Copyright ©2008 Conservation Commission of Missouri. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
Healthier grasslands are the goal of this nature festival/fund-raiser.
HATFIELD, Mo.--Missourians interested in preserving what is left of the state's prairie heritage plan to combine a familiar fund-raising tool with nature programs and cultural events to focus attention on the state's grassland resources. The result is Missouri's first "Lek Trek."
The event draws its name from the flat, open area used in the mating ritual of the prairie chicken, a bird synonymous with healthy, biologically diverse grassland.
Event organizers with the Missouri Grasslands Coalition say the event will span three months and 565 miles and bring together landowners, conservation groups and interested citizens in communities along the Lek Trek route.
The Lek Trek will begin July 21 at the Missouri-Iowa border near Hatfield and head south. On Sept. 23, a second group will begin a northward trek from the Arkansas Border near Southwest City. The two groups will rendezvous at Prairie State Park near Lamar Oct. 14.
In between, participants will stroll through unspoiled prairie lands, learn about prairie ecology from experts and take part in a variety of natural and cultural history events at 16 prairie-country communities. They also will raise money pledged in return for completing trek segments.
Each week of the Lek Trek will feature a Learner Day, when naturalists will join the walk to share their knowledge of prairie life. Learner Days will take place on public grasslands or along prairie-rich stretches of roadside, offering opportunities for Girl and Boy Scout groups, school classes and others to learn in an outdoor classroom. Each week also will incorporate a Saturday Public Walk Day.
Lek Trek organizers say they hope to increase awareness of the benefits of prairie among landowners and the public. They also plan to raise money for grassland education and prairie habitat projects by soliciting financial pledges similar to walkathon-type charity fund-raisers.
To learn more about the Lek Trek, visit the event Web site at www.lektrek.org, or contact the Lek Trek office, 315 Lawrence St., Kansas City, MO 64111, phone 816/561-8735. You can send questions or comments by E-mail to goughs@mail.conservation.state.mo.us or Lintecum.michael@worldnet.att.net.
Following is the Lek Trek calendar of events and tentative activities for each:
--July 22Lek Trek Kickoff at Dunn Ranch near Hatfield, with American Indian dancers, wagon rides, prairie tours, live animal displays and live music. Visit with trappers and traders. Enjoy wildlife calls by Ralph Duren. Bison burgers will be available, and the city of Eagleville will serve a hog roast dinner.
--July 29Chicken dinner, live music, Grasslands Coalition programs and displays at the Bethany Fairgrounds. The Eagle Talon Brotherhood American Indian dancers will perform. Other attractions include old-time food and music, a talent show, a gasoline engine show, grassland exhibits and demonstrations of soap making, candle dipping and other pioneer crafts.
--Aug. 5Lek Trekkers will walk into Trenton from Crowder State Park, learning about grasslands on the way. They will stop at the old city cemetery to view prairie remnants. The group will view prairie exhibits at the Conservation Department's building at the North Central Missouri Fair.
--Aug. 12Event at Chillicothe are still in planning. These will include a tour of the Litton Agricultural Center to view native prairie plants used in modern farming.
--Aug. 19Event at Lexington, still in planning.
--Aug. 267 to 10 p.m., Prairie Day at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center in Blue Springs with historic skills and crafts festival: flint knapping, basket weaving, beadwork, spinning and tanning. Visit a trading post; meet Laura Ingalls Wilder; enjoy old time music and dancing, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and the Eagle Talon Brotherhood American Indian Dancers. Purchase native prairie plants to start your own prairie. Meet representatives from prairie and environmental organizations to find out what you can do to help the grasslands.
--Aug. 31Ice cream social, grasslands program, community band at Warrensburg.
--Sept. 2Prairie field tours, pioneer story teller, an early settler's campsite and presentation on prairie wildlife at Knob Noster.
--Sept. 9Lek Trek walkers will join the annual Cole Camp parade with a prairie theme. Participants will take birding and plant identification hikes on Hi Lonesome Prairie Conservation Area.
--Sept. 16Katy Trail walk and pioneer days at Clinton. Visit a historic log cabin and 1850 stage coach stop. Pioneer skills and crafts, funnel cakes, pie auction, cake walk, live music and square dancing. Special prairie plant presentation in Clinton museum and Grassland Coalition displays.
--Sept. 23The start of second group's northward Lek Trek from the Arkansas State line at Southwest City will commence with American Indian dance.
--Sept. 23Special events at Taberville Prairie Conservation Area (CA) and the town of Taberville will include an American Indian settlement with living history characters. Other attractions will include a Civil War camp, trappers, traders, story tellers and prairie learning stations with early settler life, prairie ecology, prairie plants, grassland animals, prairie fire and management and prairie streams.
--Sept. 30Activities in El Dorado Springs and Wah'Kon-Tah Prairie CA will include a walk across the prairie, wagon rides, American Indian dancers, hay rides, a bonfire and an open house at Carl's Gun Shop and Museum. Also demonstrations of sorghum syrup making, a window-painting contest, settler crafts, a quilting bee and live bluegrass music.
George Washington Carver National Monument near Neosho will have living history programs and historic trail programs. Demonstrations will include log cabin living, soap-making and other pioneer crafts, story tellers, wood carvers. Prairie ecology tours and a demonstration burn will enliven the day's events.
--Oct. 7Joplin's Schifferdecker Park will host a kite festival where trekkers can enjoy special prairie exhibits, food and live music.
Nevada will host Lek Trekkers at their annual 4-H chicken dinner. The Grasslands Coalition will sponsor prairie displays and a poster contest for youths.
--Oct. 14Walkers from north and south meet at Prairie State Park for a five-mile walk to the Lek Trek grand finale, the Prairie Jubilee. Attractions will include a Missouri town in 1855, band and dancers in period dress, pioneer skills, story tellers, fur trappers and traders, guided prairie tours and exhibits. The winners of the Lek Trek poster contest will be on display.
- Jim Low -
Zones will provide the most control on otter numbers exactly where it is needed.
JEFFERSON CITY--The Conservation Commission has divided the state into five zones for the purpose of regulating the winter trapping of river otters. The regulation was a proposal by the Otter Advisory Committee, a group that has been meeting for about two years.
The Commission approved the establishment of otter trapping zones at its monthly meeting April 19 in West Plains. The move is aimed at permitting increased harvest of otters in areas where they are found to be causing damage to property or sport fisheries and smaller harvests in areas where otters pose no problems. The new rule will go into effect Nov. 1.
The regulation comes at a time when river otters are flourishing in Missouri. Anglers and fish farmers in some parts of the state have complained of otter depredations. In other areas, otters have yet to fully occupy suitable habitat, and problems are few.
Trappers in northern, eastern and southwestern portions of the state will be allowed to take a season limit of five otters from Nov. 20 through Jan. 20. In a portion of southern Missouri, where otter complaints are most numerous, otters may be taken in any numbers from Nov. 20 through Feb. 20. The season limit will be 20 in the remainder of the state.
"This is an attempt to streamline our regulationsrecognizing there are differences in otter densities across the stateand protect those areas where we have lower densities from too much harvest," says Dave Hamilton, a wildlife research biologist with the Conservation Department. "This also targets the areas where we are having the most complaints about damage caused by river otters."
Last fall, the Conservation Department estimated the state's otter population would reach 11,000 this year. However, a study by the University of Missouri suggests there may be as many as 18,000 river otters in the state. Otter numbers are increasing in spite of trappers taking approximately 1,000 of the animals per year. Conservation Department biologists believe that, with the current harvest level of 10 to 16 percent annually, otter numbers will continue to grow until they reach limits of available habitat to support them.
River otters feed largely on crayfish, but fish become an important item in their diet in the winter, when crayfish go dormant. Complaints have come from anglers in southern Missouri, especially people who fish the headwaters of some Ozark streams. In winter, fish are often isolated in pools in these streams, making them more susceptible to predators. Otters sometimes also feed on fish in fish hatcheries and farm ponds. Conservation Department officials hope that allowing trappers to take more otters in this target zone will reduce such problems.
Animal rights activists challenged the legality of otter trapping and the trade in otter pelts, suggesting trapping would endanger the otter population. The courts twice upheld the Conservation Department's authority to regulate otter trapping.
A 1997 poll conducted by the Gallup Organization for the Conservation Department showed 70 percent of Missourians support regulated trapping.
- Jim Auckley -
JEFFERSON CITY--The Missouri Conservation Commission's next meeting will be held May 24 and 25 at Big Cedar Lodge, Ridgedale. The May 24 meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. The public portion of the May 25 meeting will begin immediately after a closed executive session at 8:30 a.m.
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. Requests must be received by May 11. People requiring special services or accommodations to attend the meeting can make arrangements at the same address, or by phone at 573/751-4115.
Commissioners are: Howard L. Wood, Bonne Terre, chairman; Ronald J. Stites, Plattsburg, vice-chairman; Randy Herzog, St. Joseph, secretary; and Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, member.
- Jim Low -
The Missouri Legislature moves to nip kudzu in the bud.
KENNETT, Mo.-- The vining, exotic plant called kudzu seems at home in the southeastern United States, where it has become something of an icon of southern culture. But the plant that some say can grow a foot overnight lives in Missouri, too, and is on its way to being officially proclaimed a noxious weed.
House Bill No. 1841 has passed the House and been sent to a Senate committee. It would designate not only kudzu vine (Pueraria lobata), but also cut-leaved teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus) and common teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) as noxious weeds. Kudzu is already classified as a noxious weed by the federal government.
Kudzu may be taking off in isolated sites in southwest Missouri. Its presence on land near Highlandville propelled Rep. Jim Kreider (D-Ozark) to co-sponsor the bill. One landowner there calls the plant a "nightmare."
"I'm not sure the plant is spreading, but more people are becoming aware of it as a problem," says Tim Smith, a botanist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "It has been reported growing in Lewis County, which is farther north than I have heard of it before. It has been in St. Louis and Boone County for some time.
"There has been some thinking in the past that it might not produce any fruit in Missouri, so it would spread less than it does in the South where it does produce seeds. But I have seen a recent report from Illinois where they had some seed production over there, so I suspect we do here, too."
Kudzu is addressed in the Missouri Vegetation Management Manual, which is now on the Conservation Department's web page at www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/exotic/vegman/fifteen.htm.
Kudzu is a perennial vine that is a member of the legume family. The large leaves appear alternately along the stem. The odorous flowers grow in clusters in late summer and early fall; fruits resemble a flattened soybean fruit.
The small seeds may remain in the soil for several years before sprouting. The vines develop from tubers that can grow to depths of 10 feet and weigh 200 to 300 pounds.
Kudzu has been present in Missouri for many years, but in that time it seems to have remained isolated in pockets without spreading. Missouri's cold winters were given credit for limiting the Asian native's spread. But some landowners now believe the plant is expanding its territory, and the "...virtually unstoppable plant" that ate Dixie maybe coming to idle land in your neighborhood.
Warmer winters may be to blame. The winter of 1999 - 2000 has been proclaimed the warmest since 1900, and the decade of the 1990s may be the warmest in a thousand years. Other evidence of this phenomenon may be seen in the fact that armadillos and roadrunners have expanded their range in Missouri in recent years.
Kudzu is native to Japan, China and India. Promoters introduced it to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pa. It has purple and yellow blooms. Gardeners eagerly planted it. Later it was considered forage for livestock.
During the Depression years of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service touted kudzu's value as a control for soil erosion. The Civilian Conservation Corps alone planted more than 70 million kudzu seedlings from Maryland to Texas during those same years. The Missouri Department of Transportation planted some kudzu along highways, but stopped the practice 30 years ago.
The insects and diseases that hold the plant in check in Asia were lacking in the United States, and as the years passed it became obvious the plant could be troublesome.
In the South, kudzu runs rampant, especially on idle land. It grows across the ground, climbs shrubs and telephone poles and engulfs and kills living trees. It can smother abandonded structures and even rusting automobiles. Southerners tell jokes about the plant, saying a cow that stands too long in one place may be swarmed by it. Close your windows at night, according to Dixie lore, or kudzu will grow in and snatch your children.
Kudzu has become so much a part of southern culture that festivals, rock bands, theatre troups, restaurants, comic strips, newspapers, a roller hockey league, a bar and even a literary webzine have been named after it.
It's estimated kudzu gobbles up 300,000 acres every year across the South, now covering something like 7 million acres. You can kill it with a herbicide, but the chemical also kills trees. It probably will never be eliminated from Southern states, but scientists hope to find ways to control the plant and limit its spread.
Researchers from North Carolina State University are introducing the soybean looper, an insect whose larvae eat kudzu, then are themselves killed by wasp larvae previously injected into them.
Is there anything redeeming about kudzu? Some people make baskets out of the vines. Others feed it to livestock, make tea out of it or fry it and eat it.
Many of the medicines in modern use are derived from plants, and researchers have investigated kudzu for its potential as a healing agent. Asians use it to treat dysentery, flu and head and neck pain. They also use its starch to thicken soups and other foods. Kudzu starch is available in some U.S. health food stores but, to date, has not become a mainstay of Yankee cooks.
- Jim Auckley -
Hunters should find wild turkey gobblers plentiful and receptive to the simulated calls of love-starved hens when hunting begins April 24.
JEFFERSON CITY--Missouri's turkey hunting picture continues to be rosy, with the state's wild turkey expert predicting another robust harvest of 45,000-plus.
Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Research Biologist Mike Hubbard estimates the state's statewide turkey population at 450,000 to 500,000. That's an all-time high, and Hubbard says the number is still growing slowly. The flock continues to expand into areas of sparse population. Meanwhile, he says, turkeys are multiplying to "amazing densities" in parts of northern Missouri, which already has the densest turkey population in the state.
"We had excellent production two years ago, and that means there will be lots of mature gobblers in the woods this year," says Hubbard. "An above-average mast crop and a remarkably mild winter should ensure that the birds survived in excellent condition for this year's nesting season. With reasonably good weather for early season nesting, we could have a bumper crop of turkeys this year."
Weather always figures prominently in turkey season predictions, since fair or foul weather can affect the behavior of both turkeys and hunters. Warm weather without too much rain or wind makes turkeys easier to hunt. It also encourages hunters to spend more time afield. But in any case, Hubbard says he doesn't expect this year's spring turkey harvest to dip below 45,000 birds, and with favorable hunting conditions it could approach last year's record kill of 50,299.
Turkey season opens April 24 and runs through May 14. The season always opens on the Monday nearest April 21, so this year's season is as late, in terms of calendar dates, as it can be. Hubbard says he has been asked if the late season, combined with the early arrival of spring weather this year, could cause turkey hunters to miss out on the peak of gobbling activity, when hunting is best.
"Our season has always been timed to miss that first peak of gobbling," says Hubbard. "The purpose is to allow hens to be bred before hunting starts, so the hunting season doesn't dramatically impact reproduction. This is probably part of the reason our turkey flock has a better age distribution than in states where the season coincides with the first peak of gobbling.
"Our season structure is designed to put hunters in the woods during the second peak of gobbling activity, which occurs when a number of hens are approaching incubation, and gobblers have trouble finding receptive mates. With our three-week season, hunters from southern Missouri to northern Missouri should be able to hunt this second gobbling peak."
Hubbard noted that this is the second year that hunters under age 12 can take part in the spring turkey season with a Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permit. This $15 permit allows kids under the minimum legal age for hunter education certification to participate in the spring and fall turkey seasons. To do so, they must hunt in the immediate presence of adult hunters who are licensed to hunt and have successfully completed a hunter education course. The permit allows young hunters to take one bearded turkey during the spring season and one during the fall season and one deer in the fall.
Spring turkey hunting regulations, bag limits and tagging procedures remain unchanged from last year. These and other turkey hunting rules are summarized in the Spring Turkey Hunting Information 2000 booklet, available free wherever hunting permits are sold.
- Jim Low -
Many Missourians are buying small acreages on which to live and enjoy nature. The trend has good and bad implications for natural resources.
JEFFERSON CITY--Wide-open spaces and opportunities to enjoy nature have a growing number of people moving to Missouri's countryside. Population figures from the University of Missouri Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA) show that from 1990 to1998 the number or people living in rural areas increased by 12.7 percent, or 219,565. That increase accounts for slightly more than two-thirds of the state's total population growth for the period.
While more affordable housing and preference for larger pieces of land on which to live contributed to the trend toward open-country living, OSEDA reports that desire for the country lifestyle was the main reason for the rural population increase. The Missouri Department of Conservation is optimistic that enjoyment of nature will encourage more Missourians to become stewards of the state's fish, forest and wildlife resources.
Last fall the Conservation Department created the Private Land Services Division to assist landowners who want to make their properties more wildlife-friendly. Steve Young, Private Land Services Chief, says the future of many wildlife species depends on private landowners.
"People often think they have to have large amounts of land to provide habitat for wildlife," says Young, "but that's not true. Many species like rabbit and quail, which aren't very mobile, have very small ranges. Providing good habitat for those species on an acre or less of land can greatly increase their chances of survival."
Young says citizen participation in wildlife management also is crucial because the majority of land in the state is in private ownership.
"Ninety-three percent of the land in Missouri is owned by private citizens," says Young. "Without the use of private land, wildlife would be forced to exist in zoo-like situations on the small amount of land managed by state and federal governments. Maintaining your land to look more natural provides two benefits. It allows you to live in a more natural setting and provides habitat that enables wildlife to prosper."
The Private Land Services Division includes 40 private land conservationists located throughout the state. Each private land conservationist will work with landowners in an area of two to four counties. They will offer one-on-one advice and can draw on cost-sharing programs and technical assistance from foresters, fisheries and wildlife biologists, wildlife damage management biologists and other specialists. They can also help connect landowners with cost-sharing programs to help pay for the practices.
Private land conservationists and urban watershed biologists also will be available in urban areas to work on the unique habitat challenges in heavily populated areas.
Private land conservationists will begin contacting landowners in July. Approximately 48,000 landowners will be interviewed in the next three years to learn what services they need to realize their goals for fish, wildlife and forest on their land.
- Arleasha Mays -
A partnership between state and local officials has brought better fire protection, wider availability of fire insurance and lower insurance premiums.
JEFFERSON CITY--Plans to improve fire protection and reduce home insurance premiums in Missouri are near completion. Through the Master Fire Planning project the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has developed plans to address the fire protection needs in 109 of the state's 114 counties.
The Master Fire Planning project was developed in 1997 to help fire departments determine and address their needs. The Conservation Department forestry staff evaluates fire departments' problems and offers solutions. The Missouri Fire Protection Partnership, a coalition of firefighters, the state fire marshal's office, the Missouri Legislature, the Missouri Insurance Services Office (ISO) and MDC, work to secure funding to implement the fire plans.
The goal of the Master Fire Planning project is to obtain a statewide Class 7 rating from the ISO. The ISO rating classifies fire departments on a scale of one to 10, with one being the highest and 10 being the lowest. Those classifications are based on the quality of equipment and training, water sources, communications and other factors affecting a fire department's response time and efficiency.
Achieving a Class 7 rating for the state will reduce insurance premiums for some homeowners and enable insurance companies to sell insurance to homeowners who previously were uninsurable. The Conservation Department estimates the fire plan will save Missourians more than $585 million over the next 10 years.
- Arleasha Mays -
Turkey hunters always need to think defensively to avoid accidents. This year they also need to be aware of fire.
JEFFERSON CITY--Accidents during Missouri's spring turkey hunting season declined to six in 1998, but jumped back up to 11 in 1999, a statistic that shows the continued need of vigilance on the part of hunters. With drought conditions prevailing across much of the state, turkey hunters also need to be aware of the danger of wildfire and the role they can play in preventing destructive blazes.
Missouri's spring turkey season begins April 24, the day after Easter, and runs through May 14. Some portions of the Ozarks have already had large fires this year due to drought conditions. The early start and severity of this year's fire season recalls events 60 years ago, when wildfires blackened much of southern Missouri annually.
Old timers remember Easter Sunday 1941 as "Black Sunday" in the Ozarks. Prolonged drought, high temperatures, low humidity, 55 m.p.h. winds and a few kitchen matches combined to make it a catastrophic holiday for property and forests.
Spotters using Conservation Department fire towers helped control wildfires in later years; the job is now largely accomplished using aircraft and modern communications.
Unless there is significant rainfall prior to Easter this year, spring turkey hunters should forgo open fires and use camp stoves for cooking. Hunters also should be especially careful when extinguishing smoking materials. The Conservation Department encourages hunters to report to authorities any wildfires they encounter.
As always, the biggest danger turkey hunters will face this spring is not from wildfire but from one another.
"Most turkey hunting accidents involve a shooter misidentifying his target," says Bob Staton, a protection programs supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "They end up shooting at something they perceive to be a turkey and it's not. The accidents actually involve a hunting partner most of the time. One hunter may move into range without the partner being aware he or she is there. They need to make a hunting plan ahead of time, and stick with it."
Staton adds that it is a good idea to wear a hat or garment of hunter orange when moving from one location to another. If you bag a gobbler, it pays to have a piece of orange cloth to wrap over it when carrying it out of the woods. Many hunters now use decoys to hunt turkeys; these are available with orange heads. Wild turkeys don't seem to shy away from the orange heads, but another hunter walking up on the decoys will realize they are fakes when he sees the orange and won't pose a danger to the person who is using the decoys.
Hunting is safe compared to other popular sports. An article in the September 1988 issue of Field and Stream magazine noted that the risk of being killed while hunting was similar to the risk of being struck and killed by lightning. In 1996 the report said, firearms-related hunting accidents caused 87 fatalities; that same year, 85 people were killed by lightning.
For every 100,000 hunters, six sought emergency room treatment. This compares very favorably with swimming, which produced 217 emergency room visits per 100,000 participants, as well as golf (163), soccer (1,308) and basketball (2,300). Still, hunters must stay on their toes to keep their sport safe.
Speaking of hunting safety, Staton says, "When you are getting ready to shoot that's a critical time. You have to be 100 percent sure of your target, not 99 percent. You don't want to shoot at pieces of a turkey. You want to be able to see that entire turkey so you can make a good identification.
"If you are using a decoy, be careful where you place it so you don't create a situation where you are going to get caught in the line of fire if someone happens to shoot at it. It's good to sit against a tree that is as wide or wider than you are," Staton adds. That gives the hunter protection from anyone approaching from behind. If you see another hunter approaching your setup, holler at them; do not wave at them, a movement they may misidentify.
"I've always contended that camouflage clothing doesn't cause turkey hunting accidents," Staton says, "but improper use of camouflage does. If you are going to wear camouflage you need to be complete. If you only camouflage part of your body, you begin to resemble something that could be mistaken for a turkeywhite socks, hands or face. If you have your gloves off, or if your face is shiny like the head of a turkey or your pants ride up when you sit down and your white socks show, you are not being safe."
People hunting on conservation areas or national forests need to be especially defensive in their hunting tactics. They should assume every sound they hear is another hunter approaching, and not a turkey. Assuming a sound in the woods is a turkey is the kind of mind set that will get you in trouble, according to Staton. "You can't assume you are the only hunter out there," he adds.
In an article on defensive turkey hunting in the Missouri Conservationist magazine, Staton listed some basic rules for safe turkey hunting. They included:--Never wear red, white, blue or blackcolors found on wild turkeyswhen hunting turkeys.
--Never try to sneak up on or drive wild turkeys during the spring season. Instead, call turkeys to you. The less moving you do the safer and more effective you'll be.
--Never use a gobble call during the hunt. A gobble call may draw another hunter to your area and lead to a dangerous encounter.
--Never use shot larger than number 4. Larger shot is illegal in Missouri and increases the chance of serious injury.
--Never let excitement, nerves or panic guide your behavior. Strive to remain calm and rational. Remember, there's not a turkey in the woods worth a human life or injury.
Another tip is to be respectful of other hunters. If you can determine that a hunter is working a turkey you have heard, go find another one. It's not worth getting into an argument over a turkey. Missouri's turkey flock is large and you shouldn't have too much trouble locating another turkey.
- Jim Auckley -
Follow these tips to avoid erosion and damage to fishing.
JEFFERSON CITY--Drive a backhoe into a stream and start digging out gravel for your road and you could end up with legal problems. Just as important, you could damage fish and wildlife that you treasure and start erosion that damages your land and makes you unpopular with neighbors.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has a booklet to help landowners avoid these problems. "A Landowner's Guide to Sand and Gravel Removal" is available free on request from Fisheries Division, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.
The booklet explains how removing sand and gravel from streams can cause problems and how to avoid such problems. The booklet also offers 13 tips on how to remove sand and gravel properly. These include:
--Removing sand and gravel from streams only between June 15 and March 15 to avoid harming spawning fish.
--Removing material only from bars that are loosely packed.
--Removing gravel above the water line and leaving a 20-foot buffer between the normal water line and the excavation.
--Avoiding gravel removal within 20 feet of stream-side vegetation, which helps prevent bank cutting and erosion.
--Replanting vegetation on excavated areas to prevent erosion.
--Contacting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for a permit before excavating.
- Jim Low -
The Nature Conservancy has committed $1 billion to save species identified as being at risk, including 850 in Missouri.
WASHINGTON, D.C.--America is far richer in plant and animal species than previously believed but the survival of the country's unique natural heritage is in serious jeopardy. That's the conclusion of a new study that includes data contributed by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The study, released March 16, has the most complete analysis of U.S. plants and animals ever conducted. "Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States" was written by scientists from The Nature Conservancy, a national, private conservation group, and the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI), a leading source for scientific information on rare and endangered species.
By documenting the presence in America of more than 200,000 native speciesdouble the previous estimatethe study highlights the United States as a globally important center of biological diversity, home to about 10 percent of all species described by science.
Among the book's key findings:
--As many as one-third of the nation's species are at risk, and at least 500 species have already gone extinct or are missing.
--The United States supports a broader variety of large-scale ecosystems, such as prairie and tundra, than any other nation on Earth.
--The biggest threat to species survival is loss of habitat, with almost 60 percent of America's landscape already severely altered.
Despite this last grim observation, Conservation Department Heritage Coordinator Dorothy Butler says there still is time to save Missouri's and the nation's natural heritage. Butler is in charge of maintaining information compiled through the Missouri Natural Heritage Program. The computerized database includes records of the locations, numbers and population trends of 535 plants and 315 animals "of conservation concern."
Data for the natural heritage database come from biologists with the Conservation Department and other agencies, from the Flora of Missouri Project, museums, university researchers and from volunteers with such groups as the Missouri Native Plant Society.
"Species of conservation concern range from ones that are clearly in danger of extinction, such as the Niangua darter, to species like the pink planaria at Rock Bridge State Park, whose dependency on limited habitat causes us to worry that they could become endangered in the future," says Butler. "We no longer use the formal classification of 'rare,' 'threatened' and 'endangered' in Missouri. Instead, we rate species' degree of imperilment according to a scale of one to five, with one being the most imperilled."
Ratings of imperilment are based on historical documentation and on data gathered especially for the Natural Heritage Program since 1981. Abundance, population trend, number of protected sites where the species lives, the trend in amount of suitable habitat and the species' life history all figure in the equation.
More important than imperilment ratings, says Butler, is the practical value of state and national natural heritage databases. The information allows biologists with state and federal agencies to identify troubled species before the danger becomes critical. It helps them plan recovery programs, and when those programs succeed, data about species' recovery allows them to be upgraded or removed from the list of species of concern. When Conservation Department foresters plan timber sales on state land, they check the natural heritage database first to make sure the timber harvest won't adversely affect species or natural communities of concern.
The same information helps other government agencies and private conservation groups take action to protect the living resources on their land. When utility companies install pipelines or electrical power rights-of-way, they consult natural heritage databases first.
Butler says she spends about half of her time fulfilling requests for information from the natural heritage database and the other half adding to and updating the information it contains.
That information, along with data from other states and from federal agencies has been distilled in the hardbound "Precious Heritage" book. It is the first time that the information housed in each of the state Natural Heritage Programs has been collected and analyzed from a national perspective, thus providing the most comprehensive look yet at the nation's overall biological health.
The 399-page book includes dozens of tables, hundreds of color photographs and a wealth of information about the life histories of unusual plants and animals. "Precious Heritage" (Oxford University Press, $45.00) is available from booksellers nationwide. It can be ordered by calling at 800/451-7556 or via the Internet at www.oup-usa.org.
"The news in 'Precious Heritage' is both good and bad," says Butler. "It gives us an even greater incentive to protect these priceless landscapes for future generations."
To that end, The Nature Conservancy has committed $1 billion in private funds to protecting critical natural areas around the world through its new Campaign for Conservation.
As the eminent Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson notes in his forward, "Few people, including many scientists who specialize in biodiversity, have grasped the full magnitude of the American biota as summarized by the 'Precious Heritage' authors."
"The good news," says the book's lead author, Dr. Bruce A. Stein, "is that Americans enjoy an incredibly rich natural heritage, from rare fish surviving in desert oases, to the world's tallest treesCalifornia's coast redwoodsto Hawaii's honeycreepers, colorful birds whose evolutionary story rivals that of the famous Darwin's finches. The bad news is that Americans risk losing much of this wealth if current trends continue."
"Lack of knowledge about the condition and distribution of our species and ecosystems is one of the greatest impediments to protecting the nation's extraordinary diversity of life," says Mary Klein, board chair of ABI. "By providing ready access to this critical information, ABI and the state Natural Heritage Programs provide a vital tool for balancing efforts to meet the needs of our natural world with the needs of a growing human population."
The book is illustrated with maps pinpointing biodiversity "hot spots" around the U.S., including a special section on aquatic species and their plight. It points out the astonishing abundance of unique life forms found only in America's streams, rivers and lakes. A single river in Tennessee, for example, contains more fish species than are found in all of Europe. The study also reveals the U.S. as one of the most diverse countries on an ecosystem scale, harboring a high percentage of the world's broadleaf forests, temperate grasslands, and Mediterranean-climate vegetation.
The Nature Conservancy is a private, international, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 11 million acres in the United States and Canada, and have helped through partnerships to preserve more than 60 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Conservancy owns and manages more than 1,340 preserves, the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world. You can visit the Conservancy on the internet at www.tnc.org.
The ABI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and providing information about the world's plants, animals, and ecological communities. Working in partnership with 85 independent Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers that gather scientific information on rare species and ecosystems in the U.S., Latin America, and Canada, ABI is a leading source for the biodiversity information that is essential for effective conservation action. You can visit the ABI on the internet at www.abi.org.
- Jim Low -
A mix of bass, bluegill and catfish is standard for Missouri ponds.
JEFFERSON CITY--Spring is blanketing the land, and with it come thoughts of fishing. It's a good time, too, for owners of private ponds to apply for free fish for pond stocking from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
An application for fish to be stocked in private impoundments is available from Conservation Department offices and must be completed and returned by July 15. The offer is limited to new or fishless ponds; owners of older ponds with existing fish populations are not eligible for the free fingerlings.
Stocking farm ponds is an important program in Missouri. The Conservation Department estimates about 14 percent of all fishing trips take place on private ponds. Fish are made available for about 800 new ponds each year.
The Conservation Department provides three different combinations of fish based on which county the pond is located in. A full or 100 percent stocking rate includes 100 bass, 500 bluegill and 100 catfish per acre of water. The other two rates offer reduced numbers of fish. This is because farm ponds in counties with more fertile soil will support more fish, just as more fertile soils will produce more crops.
Distribution of bluegill and channel catfish is normally made in September, while largemouth bass are normally distributed in June of the following year. Owners of ponds 10 acres or less in size must be prepared to make two trips to a site in the county to pick up their fish when they become available. They are told how much water to bring to transport the fish.
The Conservation Department inspects a pond after the owner submits an application and determines its suitability for fish. Owners are notified of the results of the inspection in September. Landowners who are accepted for fish stocking are notified when the fish are available to be picked up.
Minimum standards for receiving the free fish fingerlings include a pond or lake that is at least 8 feet deep. The water and shoreline must be protected from livestock use, though impoundments over 5 acres need not be fenced. The dam must be constructed for permanency and water tightness and the drainage area should be adequate but not excessive for water storage. No undesirable fish, as determined by the impoundment inspector, may be present prior to stocking. Eligibility for stocking can be reevaluated after the removal of undesirable species. This may be done with approval from the Conservation Department, but costs are borne by the landowner.
A combination of largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish is provided. A largemouth bass/bluegill option only is available at the landowner's request. Fish are young-of-the-year; sizes range from one to four inches.
Pond owners are free to choose to purchase fish from commercial sources, as authorized in the Wildlife Code. Fish purchased from commercial sources are not subject to the Wildlife Code regulations. The Conservation Department does not sell fish, but only makes them available free to qualifying landowners with new or fishless ponds.
For an application for fish for pond stocking, contact your nearest Conservation Department regional service center, or call 573-751-4115.
- Jim Auckley -
Copyright ©2008 Conservation Commission of Missouri. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use