March 2005
Conservation Department is giving cane a brake
Friday, March 25, 2005
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| Resource Technician Fallis Frazier grew up on land adjacent to Caney Mountain Conservation Area in Ozark County and can remember picking cane stalks to use as fishing poles. By the time he went to work for the Conservation Department 23 years ago, all the native cane was gone. Now he works to restore the once-abundant plant to the area. (Mssouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
GAINESVILLE, Mo.--Viewed from the air in January, Bryant Creek is an emerald ribbon draped across the gray landscape from its headwaters in Douglas County to Norfork Lake 70 miles to the southeast. Look closely and you will see occasional areas where the fabled smallmouth bass stream has an irregular, olive-green border. The patches are all that remain of cane thickets that once cloaked stream banks in much of southern Missouri. In a way, they are windows on the past.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is opening that window a crack. It is a time-consuming effort but one that could pay substantial dividends for those who treasure the state's wild heritage.
When European settlers began pouring into southern Missouri, the region was a patchwork of bottomland and upland forest, glades, savannas and--along creeks and rivers--dense thickets of native bamboo. This plant, Arundinaria gigantea, grew in low-lying areas along streams from the huge Mississippi River to tiny headwater streams. Then, as now, it went by several names, the most common of which were giant cane and switch cane.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, one of Missouri's early explorers, traveled through the upper White River region spanning what is now the Missouri-Arkansas border in 1818 and 1819. He reported canebrakes that were, "the most extensive, rich, and beautiful, of any which I have ever seen west of the Mississippi River. They are covered by a coarse wild grass, which attains so great a height that it completely hides a man on horseback."
In the Bootheel region of extreme southeast Missouri, dense thickets, called canebrakes, blanketed thousands of acres. Today, you are lucky to find a cane patch of more than an acre. Where did Missouri's once vast expanses of cane go? Historic records provide clues.
Giant cane grew best in river bottoms, where the soil was covered with water in the winter and dried out in the summer. Indians farmed canebrakes, harvesting the plants' tender shoots for food and burning patches to clear crop fields. Ash residue fertilized the soil temporarily, and when fields played out the Indians moved their fields and let the cane reclaim and rejuvenate its old territory.
When European diseases decimated the area's Indian population, cane ran riot, forming dense brakes covering hundreds of acres. The same things that made the canebrakes attractive to Indians were equally appealing to the Europeans who moved in next. They grazed their livestock on cane, which stayed green year-round. Because they were easier to clear than forested acres, cane patches were among the first parts of the rich bottomland to be cultivated.
Unlike the Indians, Europeans plowed up the cane rhizomes and never let the cane reclaim fields. And because seasonal flooding hampered spring and fall plowing, they dug ditches to drain the entire Bootheel region. Before long, giant cane clung to life only along razor-thin margins of fields, forests and streams like Bryant Creek.
What seemed like progress to settlers was bad news for bears, deer, elk, cougars, swamp rabbits, songbirds and a host of other wildlife.
"Canebrakes are home to a unique assemblage of wildlife," said Natural History Biologist Bob Gillespie. "No doubt some plants and animals that once thrived in Missouri's canebrakes already have been lost, but they still support a number of imperiled species."
Among those imperiled animals are the Swainson's warbler, swamp rabbits, golden mice, the Southeastern shrew and more than 15 kinds of butterflies and moths whose caterpillars eat only cane.
This diverse and unique biological community is part of Missouri's natural heritage. Consequently, it is part of the Conservation Department's mission to preserve or recreate examples of it.
"By developing restoration techniques we can offset losses of additional cane stands," said Gillespie. "That will sustain populations of organisms that require cane in their life cycles. Then we can learn more about those organisms and possibly reassemble a once widespread, diverse and extremely biologically significant ecosystem."
Discovering how to accomplish that has been a decades-long process of trial and error. Resource Technician Fallis Frazier started working on cane restoration almost as soon as he came to work for the Conservation Department 23 years ago.
Frazier was born on land adjacent to the 7,919-acre Caney Mountain Conservation Area (CA) in Ozark County. As a youngster, he would grab a dry stalk of river cane for a fishing pole. He has read local histories that mention canebrakes so large and dense people got lost in them. But by the time he joined the Conservation Department, there was no cane to be found on the area. He attributes the disappearance to annual burning and nonstop livestock grazing.
Initial efforts to return cane to Caney Mountain and other conservation areas were hit-or-miss. Considering how widespread it once was, giant cane seems to be surprisingly difficult to get started. Compared to its vertical growth, which can be spectacular, the expansion of cane patches is surprisingly slow.
Cane produces seed only every 20 to 50 years. To spread, it sends out horizontal roots, called rhizomes. These lie dormant until something eliminates existing vegetation, and then they shoot up fast to shade out competing plants.
Although hardy when established, the plants' roots and rhizomes can not tolerate drying. Cane plants seldom survive when transplanted as bare-root stock, as commonly is done with trees.
One possible explanation for this is that cane is like orchids, which require particular fungi growing on their roots to survive. In general, the bigger the mass of roots and soil used in cane transplanting, the better the outcome. Frazier has had good luck plucking up big clumps of cane with a backhoe.
After transplanting, cane plants typically require a year to take root. The second year after transplanting, they send out rhizomes that can travel 15 feet underground before reemerging. In the third year, cane plants grow rapidly. Under ideal conditions, they can grow 15 feet tall in a single growing season. Mature plants can be 20 feet tall, with stalks an inch in diameter.
The Conservation Department is studying the effectiveness of removing nearby trees to provide more sunlight and speed the growth of cane patches.
The Conservation Department has cane restoration projects at Donaldson Point CA in New Madrid County, Apple Creek CA in Cape Girardeau County, Mudpuppy, Hemmenway and Little Black CAs in Ripley County and Peck Ranch CA in Carter County. Frazier says he and other workers at Caney Mountain CA reintroduce cane to new areas almost every year.
The National Park Service has extensive patches of restored cane on the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and The Nature Conservancy is pursuing cane restoration on its Missouri landholdings. The Conservation Department also is restoring cane on lands leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Wappapello.
"We are still learning about this remarkable plant," said A.J. Hendershott, the Conservation Department's outreach and education regional supervisor in Cape Girardeau. "What we do know is that it was an important part of the original landscape in southern Missouri, too important to lose. My hope is that one day people can push through a canebrake just like Teddy Roosevelt did years before them. This ongoing work is just one of the things Missouri is able to do thanks to a stable, adequate source of funding through the conservation sales tax."
- Jim Low -
Grants available for urban tree planting, maintenance
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Conservation Department's Tree Resource Improvement and Management program helps communities maintain beneficial trees.
JEFFERSON CITY-Shade that blocks the searing heat of summer and leaves that generate the air we breathe are among the many benefits of caring for trees in your community. The Missouri Department of Conservation has help for starting tree-care projects through the Tree Resource Improvement and Management (TRIM) program.
TRIM is a partnership of the Conservation Department and the Missouri Community Forestry Council. It provides reimbursements of up to $10,000 to public schools, government agencies and non-profit groups for tree planting and management on public land.
Projects eligible for TRIM funding include tree inventory, removal or pruning of hazardous trees, tree planting and training of volunteers and city or county employees in tree care.
Each applicant submits information about project cost and funding sources, project 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 its 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.
Grant application writing workshops will be offered at locations around the state in early April. For workshop information or to get 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.
-Jim Low-
No MOre Trash! Bash to run throughout April
Friday, March 18, 2005
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| Thousands of Missourians will scour highways and streams statewide next month in the No MOre Trash Bash. Organizers expect the event to net tons of trash and leave the state cleaner and more attractive. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Public response and the need for more clean-up events led the Missouri departments of Conservation and Transportation to expand the annual event.
JEFFERSON CITY--What started as a week-long effort to beautify Missouri highways and streams has evolved into a month-long event involving hundreds of groups and thousands of citizens.
The Missouri departments of Conservation and Transportation launched No MOre Trash! in 2002 in cooperation with the Missouri Litter-Prevention Advisory Board. Their goal was to focus public attention on the problem of litter.
Besides offering promotional materials to help citizens and civic groups start grassroots efforts, the campaign ran ads on cable television networks statewide. To motivate young Missourians, the agencies sponsored an anti-litter video production contest and published winning entries on the No MOre Trash! Web site.
Apparently the campaign has worked. During last year's one-week event volunteers collected 13,500 bags of trash and truckloads of used rubber tires and other items too big to bag.
This massive cleanup was the work of Stream Teams, Conservation Department staff, Adopt A Highway and Boy Scout groups, Department of Transportation crews, Missouri Division of Corrections workers and other volunteers. To encourage similar efforts on an even larger scale this year, sponsors decided to hold a month-long No MOre Trash! Bash.
"Imagine tens of thousands of bags of trash," said Ginny Wallace, No MOre Trash! coordinator for the Conservation Department. "That represents hundreds of miles of clean, attractive rivers and highways across the state. It is a huge contribution to quality of life, not to mention making us a more attractive tourist destination, which benefits the state's economy."
To learn more about what is available to support local No MOre Trash! programs and about the video contest, visit the No MOre Trash! Web site, www.nomoretrash.org or contact Ginny Wallace, 573/522-4115, ext. 3294, Ginny.Wallace@mdc.mo.gov.
- Jim Low -
Volunteers to clean Missouri-Mississippi confluence
Friday, March 18, 2005
Come out and be part of something big.
ST. LOUIS-Missourians who like tackling big jobs can get their hands dirty and their feet muddy during the big-river cleanup at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers April 30.
The event is the latest in a series of river cleanups coordinated by Missouri River Relief. Volunteers will meet at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area (CA) on Riverview Drive off I-270 in extreme northeastern St. Louis County. Registration begins at 8 a.m. The cleanup runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Organizers advise volunteers to wear work clothes and boots. Work gloves and trash bags will be provided. Much of the work will be accomplished on land, but some volunteers will ride boats to areas accessible only by water.
Chad Pregracke, who originated the River Relief concept, will be on hand with a garbage barge and a fleet of commercial work boats to collect and sort trash for recycling.
Event sponsors include the Missouri Department of Conservation, Bass Pro Shops, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
To register, or for more information, call 573/443-0292, e-mail riverrelief@riverrelief.org, or visit the River Relief Web site, www.riverrelief.org.
- Jim Low -
Mark Twain Lake invites physically challenged to turkey hunt
Friday, March 18, 2005
This community rolls out the red carpet for hunters who use wheelchairs.
MONROE CITY, Mo. B Mobility-impaired hunters can get help realizing their turkey-hunting dreams through the annual Mark Twain Lake Turkey Hunt for the Physically Challenged.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and manages Mark Twain Lake, works with local community groups to make the hunt April 30 and May 1 at Indian Creek Recreation Area a memorable experience. Twenty physically challenged hunters get VIP service normally associated with expensive guided hunts.
Participants supply their own guns and ammunition, 20 gauge or larger. A limited number of guides are available, but participants are encouraged to bring their own helpers. Participants can hunt either or both of the event's two days.
To qualify, applicants must be permanently disabled (nonambulatory or semiambulatory), have valid hunter safety certification cards and valid spring turkey hunting permits.
For application materials, contact the Corps of Engineers, Mark Twain Lake, 20642 Highway J, Monroe City, MO 63456, 573/735-4097. Applications must be received by April 1. Reservations will be awarded by random drawing April 5.
- Jim Low -
Commission to meet April 13-14 at Shaw Nature Reserve
Friday, March 18, 2005
GRAY SUMMIT, Mo. - The Missouri Conservation Commission will meet April 13 and 14 at the Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden, south of Interstate 44 at exit #253 in Gray Summit.
The Commission will meet in executive session April 13 and in open session April 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 March 30.
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.
Times for the April meeting have not been set yet. The next Conservation Commission meeting will be June 1-2. For meeting updates, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/news/.
Commissioners are: Cynthia Metcalfe, St. Louis, chairman; Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, vice-chairman; Lowell Mohler, Jefferson City, secretary; and Stephen C. Bradford, Cape Girardeau, member.
-Jim Low-
Lt. Gov. Kinder gets a living gift
Friday, March 11, 2005
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| Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder received a living gift of tree seedlings when he signed the proclamation designating April 1 as Arbor Day in Missouri.(Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY-Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said Wednesday that tree planting is more than a formality; it is an exercise in faith and stewardship. Kinder's remarks came at a proclamation signing ceremony where he designated April 1 as Arbor Day in Missouri. At the ceremony, a group of fourth-grade students from central Missouri schools presented a bundle of tree seedlings to the lieutenant governor for his own use.
"This means a lot to me coming from children," said Kinder. "Planting trees shows that we care about the world our children will inherit. It does something tangible to ensure that their future is healthy and productive. It is a wonderful way of expressing our hope for the future."
More than 120,000 children throughout Missouri will share that experience, thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation's George O. White State Forest Nursery near Licking. This is the 25th year that the nursery has donated tree seedlings for fourth-grade students to plant around homes and schools.
This year, students will receive silky dogwood, bald cypress and willow oak seedlings. Kinder received one of each. He said he looks forward to planting his seedlings and watching them grow.
Students get instructions for planting and caring for their seedlings. Teachers receive Arbor Week Activity Guides outlining how to grow trees and how trees benefit people. They learn the parts of a tree and its life cycle and understand how trees generate the oxygen we breathe, help the environment and provide forest products that help our economy. Arbor Week activities also include information on the history of Missouri's forests and the origins of state and national Arbor Day celebrations.
Arbor Day is celebrated on the first Friday in April in Missouri. The state first observed Arbor Day in 1886, when the legislature declared the day should be set aside for the appreciation and planting of trees. To learn more about the state forest nursery or to order planting materials, contact: George O. White Nursery, 14027 Shafer Road, Licking, MO 65542. Phone 573/674-3229. For more information about Arbor Day and the National Arbor Day Foundation, visit www.arborday.org.
-Jim Low-
Share the Harvest venison donations pour into charities Money is the only obstacle to doubling the amount of venison reaching needy Missourians
Friday, March 11, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY-"It's like manna from heaven!" That is how Tim Rich, associate director of the Central Missouri Food Bank in Columbia, described venison donated to food banks statewide through the Share the Harvest program last year. The angels responsible for the windfall are hunters, conservationists and organizations willing to put money on the line to tackle two challenges.
The challenges are hunger and the need to keep a lid on Missouri's abundant deer herd. Share the Harvest, administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri, addresses both. It channels lean, savory venison donated by hunters to Missouri's neediest families and in doing so gives hunters an incentive to shoot more deer.
When the Columbia Area Archers and the St. Louis Longbeards chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation launched the program in 1992, they collected a few hundred pounds of venison. In 10 years, it grew to 96,595 pounds. In 2004, hunters sent an astonishing 275,886 pounds of venison from forests and fields to grateful recipients' dinner tables. At the same time, they helped protect motorists from deer-car collisions and reduced crop and landscape damage from hungry deer.
"Our partnership with the Conservation Department, the Conservation Federation of Missouri and literally thousands of big-hearted hunters is a tremendous blessing to the Food Bank," said Rich. "Donations of protein-rich foods of any kind are extremely difficult to come by. And yet, protein is one of the most important nutritional items we can serve to people in need, especially children in poverty."
Rich related the story of a woman who visited one of the Central Missouri Food Bank's local food pantries with her young son. She was embarrassed to have to ask for help feeding her children, but her emotions turned to joy when volunteers put a package of venison in her box and her son excitedly asked, "Momma! Momma! Can we have meat for dinner tonight?" The woman tearfully explained that they had not had any protein in their home for two weeks because they couldn't afford it. Share the Harvest is a statewide program, but the lion's share of the work takes place at the community level. Local sponsors--often sportsman's groups or civic clubs--get permission to organize programs. Each local program works with a food pantry or other charitable group and a cooperating meat processor. If none is available in the community, they sometimes arrange to transport deer to a processor in another area.
Most Share the Harvest programs also have local sponsors, such as banks or large retail stores, that help fund the effort. Some have several sponsors. Hunters can donate all or part of their deer. Many local programs help pay for processing of whole deer.
"Share the Harvest is a grassroots effort at heart," said Conservation Federation Executive Director Dave Murphy. "Local sponsors work out the practical details of where hunters bring deer, how deer get processed, how the processing is paid for and who gets the meat. We are just here to make it possible. Local people make it happen."
Making the astonishing success of local groups possible has been a challenge for state Share the Harvest organizers. One of their greatest achievements was removing administrative barriers.
The Conservation Federation and the Missouri Department of Conservation convinced the Missouri Legislature to change regulations so local partners could donate ground venison to food banks. More recently, State Rep. Charles Schlottach (R-Owensville) was instrumental in making changes to state law that drastically increased the number of meat processors eligible to take part in the program.
"One critical bottleneck was finding qualifying meat processors," said Murphy. "Originally, they had to be USDA inspected. Those that were qualified were at full capacity. To get more venison into the program, we needed more processors."
Murphy said Schlottach got the law changed so meat processors can be approved by either state or federal inspectors. That has made it much easier for local Share the Harvest programs to find qualified processors and resulted in programs in lots of new areas.
Other problems were logistical rather than administrative. Pike County was an early leader in convincing hunters to donate whole deer to Share the Harvest. But then they had to deal with the challenge of caring for hundreds of deer carcasses until they could be processed.
For Pike County, the solution came from a local business that provides a refrigerated truck to collect and hold deer during the 11-day November firearms hunting season. This enabled Pike County to collect 571 deer totaling 16 tons of venison last year.
Share the Harvest programs in central Missouri got a further boost when an anonymous business donated two refrigerated trucks. These trucks make the rounds of local Share the Harvest programs during deer season, collecting deer and taking them to processors. Several other Share the Harvest programs around the state now have similar arrangements. Rich said it would be difficult for most hunters to know how profoundly their gifts affect recipients.
"The donation of deer meat through Share the Harvest not only fills stomachs," said Rich. "It also restores hope to people with little to be hopeful about. Knowing that people in your own community care enough to share helps them press on in the struggle to get back on their feet and into a position that they, too, can reach out and help someone else. God bless hunters for all they do to help feed people in need, especially the children."
Murphy said the Conservation Department's Protection Division deserves a tremendous amount of credit for promoting Share the Harvest. The agency encourages county conservation agents to foster local programs. However, the biggest factor in increasing Share the Harvest donations has been financial support for whole deer donations.
Turning a deer carcass into frozen, packaged venison costs $35 to $70. Some hunters were willing to pay this fee to donate a deer, but the cost discouraged many early in the program's history. In 1998, Shelter Insurance became the first corporate sponsor to underwrite processing of whole deer. It was a natural fit for a company that had to pay insurance claims for deer-vehicle accidents.
"As soon as they started paying processing costs for whole deer donations, that's when things took off" said Murphy. "That was the key that really unlocked this program's full potential."
Since then, Bass Pro Shops and the Conservation Department have started contributing cash to encourage participation in Share the Harvest. The Conservation Federation also raises money to pay for processing whole-deer donations.
Another big boost to donations came during the 2004 Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and central Missouri. Wal-Mart stores, the St. Louis Big Game Hunters and the Safari Club International underwrote processing costs for deer donated during the four-day hunt. The effort brought in more than 150 deer that yielded four tons of venison.
Of the 137.9 tons of venison donated through Share the Harvest last year, 130 tons, or 93 percent, were from whole-deer donations.
"Everyone was amazed in 1998 when we collected 10 tons of meat," said Murphy. "Now we get more than that in one day. The increase is almost entirely due to the Conservation Department's commitment to controlling the state's deer herd and organizations that underwrite processing costs."
Murphy says Share the Harvest has a goal of collecting 10,000 whole deer annually, or more than 280 tons of venison.
"That is an attainable goal. We might not get there next year, but with increased participation of processors and more sponsors for processing costs, it won't be long until we do."
For more information about Share the Harvest, visit www.missouriconservation.org/hunt/deer/share/ or contact the CFM at 573/634-2322, mofed@socket.net.
In 2004, the Central Missouri Food Bank Network served an average of 64,800 people in need each month, distributing more than 18.2 million pounds of free food to people in need through local, community-based hunger relief organizations in central and northeast Missouri. This food had an estimated wholesale value of more than $30 million and was enough to provide more than 13.6 million meals. For more information contact the Food Bank at 800/764-3663 or visit www.centralmofoodbank.org.
- Jim Low -
Conservation Department needs anglers' help managing Missouri's most unusual fish
Friday, March 04, 2005
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| During the 47-day paddlefish snagging season, the Missouri Department of Conservation will ask anglers at Lake of the Ozarks and on the Osage River to take part in a survey designed to gather scientific knowledge about the Show-Me State's most unusual fish. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY--Missouri's most exotic-looking fish also is one of the Show-Me State's longest-term residents. It has only one living relative--halfway across the world, and it is the object of a month and a half-long fishing season that employs fishing tackle more often seen on deep-sea fishing vessels than on Midwestern rivers. To manage such a special animal, the Missouri Department of Conservation needs anglers' help.
The fish in question is the paddlefish. Also known as the "spoonbill catfish," Polydon spathula is unrelated to real catfish. Like sharks, it has a soft skeleton made of cartilage. However, it is not closely related to sharks, either. Its only surviving relative, the Chinese paddlefish, inhabits China's Yangtze River, where it grows to more than 650 pounds.
The paddlefish's tail is long and shark-like. Its namesake paddle is a spoon-shaped snout that makes up more than a third of the fish's overall length.
Although nowhere near as large as its Asian cousin, the paddlefish nevertheless is one of Missouri's largest fish, regularly tipping the scales at over 100 pounds. The state record is 139 pounds, 4 ounces. Dams on the Osage River and manmade changes in the Missouri River and its tributaries have impaired paddlefish reproduction, threatening the species' survival. The Conservation Department raises paddlefish at Blind Pony Hatchery near Sweet Springs. The fish are 12 to 14 inches long when released.
Annual stocking goals include 3,000 paddlefish at Table Rock Lake, 15,000 each at Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lake and 750 in the Black River. The Missouri River and the lower Mississippi River, which have not been dammed have self-sustaining paddlefish populations.
Paddlefish stocking sustains the species in rivers and reservoirs where it can no longer survive on its own. Hatchery-reared fish also sustain the tradition of fish snagging in those rivers.
Paddlefish season begins March 15 and runs through April. The season coincides with the fishes' spawning run, which occurs when the temperature of rain-swollen rivers climbs into the 50- to 55-degree range. Coming up out of lakes and rivers, the fish tend to congregate below dams and in staging areas, such as calm water behind rock dikes in the Missouri River. This concentration enables anglers to find the fish, which are widely scattered the rest of the year.
The method for catching paddlefish is as unusual as the fish themselves. In spite of their size, paddlefish feed exclusively on plankton suspended in the water. Their gills are adapted to strain the tiny plants and animals from the water as they swim around with their mouths agape. This makes conventional fishing baits and lures useless. Paddlefish snaggers tie heavy weights on the end of heavy fishing line, with large, three-pointed hooks tied a foot or two up the line. Using long, heavy fishing poles, they cast their lines into likely spots and let them sink to the bottom, and then retrieve them in a series of strong, sweeping jerks. This is blind fishing and hard work. The key to success is fishing in waters with enough paddlefish to ensure that your hook bumps into a fish now and then. When the right water temperatures and flows come together, paddlefishing action can be spectacular. In dry years, it can be disappointing.
Loss of reproduction due to dams on the Osage River is not the only problem facing paddlefish. On the Missouri River, much of the best paddlefish habitat has been lost to narrowing and straightening of the river channel for navigation. Illegal fishing, particularly the exploitation of paddlefish for their eggs to make caviar, is another threat. And like all water-dwelling animals, paddlefish are susceptible to pollution by pesticides and other chemicals. Any sign of problems with paddlefish populations could be an early warning sign for humans. Paddlefish also face competition from exotic fish introduced from Asia. These include the silver and bighead carp, which have become extremely abundant in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
"Some of the Asian carp species use the same food source as paddlefish," said Conservation Department Fisheries Management Biologist Trish Yasger. "We don't know yet what effect they might have on paddlefish, but there is potential for harm."
The Conservation Department tracks paddlefish populations for changes, whatever the cause. Yasger said this is a job that requires help. "Anglers are a critical part of our population surveys," she said. "Every paddlefish that leaves our hatchery gets a tiny coded metal tag inserted under the skin at the tip of the rostrum, that spoon on their snout. The code allows us to identity the fish, where it was stocked and when. By looking at tag recovery data over time, we learn survival rates, population age structure and other important facts. Without that information, we couldn't do our jobs."
This year, Conservation Department workers will be gathering paddlefish information at Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and the Osage River below Bagnell Dam. They will use a metal detector to discover if fish brought in by anglers have tags. If they do, they will ask anglers' permission to remove the tip of the rostrum to recover the tag.
Yasger said she believes paddlefish snagging is gaining in popularity. "I'm getting a lot more inquiries about it, including out-of-state inquiries."
She said creel surveys showed anglers took approximately 18,000 paddlefish snagging trips on Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and Table Rock Lake in 2001. That does not include snagging on the Osage, Missouri and Mississippi rivers. An estimated 14,000 anglers pursue paddlefish statewide.
Yasger produces a weekly paddlefish snagging report during the season. The reports include water conditions, recent angler success and information about boat ramps near the action. To view current reports, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/sport/paddlefish/report/.
- Jim Low -
Only citizens can stem the rising tide of eagle killings
Friday, March 04, 2005
Timely tips could help conservation agents stop the wanton destruction.
JEFFERSON CITY--Wildlife law-enforcement officers say eagle killings are on he rise, and they need citizens' help to catch the killers. The growing problem made international headlines in February, when officials of the Burrard Indian Band discovered 40 bald eagle carcasses in a shallow grave on their reserve in British Columbia. The birds' legs had been cut off, along with feathers. Law enforcement officials speculate that the killers intended to sell the feathers and talons. Meanwhile the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have at least seven active cases involving eagle killings in the Show-Me State.
The first case involved a bald eagle found Jan. 2 just outside Ellington in Reynolds County. Conservation Agent Preston Mabry said the bird's carcass was hanging on a state highway sign.
On Jan. 5, Pulaski County Conservation Agents Casey Simmons and Aaron Pondrom investigated a citizen report and found a bald eagle that had been shot and killed near Dixon.
In mid-January, Conservation Agent Randy Geise received reports of two eagles killed in Gasconade County.
Also in January, Special Agent Dan Burleson with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a report of an eagle killed on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis. St. Charles County Conservation Agent David Guntli has been investigating this shooting.
On Feb. 6, Simmons and Pondrom received another citizen report and found another bald eagle shot dead in Pulaski County near Hancock. In early February, a hunter looking for shed deer antlers in Laclede County discovered a golden eagle that appeared to have been dead for a week or so. Laclede County Conservation Agent Walt Hutton said the bird died within a few miles of a site where workers fighting a forest fire last fall found two golden eagles and a bald eagle dead. Evidence suggested those birds might have succumbed to poisoning.
"It seems like the number of eagles killed is going up and up every year," said Burleson. "In part, it's related to the recovery of eagles nationwide. Bald eagles are coming back from near extinction, and as their numbers increase, there is more opportunity for the lower element of society to kill them."
Dennis Steward, Protection Division administrator for the Conservation Department, said most eagle killings here are opportunistic, pointless acts. "When we solve a case, it almost always involves somebody who just happened to come across an eagle and shot it. There is no legal game that looks like an eagle, so the excuse of mistaking an eagle for something else is bunk. It's senseless killing, the worst kind of ignorant vandalism."
"This is our national symbol," said Burleson. "Wantonly shooting an eagle is a slap in the face to everyone who loves America." Steward and Burleson said making cases against eagle killers is extremely difficult. The crimes usually take place in isolated areas. Clear evidence linking the crimes to particular person or even a certain rifle or shotgun seldom is available.
"When we catch an eagle killer, it is usually because someone noticed suspicious activity and reported it," said Steward. "Sometimes an eagle killer will brag about what he did. Word gets around and someone calls for the reward money. Those calls are absolutely critical to stopping this kind of thing."
Killing eagles is against both state and federal law. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Conservation Federation of Missouri each offer cash rewards of up to $1,000 for tips that lead to arrests of eagle killers. Reports can be made anonymously by calling the Conservation Federation's toll-free Operation Game Thief hot line, 800/392-1111.
The apparent poisoning of the golden eagles in Laclede County is unusual, because golden eagles are rarely seen in Missouri. Bald eagles are common here during the winter, however. They eat fish and waterfowl, so they prefer locations around open water. Missouri's big lakes and rivers are perfect places for eagles from Canada and the northern United States to stay when their home areas are locked in ice.
Hutton said eagles are extremely susceptible to poison. "People will poison animal carcasses and put them out hoping to kill coyotes or other predators," he said. "They might not realize there is a good chance it will be spotted by an eagle or another bird of prey. I think poisoning--whether intentional or not--might be a bigger problem for eagles than random shooting."
-Jim Low-
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