in their areas. But we need to keep fine-tuning our regulations to ensure that hunting remains an effective deer-management tool.”
Whether to continue or expand the four-point rule is one of several questions the Conservation Department wants Missourians to answer in the upcoming public meetings. The agency also is considering shifting some of the five deer hunting segments - youth, urban, November firearms, muzzleloader and antlerless - to other times in the fall. Again, the goal would be to increase doe harvest and meet growing hunter interest in managing for older bucks.
“We are considering moving the antlerless portion of the firearms deer season into October,” said Hansen, “setting the opening of the November portion on the weekend before Thanksgiving and moving the muzzleloader portion to late December.”
He said these changes could increase the number of deer taken by hunters before the rut, when many deer-vehicle accidents occur. It also could allow more breeding to occur before large numbers of bucks are harvested. That would allow big bucks to pass on their traits to the next generation of deer before they were removed from the gene pool.
“These changes provide benefits for all deer hunting groups,” said Hansen. “Firearms hunters would still get to hunt the rut and would have the Thanksgiving holidays to hunt. Many could hunt deer in October, when weather is milder. Archers would get an extra week of hunting in mid-November, and muzzleloader hunters would have a better opportunity because deer would have time to settle down after the November portion.”
Hansen said presenting season timing options during public meetings will help the Conservation Department gauge public support or opposition. If implemented, the changes would not go into effect until 2009 to give hunters enough advance notice to set vacations.
“The final decision about changes to deer hunting regulations will be made by the Conservation Commission based on citizen preferences and scientific data,” said Hansen. “We consider these meetings an extremely important part of the process. No hunting regulation can succeed unless it has widespread popular support, so we need to find out what people will support and what they won’t.”
Deer management background information to be presented at the meetings will be available at www.missouriconservation.org in early December. Missourians can express their thoughts about deer management in writing by sending mail to Missouri Department of Conservation, “Deer Management,” Resource Science Division, 1110 S. College Ave., Columbia, MO 65201.
The Conservation Department last held public meetings on deer management in 2003.
-Jim Low-
A tip from an Oklahoma wildlife officer enabled Missouri conservation agents to intercept the illegal interstate shipment.
JOPLIN, Mo.-Cooperation with Oklahoma wildlife officials allowed Missouri conservation agents to intercept an uncertified interstate shipment of elk. Quick action safeguarded the health of Missouri’s wildlife and domestic livestock, according to Conservation Agent Travis McLain.
McLain said the shipment came to Missouri officials’ attention Sept. 26, when an Oklahoma wildlife officer called Conservation Agent Adam Bracken. Getting McLain in on a conference call, the Oklahoma officer informed the two conservation agents that he had just stopped three stock trailers headed for a game farm in Missouri. The trailers contained five adult bull elk, three young elk bulls and two elk cows. The men transporting the elk had no documentation indicating that the animals came from a facility that monitors for animal health concerns.
Bracken was waiting at the Missouri-Oklahoma border to intercept the trailers. When he stopped them, one of the drivers said the animals were part of a shipment of 32 elk to be delivered to a big game farm near Ridgeley, Mo., in Barry County. He said he believed that he did not need certification for transportation, because they were slated to be shot by clients who would pay to do so, in what are commonly called “canned hunts.”
Bracken and McLain instructed the men transporting the elk not to release them. The next day the Missouri and Oklahoma departments of agriculture looked into the matter and learned that the shippers did not have the required import permits or health papers.
Based on this information, Missouri agriculture officials would not allow the elk to remain in Missouri. Oklahoma officials would not permit them to return to Oklahoma. The elk’s owners decided to slaughter the elk.
Greg Baker, 41, of Springdale, Ark., was the driver of one of the trucks bringing the elk to Missouri. He also is the permit holder for Hidden Spring Big Game Farm, the facility where the animals were headed. McLain issued Baker a citation for illegally importing wildlife into Missouri. Baker pleaded guilty in Barry County and paid a fine. Federal officials also are looking into the matter.
Transporting wildlife or livestock across state borders without documentation is unlawful and has serious implications for wildlife and animal agriculture. Moving elk or deer between states without first checking their health creates the potential for spreading diseases.
If you have questions about transporting wildlife across state lines, contact the nearest conservation agent or Conservation Department office.
-Jim Low-
Fewer deer harvested this year means more for hunters next year.
JEFFERSON CITY-Hunters did not shoot a record number of deer during the November portion of Missouri’s Firearms Deer Season, but they set a record for the fewest firearms-related hunting accidents.
Hunters checked 214,494 deer during the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season Nov. 10 through 20. That is down 20,915, or 9 percent from last year’s figure of 235,409, which was a record. This year’s total is the fourth-largest for Missouri’s November firearms deer hunt.
The Missouri Department of Conservation recorded three firearms-related hunting accidents during the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season. None was fatal. That is the fewest accidents reported since the Conservation Department began keeping records in 1963.
The previous record for fewest firearms-related hunting accidents was in 2004, when only four were recorded. The most was in 1986, when 25 people were injured and one died in firearms-related deer hunting accidents. Last year’s tally was 10 nonfatal accidents and two fatalities.
Lonnie Hansen is the Conservation Department’s deer-management expert. Before the opening of the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season, he noted that an April freeze had made acorns relatively scarce this year. That, he said, could contribute to a large - perhaps even record - deer harvest.
When the harvest on opening weekend came in nearly 24,000 under the 2006 figure, he noted that weather had been unseasonably warm and often windy. Warm weather makes deer - especially does - less inclined to move around and less visible to hunters. Wind further complicates hunting by making the sounds of deer that are moving around harder to hear.
Another factor that Hansen pointed out is the abundance of deer-hunting opportunities Missourians enjoy today. Thirty years ago, deer season lasted just seven days. Then what we now know as the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season was expanded to nine days, spanning two weekends. Today it runs for 11 days.
At the same time, the Conservation Department has added four new segments to the season to provide added hunting opportunity and keep a lid on deer numbers. Hunters in some counties around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia get to hunt antlerless deer for four days in October. Hunters under age 16 get two days of their own around the end of October or the first of November. Those who hunt with muzzle-loading firearms get 10 days to hunt right after Thanksgiving, and most of the state’s counties are open to antlerless deer hunting for another nine days in December.
With so many days afield to enjoy, it is no wonder that some hunters choose to delay shooting a deer, hoping for cooler weather - perhaps even a dusting of snow - to make the experience more enjoyable.
Nothing works quite as well as hindsight to determine the overall effect of this welter of offsetting factors.
“It comes down to this,” said Hansen. “Our deer herd is healthy and fairly stable throughout most of the state. With our deer population at a plateau, we are going to see some years when the harvest is up and some when it’s down, but every year’s harvest is gong to be around a certain number.”
Judging from recent years’ harvest totals, the “certain number” for the November firearms deer harvest is a little more than 200,000. Figures for the last eight years have been:
--2000, 201,165
--2001, 205,867
--2002, 217,435
--2003, 207,516
--2004, 222,329
--2005, 205,460
--2006, 235,409
--2007, 214,475
With more than two weeks worth of firearms deer hunting ahead, Missouri hunters have plenty of time to boost the total statewide harvest. In each of the past three years, hunters checked between 45,000 and 53,000 deer during the Muzzleloader and Antlerless portions of Firearms Deer Season.
Top counties for the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season were Texas, with 4,043 deer checked, Callaway, with 4,041 and Oregon with 3,994.
-Jim Low-
Seeing and doing outdoors increases learning.
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Department of Conservation has a way for teachers to enrich learning without busting school budgets. The Field Trip Grant Program gets students into places where subjects like biology come to life.
The agency is accepting applications for more than $100,000 in grants for transportation to off-site learning opportunities. Educators in all Missouri elementary and secondary schools-including public, private, parochial and home schools-may apply for grants under the program.
The Conservation Department reimburses travel expenses of up to $700 per application, with a $1,400 annual limit per group or school. To be eligible, field trips must take place after award notification and before May 21, 2008. Trips cannot exceed 100 miles one way, and they must take students to fish-, wildlife- or habitat-related sites in Missouri. Field trips also have to address specific goals connected to classroom instruction. The per-student cost of transportation cannot exceed $7 per student, and at least 20 students must participate.
Field trip grants provide reimbursement for actual travel expenses. Schools that receive grant approval submit transportation receipts and narratives describing the trip accomplishments and benefits. Documentation must be received by the Conservation Department within 15 business days after the field trip is taken or by June 2, 2008, whichever is earlier.
Field trip sites eligible for grants include, but are not limited to:
--Conservation Department nature centers and interpretive centers.
--Conservation Department shooting ranges or outdoor education centers.
--Conservation areas or natural areas.
--Fish hatcheries
--State parks.
--National wildlife refuges or national forests.
--City or county parks.
--Sites that contribute to the understanding of fish, wildlife and habitat.
So far this school year, 130 schools have been approved for field trip funding totaling $46,324. Nearly 12,067 students already are scheduled to take field trips under the program this school year. Remaining funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Further information is available online at www.mdc.mo.gov/teacher/, or by contacting Nichole Baumhoer, Nichole.Baumhoer@mdc.mo.gov, 573/522-4115 ext. 3807.
-Jim Low-
The Conservation Department’s offering of tree and shrub seedlings is diverse, in spite of the loss of hundreds of thousands of plants to last spring’s freak freeze.
LICKING, Mo.-Jack pine, Norway spruce, pecan, paw-paw and witch hazel seedlings are among offerings from the George O. White State Forest Nursery for 2008. Landowners who order now will increase their chances of getting what they want in the wake of a damaging freeze.
The Missouri Department of Conservation’s 748-acre nursery near Licking produces millions of tree and shrub seedlings each year to help Missourians make their land more productive for wildlife. This year the nursery suffered severe losses due to a freak freeze in early April. Nursery Supervisor Greg Hoss said the losses significantly reduced the supply of tree and shrub seedlings available this year.
“We lost several hundred thousand plants,” said Hoss. “The good news is that we had a good growing season after that, and many of the seedlings that survived are larger than usual.”
In spite of losses, the state forest nursery’s offerings remain diverse, ranging from seven kinds of pine trees to pecans, redbuds, wild plums and a new selection - paw-paw seedlings. In all, Missourians can choose from 60 species ranging from majestic oaks to elderberry and buckbrush.
Plants come in bundles of 25 seedlings for $3 to $24, depending on species. A $5 shipping and handling charge is added to each order, plus 5.725 percent sales tax, unless the order is accompanied by a tax-exemption certificate.
The state forest nursery also sells bundles with plant assortments for specific purposes. These sell for $13 to $24. Special bundles include:
--The Conservation Bundle, with five seedlings of each of six species for $13
--The Wildlife Cover Bundle, with 10 seedlings of each of five species for $16
--The Extra-Large Nut Tree Bundle, with 15 large seedlings each of pecan and black walnut for $15
--The Quail Cover Bundle, with 15 seedlings of each of five species for $24
--The Pecan Variety Bundle, with 10 seedlings each of Mullahy, Posey and Colby varieties and five of Peruque variety for $21
The nursery is now accepting orders. A full list of trees and shrubs available through the state forest nursery is available at www.mdc.mo.gov/forest/nursery. Or, you can call 573/674-3229 and request a catalog by mail.
Missouri Conservation Heritage Card holders can receive a 15 percent discount up to $20 off their seedling purchases. To receive the discount, write your card number on the order form. The Heritage Card discount does not apply to handling charges and sales tax.
The Heritage Card can be purchased for $2 wherever hunting and fishing permits are sold. The card, similar in appearance to a credit card, makes applying for permits easier by storing registration information on a magnetic strip. The card also allows the owner to receive a 15 percent discount on selected retail merchandise sold at Conservation Department facilities. To order a Heritage Card by phone, call 800-392-4115.
-Jim Low-
Stunning photography and nature insights make every day memorable.
JEFFERSON CITY-Barrens, balds and glades are featured prominently in next year’s Natural Events Calendar from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
As usual, the calendar features dozens of stunning color photographs of everything from grand prairie landscapes to intimate looks at king rails and collared lizards. Daily natural events entries offer insights about the botanical and zoological events that make every day of the natural year memorable.
The 2008 calendar has a special section about barrens, balds and glades, some of the Show-Me State’s least-visited and most beautiful natural communities. Other features include monthly tips for gardening with native plants and a guide to blooming times for dozens of wildflowers.
The calendar is available for $5.00 plus shipping and handling, and sales tax, where applicable. To order, call toll free 877/521-8632, visit www.mdcnatureshop.com, or mail to MDC Nature Shop, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102. You can also purchase the calendar at MDC Nature Shops located at most field offices and nature centers.
-Jim Low-
Warm weather helped keep the opening weekend harvest well short of a record.
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| Warm, windy weather kept the harvest total for opening weekend of the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season below last year’s level. Hunters still managed to check more than 100,000 deer in two days, however. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Devastating forest pests can hitch rides in firewood or camping equipment.
JEFFERSON CITY-Nothing is more appealing than a campfire on a chilly autumn night. However, the Missouri Department of Conservation reminds outdoors people that firewood from other states can harbor potentially devastating forest pests.
Two leading threats to Show-Me State trees are the gypsy moth and the emerald ash borer. These pests often hitch rides into new areas on firewood or camping equipment.
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a metallic-green, bullet-shaped beetle that grows up to a half-inch long. Its larvae live beneath the bark of green ash and white ash trees, eating the tender inner bark that carries water and nutrients throughout the tree. This kills trees. No ash trees have been found to be resistant to the emerald ash borer, so the pest could virtually eliminate ash trees from North America, just as the chestnut blight killed nearly all chestnut trees early in the 20th century.
This is especially bad news for cities where ash trees have been planted as shade trees for decades. The potential cost of removing and replacing tens of thousands of trees in communities around the state is mind-boggling. The borer also could significantly reduce the diversity of forests in Missouri’s wild lands, making them more susceptible to other threats.
The emerald ash borer is not native to the United States. It was discovered near Detroit in 2002. Experts say it probably hitched a ride there in wooden packing material from Asia. The pest has decimated ash tree populations in southern Michigan. From this base, it has spread to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.
The gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) also is an imported pest. It has been in the United States since the 19th century, when it was brought here in an attempt to develop a new strain of silk worm. The species escaped and has been wreaking havoc on North American forests ever since.
Unlike the emerald ash borer, the gypsy moth has more general tastes. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of a variety of trees, but it is especially fond of oaks, which make up a huge portion of the trees in Missouri forests. Severe infestations of the voracious caterpillars can defoliate large tracts of forest. The possible effects on fish, wildlife and nature-based tourism are as daunting as those of the emerald ash borer.
The main way that emerald ash borers get introduced into new areas is through firewood or nursery stock. Nursery owners and agriculture officials know about the threat the borer poses and check shipments of planting stock for the pest. Hunters and campers can help ensure the health of the forests they love by taking similar precautions with firewood.
To ensure that you don’t bring emerald ash borers into Missouri, don’t bring firewood home from other states. Out-of-state travelers should leave firewood behind. If you accidentally bring firewood into Missouri, burn it immediately.
Some other beetles found in Missouri are metallic green, and ash trees can suffer from many other conditions that cause them to die. However, emerald ash borer larvae leave certain unique signs. They create S-shaped trails under the bark, and they leave D-shaped holes up to three-sixteenths inch in diameter when they tunnel out through the bark. Other wood-boring insects leave oval or round holes of various sizes. For more information about the emerald ash borer, visit
www.emeraldashborer.info/.
Firewood can spread gypsy moths, too. However, any object that spends time in an area with gypsy moths can harbor gypsy moth eggs. Camping equipment and travel trailers are common carriers. Gypsy moth egg masses are flat, velvety brown masses three-quarters to 1.5 inches across.
States with known gypsy moth infestations include Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and most states in the northeastern United States. Travelers returning from these areas should inspect all items that have been outdoors for gypsy moth eggs. Any egg masses that are found should be scraped off before returning to Missouri.
Missourians who find signs of emerald ash borers or gypsy moths should contact the nearest Conservation Department office.
-Jim Low-
JEFFERSON CITY- The Missouri Conservation Commission will hold its next meeting Dec. 13 and 14 at the Conservation Department’s Central Office, 2901 W. Truman Blvd., Jefferson City.
The Commission will meet in closed session Dec. 13 and in open session at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 14. 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 Nov. 29.
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: William F. “Chip” McGeehan, Marshfield, chairman; Lowell Mohler, Jefferson City, vice-chairman; Don R. Johnson, Festus, member, and Becky L. Plattner, Grand Pass, member.
-Jim Low-
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| Hunters age 15 and younger can get free certificates commemorating their first deer or turkey kill. The Missouri Department of Conservation will even incorporate their photos into the certificates and return the photos. You can download an application at www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/index.htm or www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/turkey/index.htm, or contact First Deer/Turkey Certificate, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180, phone 573/522-4115, ext. 3293. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
This year’s harvest decrease is part of a long-term decline in the popularity of fall turkey hunting.
JEFFERSON CITY-Hunters checked 10,857 turkeys during Missouri’s 2007 fall firearms turkey season, the lowest number in more than 20 years.
This was the third year that Missouri’s fall firearms turkey hunt spanned the entire month of October. The harvest fell 1,070 or 9 percent short of last year’s.
Top harvest counties were Laclede with 252 turkeys checked, Franklin with 247 and Wright with 224. The Missouri Department of Conservation recorded one firearms-related fall turkey hunting accident.
Unregulated hunting nearly wiped out wild turkeys in Missouri by the 1930s. Missouri citizens put their foot down in 1936, when they voted to amend the state constitution and give sole authority for game management to a four-person Conservation Commission. Well-enforced, science-based game laws were among the citizen commission’s first priorities.
Also high on the new Co nservation Department to-do list was restoration of game animals. The agency brought back the wild turkey by trapping birds in isolated pockets where they had survived and releasing them in areas where citizens promised to protect them from poaching. By 1960 the flock had grown large enough to sustain a spring hunt in some areas. The first fall hunt came in 1978.
Participation in the spring and fall seasons grew as the state’s turkey flock burgeoned. However, interest in fall hunting reached a plateau in the late 1980s and then began to wane. The fall turkey harvest peaked in 1987, when hunters harvested 28,139 turkeys in two weeks of hunting. Sales of fall turkey permits also peaked that year, at 52,922. Hunters killed approximately one bird for every two permits sold that year. This 50-percent success rate is slightly inflated, since an undetermined number of landowners hunted legally on their property without permits.
Resident and nonresident fall turkey hunting permit sales totaled a little more than 20,000 this year. Hunters had a full month to pursue turkeys with guns. The success rate, again not counting those who hunted with free landowner permits, was about 58 percent.
The novelty of fall turkey hunting boosted the season’s early popularity. The newness gradually wore off, however, and liberalization of other October hunting seasons lured hunters into other pursuits. Fall firearms turkey hunting permit sales have declined by 62 percent since 1987.
-Jim Low-
Mark your calendar for one of these events near you.
MOUND CITY, Mo.-For many, seeing an eagle is a once-in-a-lifetime event. In Missouri, it is an annual occurrence, and you can see dozens, sometimes hundreds in one place. The Missouri Department of Conservation makes it easy.
Each year, the agency partners with organizations ranging from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Springfield’s Dickerson Park Zoo and the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park to give Missourians an intimate look at the national symbol. This year’s circuit includes seven events.
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Holt County will host the first Eagle Days event from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Dec. 1 and 2. Call (816) 271-3100 for details.
Smithville Lake and Lake of the Ozarks are next on the schedule, with concurrent events Jan. 5 and 6.
The Smithville Lake event will take place at the Little Platte Park Course Complex from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 5 and from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 6. Call (816) 532-0174 for details.
At Lake of the Ozarks, eagle watchers will gather at the Osage National Golf Clubhouse, Wilmore Lodge and Bagnell Dam Access 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 5 and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 6. Call (573) 526-5544 for details.
Next on the calendar are concurrent events Jan. 19 and 20 in St. Louis and Springfield.
The St. Louis event is from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. both days at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge off Riverview Drive south of I-270. Call (314) 877-1309 for details.
Eagle watchers will gather at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 19 and from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 20. Call (417) 888-4237 for details.
Clarksville will host an Eagle Days event from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Jan. 26 and from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Apple Shed Theater on the Missouri side of the Corps of Engineers’ Lock and Dam 24 and at Ted Shanks Conservation Area (CA) north of Bowling Green. Call (660) 785-2420 for details.
Schell-Osage CA near Schell City will host the final Eagle Days event of the season from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Feb. 2. Call (417) 876-5226 for details.
Eagles’ migratory habits make the events possible. Each year the birds come south as far as necessary to find open water and their prey of choice - fish and waterfowl. Some come to Missouri from as far north as Alaska. When conditions are right, Missouri is home to thousands of bald eagles and a handful of golden eagles. The y concentrate around large bodies of water and big rivers.
To make eagle viewing as easy as possible, the Conservation Department sets up scopes at strategic locations. Nearby buildings allow visitors to warm up between eagle-watching stints. While indoors, they can attend programs featuring live eagles.
-Jim Low-
The crash of an F-15 fighter jet in Dent County prompted the closure.
SALEM, Mo.-Deer hunters headed to the Ozarks for Missouri’s firearms deer season need to know that the Mark Twain National Forest has closed an 11-square-mile area in Dent, Iron and Reynolds counties.
The USDA Forest Service closed the area 20 miles east of Salem in response to the crash of a fighter jet in the area Nov. 2. The closure is expected to remain in effect for 45 days, while state military and federal officials investigate the crash near the Iron and Reynolds county lines.
The Missouri Air National Guard F-15-C Eagle crashed in an area south of the community of Boss. Acting Mark Twain National Forest Supervisor Paul Strong issued Closure Order 05-20 Nov. 5. Until the order is lifted, only local, state and federal officers or emergency personnel in performance of their duties will be allowed onto National Forest land in the area. Private lands are not affected by the closure order.
The November Portion of Firearms Deer Season opens Nov. 10.
“We know that this will affect some hunters’ plans,” said Salem District Ranger Thom Haines. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this will cause them.”
More information is available at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/publications/regulations/mt_regs/ or by calling Forest Service Public Information Officer Bill Paxton, (573) 429-5193. For general information about the Mark Twain National Forest, visit www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain.
-Jim Low-
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| The discovery of zebra mussels in the Osage River below Bagnell Dam illustrates the importance of vigilance by boaters and anglers. The invasive mollusk could damage Missouri’s economy and its ecology. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Youth hunters had ideal conditions for the two-day season.
JEFFERSON CITY- Young hunters brought home more than 12,000 deer during Missouri’s two-day youth firearms deer season, the second-largest kill in the season’s seven-year history.
Hunters ages 6 through 15 checked 12,267 deer Oct. 27 and 28, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. That is 3 percent more than last year and 9 percent below the record of 13,466, which was set in 2004.
This year’s top three harvest counties were: Osage, 301; Howell, 258; and Ripley, 252.
A poor acorn crop contributed to this year’s strong youth deer harvest, according to Conservation Department Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen. He said the scarcity of acorns tends to concentrate deer where acorns or other food are available, making their behavior more predictable.
Hansen also noted that pleasantly cool, clear weather worked in young hunters’ favor.
This year’s youth deer harvest included 6,194 (50 percent) antlered deer, 1,567 (13 percent) button bucks and 4,506 (37 percent) does.
The youth deer harvest makes up approximately 4 percent of Missouri’s annual deer harvest. More than 71 percent of deer taken in Missouri each year are killed during the 11-day November portion of firearms deer season. The remaining harvest comes from archery deer season and the muzzleloader, antlerless and urban portions of the firearms deer season.
Hunters age 6 through 15 can participate in the Youth Portion of Firearms Deer Season. If they are using a Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permit, they must hunt in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult hunter who has a valid hunter education certification card. Landowner youth age 15 and younger hunting on their family property are exempt from these requirements.
The Conservation Department recorded no firearms-related hunting accidents during this year’s youth deer season. Only one such accident has occurred in the season’s seven-year history. That accident, which occurred in 2005, involved a 13-year-old hunter who shot himself in the hand when picking up his deer rifle.
-Jim Low-
Missouri’s Youth Corps keeps an old flame lit.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.-Seventy-five years ago, more than 100,000 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) young men, between the ages of 16-25, lived in 41 camps scattered around Missouri. Skinny and unemployed, they planted trees, built parks, fought fires, plugged erosion and helped a fledging Conservation Department restore wildlife habitat and build one of the state’s first fish hatcheries.
Across the country, 3 million young men repeated the same story. For their work, “the boys,” as they were known, earned $30 a week, $25 of which was sent home to their parents.
Today, 103 Youth Conservation Corps across the country carry on the legacy of the CCC. Thirty-two states employ more than 23,000 young men and women in YCC programs nationwide.
In Missouri, 68 young people in nine cities built trails, removed invasive vegetation, planted native plants, tore out old fences and got swamped in at least one location.
“This year we used our students to assess and evaluate a fish community at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. They spent eight weeks sampling fish, seining fish, running nets, capturing fish…being up to their necks in the water. It expanded their knowledge about biology and what we really do as conservationists,” says Chris Kennedy, southeast region fisheries biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Kennedy and Outreach and Media Specialist Phil Helfrich relit the concept of the CCC with one crew in Cape Girardeau four years ago. It was sort of a seat-of-the-pants endeavor, Kennedy recalls.
“We weren’t even sure we had the money to pay the kids until two weeks before we were set to begin.”
YCC crews are partnerships between Workforce Investment Boards, Youth Training and Employment Agencies, Missouri’s Heritage Foundation and the Conservation Department. This year the Conservation Department’s Kansas City and southeast regions also received grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Five Star program.
Besides work, the program provides environmental education, personal and leadership development, team building and conservation career exploration. Kennedy says the program not only leverages outside funding to do conservation work, it also can fundamentally change a young person’s life for the better.
“I expected to be able to teach kids about conservation. I never expected to see the impacts in these kids that I’m seeing.”
Four more Missouri cities are looking into the possibility of starting up YCC programs next year. Kennedy has some simple advice for them.
“If you get good projects, solid crew leaders, some returning crew members and a van, you’ll be amazed by what these kids can do.”
For more information, contact Kennedy or Helfrich at chris.kennedy@mdc.mo.gov or phil.helfrich@mdc.mo.gov.
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