CONSERVATION FEDERATION
For more than eighty-nine years, the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) has served as “The Voice for Missouri Outdoors.” Join in our efforts to secure our stronghold as advocates for our state’s wildlife and natural resources by becoming a dedicated member of our Founders Circle.
Your contribution will play an influential role in preserving Missouri’s rich outdoor legacy.
Each year, earnings from the endowment will be used to support CFM’s education and advocacy efforts. Special recognition will be given to those who reach each level of giving. Additionally, memberships will be recognized at our annual Convention.
Make your contribution today, to preserving our state’s conservation legacy.
Come home to conservation at CFM’s 89th Annual Convention
The 89th Annual Convention is fast approaching, and we sincerely hope you, as a dedicated and supportive member, plan to join us for this important event. The convention embodies the very essence of our mission: Advocacy, Education, and Partnerships.
Again this year, the event will be held in two parts: The virtual sessions will take place from February 25–March 5 (Resource Advisory Committee meetings). The Inperson gathering is from March 7-9 at the Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, Missouri.
The Resource Advisory Committee meetings that start on the evening of February 25th are a great opportunity to engage in conservation discussions and share your voice. The knowledge and passion of our conservation professionals and members never cease to amaze me. CFM members are welcome to attend as many or as few sessions as they like, based on their interests.
Friday evening will feature the Awards Ceremony, where we celebrate the achievements of conservation professionals and award scholarships to deserving students. This event recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have made significant contributions to conserving Missouri's wildlife and natural resources. Join us to celebrate some amazing achievements of some very dedicated Missourians.
We will also host activities for the Conservation Leadership Corps (CLC) students. These young leaders will have opportunities to interact with resource professionals, hone their leadership skills, and participate in the resolution process. Their enthusiasm and energy are truly inspiring, as they represent the future of conservation. Please make them feel welcome and supported when you see them.
Saturday morning will include updates from leaders at the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Mark Twain National Forest, followed by educational breakout sessions. We’ve planned something engaging and informative for every member.
Affiliate Members will receive grants from the David A. Risberg Memorial Grant on Saturday during lunch at the Annual Convention. (Photo: Courtesy of CFM)
One of the weekend's most significant events is the General Assembly meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. During this session, our members will present and vote on resolutions. This is a vital moment for collective decision-making and a demonstration of the strength of our unified voice in conservation. You won’t want to miss it.
The convention will conclude on Saturday evening with a fundraising banquet featuring auction items and exciting trips up for bid. This lively event is a perfect opportunity for networking and fun. MDC Director Jason Sumners will deliver the keynote conservation address, and Miss Missouri will be in attendance as well. It’s a fun evening with lots of laughs and great auction items.
I am continually amazed by the dedication and hard work of the staff and volunteers who make this event possible. We couldn’t do it without you - thank you all from the bottom of my heart!
For more details about the convention, visit our website at confedmo.org/convention.
We hope you’ll join us for all or part of the weekend to ensure your voice is heard in the ongoing effort to protect Missouri’s great outdoors.
Yours in Conservation, Tyler Schwartze
CFM Executive Director, Editor
Proustian
STAFF
Tyler Schwartze - Executive Director, Editor
Micaela Haymaker - Director of Operations
Michelle Gabelsberger - Membership Manager
Nick Darling - Education and Communications Coordinator
Trisha Ely - Development & Events Coordinator
Joan VanderFeltz - Administrative Assistant
Emma Kessinger - Creative Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive Committee:
Bill Kirgan, President
Ginny Wallace, President-Elect
Steve Jones, Vice President
Benjamin Runge, Secretary
Bill Lockwood, Treasurer
Board Members:
Richard Ash
Mossie Schallon
Gary Van De Velde
Dick Wood
Nathan McLeod
Jake Swafford
Emily Tracy-Smith
Jim Low
Ryan Verkamp
Ralph Duren
Katherine Brookshire
Leanne Tippett-Mosby
Adam Sapp
Emily Schrader
Jennifer Battson-Warren
Kyle Carroll
Bill Cooper
Dana Ripper
Zach Morris
Bill McGuire
Lisa Allen
Tom Westhoff
Mike Schallon
Katie Marsh
Governor Jay Nixon
Wes Swee
David Urich
Shirley Wolverson
Jeff Meshach
Kathie Brennan
Laurie Wilson
William Hall
Michael Meredith
Alexander Scott
Ryan Coovert
April Hoffman
Jean Nock
Eric Rahm
Dave Murphy
Troy Beilsmith
ABOUT THE MAGAZINE
Conservation Federation (ISSN 1082-8591), Copyright 1938, is published 6 times a year in January, March, May, July, September, and November by the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM), 728 West Main, Jefferson City, MO 65101. Of each member’s dues, $10 shall be for a year’s subscription to Conservation Federation. Call (573) 634-2322 to become a member. Periodicals Postage paid at Jefferson City, MO.
Send address changes to:
Conservation Federation 728 West Main Jefferson City, MO 65101
FRONT COVER
Dan Bernskoetter took a photo of this Kentucky Warbler at Binder Lake in Cole County using a Canon R5 camera and RF100-500mm lens at f/7.1, 1/2000 sec. and ISO1250.
Thank you to all of our Business Partners.
Platinum
Gold
Doolittle Trailer
Enbridge, Inc.
G3 Boats
Silver
Forrest Keeling Nursery
Lilley’s Landing Resort & Marina
Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
Bronze
Association of Missouri Electric Coop.
Black Widow Custom Bows, Inc.
Burgers’ Smokehouse
Central Electric Power Cooperative
Iron
AJ's Automotive & Air Conditioning
Bass Pro Shops (Independence)
Bee Rock Outdoor Adventures
Big Bear Butcher Shop
Boone Electric Cooperative
Brockmeier Financial Services
Cap America
Central Bank
Custom Promotional Branding
Pure Air Natives
Redneck Blinds
Rusty Drewing Chevrolet
Roeslein Alternative Energy, LLC
Mitico Quaker Windows
Starline, Inc.
St. James Winery
Drury Hotels
HMI Fireplace Shop
Hodgdon Powder Company, Inc.
Missouri Wine & Grape Board
NE Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.
NW Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.
Ozark Bait and Tackle
Woods Smoked Meats
Dickerson Park Zoo
Farmer’s Co-op Elevator Association
FCS Financial
Gascosage Electric Cooperative
General Printing Service
GREDELL Engineering Resources, Inc.
Heartland Seed of Missouri LLC
Hulett Heating & Air Conditioning
Independent Stave Company
Joe Machens Ford
Lewis County Rural Electric Coop.
Marble Graphics II LLC
Midwest Mailing Services
ModernLitho Jefferson City
Moneta Group
On Time Toner and Supplies LLC
Truman’s Bar & Grill
United Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Your business can benefit by supporting conservation. For all sponsorship opportunities, call (573) 634-2322.
"The Voice for Missouri Outdoors"
Mission: To ensure conservation of Missouri’s wildlife and natural resources, and preservation of our state’s rich outdoor legacy through advocacy, education and partnerships.
In 1935, conservationists from all over Missouri came together to form the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) with the purpose to take politics out of conservation. The efforts of our founders resulted in the creation of Missouri's non-partisan Conservation Commission and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). Since then, CFM has been the leading advocate for the outdoors in Missouri.
Partnerships
Over 100 affiliated organizations
Share the Harvest
Corporate & Business Partnerships
State & Federal Agency Partnerships
National Wildlife Federation Affiliate
Operation Game Thief
Operation Forest Arson
David A. Risberg Memorial Grants
Missouri Stream Team
Education
Conservation Leadership Corps
Missouri Collegiate Conservation Alliance
Confluence of Young Conservation Leaders
Affiliate Summit
Scholarships for youth and students
Governor’s Youth Turkey Hunt
National Archery in the Schools Grants
Conservation Federation Magazine
Advocacy
Legislative Action Center
Resolutions to lead change
Natural Resource Advisory Committees
Conservation Day at the Capitol Staff and members testify in hearings for conservation and natural resources
Ways You Can Support CFM
Support our efforts to promote and protect conservation and natural resources in our state. Members will receive our magazine six times a year, event information, our bi-weekly enewsletter, and the opportunity to grow our voice.
Membership
CFM provides the platform for a diverse group of organizations to have their conservation voices be heard. Affiliates have the opportunity to apply for grants, receive educational training and promote the mission of their organization.
and Grant Support
Life Membership
Become a life member for $1,000. Life memberships are placed in an endowment fund that allows us to continue our work in perpetuity.
Business Partnerships
Business partners will enjoy recognition in each magazine issue along with opportunities to reach and engage with our active membership. Ask us about our different Business Partnership levels.
Event Sponsorship and Product Donation
All of our events have raffles with both silent and live auctions. The contributions of in-kind products and services not only assists in raising funds for conservation, but also promote the businesses that support CFM. Scholarships
CFM provides scholarships to graduates and undergraduates. We also provide grant funds to youth education programs and to affiliate projects. Contributing will help future generations initiate boots on the ground projects.
President's Message
New Beginnings
As I write this in mid-December and the winter chill is setting in, I’m thinking of the coming year and all that it holds. With the uncertainty that comes with a change in political administrations and the cold dark days of winter on the doorstep, I take heart in seeing buds on the dogwood trees promising that spring will be coming again and all that the New Year holds.
The coming year holds a lot for CFM.
On March 7-9, we will hold our annual convention at Lodge of the Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks where over 300 will gather to recognize leaders in conservation, parks and the environment, hear great speakers, have raffles and enjoy each other’s company.
On April 2nd, we will have our annual day at the Capitol, where CFM affiliate organizations and board members will meet with our legislators and discuss pending legislation concerning the many bills that always deal with matters of the outdoors.
On April 10th, there will be a banquet in Springfield where like-minded folks will gather to enjoy fellowship, a good meal and have some fun.
In June, CFM will hold a golf tournament to raise funds for the Share the Harvest program, which helps provide venison for those in need.
On July the 10th, we’ll have another banquet in Columbia for folks in that part of the state.
On September the 10th, we will have a very special meeting to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the forming of the Conservation Federation of Missouri at the Tiger Hotel in Columbia where it all began.
Along the way, there will be youth hunts, stream clean float trips, and many meetings. As you can see, CFM is a very active organization. I hope, if you’re not currently a member, that you will join us. If you’re already a member, thank you for your support and I hope to see you at some of our events. Be sure to check out our full events schedule on page 9.
In the meantime, as you will be able to read this, spring will be arriving, trout will be biting, turkeys will be gobbling and the dogwood tree will be keeping its promise!
All the Best!
Bill Kirgan
CFM President
2025 Events Schedule
50/50 Online Raffle - January - April - July - October
Take your chance at half the pot during our quarterly 50/50 raffles
th
89 Annual Convention - Virtual - Feb. 25-27, March 4-6; In Person - March 7-8
Let your voice be heard at the Annual Convention. The event will include meetings, awards, auctions, and so much more Held at the Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark.
Conservation Day at the Capitol - April 2
Join conservationists from across Missouri on the radio for a day of celebrating and supporting conservation and natural resources The broadcast will air from 6 am to 10 am on 96.7 FM or KCMQ.com
Conservation Federation Banquet: Springfield - April 10
Join us for a fantastic meal while networking and supporting CFM
Share The Harvest Golf Tournament - June 9
Tee off for a great cause at our golf tournament at Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City to support
Share the Harvest!
CFM Life Member Event - June 28
CFM will be hosting its 4th annual life member only event.
Conservation Federation Banquet: Columbia - July 10
Join us for an unforgettable evening at our Columbia banquet at Bass Pro, featuring great food, exciting auctions, and a chance to support CFM!
Mega Raffle - Starts in August - Drawing December 5
Enter our Mega Raffle for a chance to win big prizes and support CFM!
Pull for Conservation: Central - August 9
Take your best shot at the 19th annual Central clay shoot at Prairie Grove Shotgun Sports
Fall Online Auction - September 8-19
Enjoy a fun and interactive online auction with many great trips and prizes
90th Anniversary Celebration - September 10
Join us at the historic Tiger Hotel, the birthplace of the CFM, as we commemorate this significant milestone
Enjoy special events and activities that honor our rich legacy and look forward to a bright future.
Affiliate Summit - September 11
CFM affiliate organizations are invited to network and learn.
Holiday Online Auction - December 1-12
Bid on many exciting items just in the time for the holidays.
Event dates are subject to change Please visit www confedmo org or follow us on social media for the most up to date schedule
CFM MISSION:
To ensure conservation of Missouri's wildlife and natural resources, and preservation of our state's rich outdoor legacy through advocacy, education and partnerships.
Why I Became a Life Member: Bill Bryan, Former Director of Missouri State Parks
Hunting and fishing were popular activities in my family, and thanks to my Uncle Butch and cousin Russell Joe, I gravitated to them naturally and effortlessly. This heritage led me to become an avid quail and waterfowl hunter and angler. As a Scout, I also embraced camping, hiking, and paddling, but my true passion always has been fishing-anytime, anywhere and everywhere.
Flyfishing has taken me to many places I never would have experienced without a rod in my hand. And my life has been immeasurably better for it. Over the years, I have shared many too hot, cold, wet, windy days, early mornings and late nights around a campfire with the best of friends and family. In fact, the most memorable days have been some of the worst by conventional standards! This togetherness is something I will always value and appreciate.
Last but not least, the things you see when you spend time outdoors cannot be experienced on the couch or in the car. You have to get out there.
Spending time outdoors is a tonic for the mind, body and soul that makes people healthier and happier. I know I am blessed to have these opportunities and a supportive family; being a life member is a small way to protect our heritage, resources and opportunities for others to experience the same joy and respite I have found in the outdoors. To me, being a life member celebrates what the outdoor life has given to me and helps enable it for others.
In Memory & Honor
Harold Frazier
MD Metal Recycling Services Inc.
Joseph Marcus
Mr and Mrs Richard Ash
Luke Moreland
Mr and Mrs Richard Ash
Bob Wilson
Mr and Mrs Richard Ash
Wilbur Falke
Mr and Mrs Richard Ash
Cindy James
Mr and Mrs Richard Ash
Life member Bill Bryan enjoying a beautiful Missouri day fishing on the water with friends. (Photo: Gary Park)
LIFE MEMBERS OF CFM
Charles Abele
* R. Philip Acuff
* Duane Addleman
* Nancy Addleman
Tom Addleman
Nancy Addleman
* Michael Duane Addleman
James Agnew
Carol Albenesius
Craig Alderman
* Allan Appell
Victor Arnold
Bernie Arnold
Richard Ash
Judy Kay Ash
Carolyn Auckley
Debbie Audiffred
Doug Audiffred
Ken Babcock
Bernie Bahr
Michael Baker
* James Baker
Dane Balsman
Timothy Barksdale
Lynn Barnickol
Jamie Barton
Michael Bass
Robert Bass
Don Bedell
Thomas Bell
David F. Bender
Rodger Benson
Leonard Berkel
Barbi Berrong
Jim Blair
John Blankenbeker
Andy Blunt
Jeff Blystone
Kim Blystone
Glenn Boettcher
Arthur Booth
* Dale Linda Bourg
Stephen Bradford
Marilynn Bradford
Robin Brandenburg
Mark Brandly
Kathie Brennan
Robert Brinkmann
Lon Brockmeier
Katherine Brookshire
* Scott Brundage
Bill Bryan
Alan Buchanan
Connie Burkhardt
Dan Burkhardt
Charles Burwick
Brandon Butler
Randy Campbell
Brian Canaday
Dale Carpentier
Joe Cater
* Glenn Chambers
Bryan Chilcutt
Ed Clausen
* Edward Clayton
* Ron Coleman
Denny Coleman
Rhonda Coleman
Liz Cook
Bill Cooper
Elizabeth Copeland
Mark Corio
* Bill Crawford
Andy Dalton
DeeCee Darrow
Ryan Diener
Joe Dillard
Randy Doman
Tim Donnelly
Cheryl Donnelly
Ron Douglas
Chuck Drury
* Charlie Drury
Tom Drury
Ethan Duke
Mike Dunning
William Eddleman
John Enderle
Theresa Enderle
Joe Engeln
Marlin Fiola
* Mary Louise Fisher
Howard Fisher
Andrew Fleming
Matt Fleming
Howard Fleming
Sara Fleming
Lori Fleming
Paula Fleming
* Charles Fleming
Bob Fry
Manley Fuller
David Galat
Gene Gardner
Matt Gaunt
Jason Gibbs
Timothy Gordon
Blake Gornick
David Graber
Tim Grace
Jody Graff
Richard & Sally Graham
* Joseph Gray
Tom Gredell
Tyler Green
Jason Green
Gery Gremmelsbacher
Debbie Gremmelsbacher
Jason Gremmelsbacher
Bernie Grice Jr.
Mark & Kathy Haas
Tom & Margaret Hall
Christopher Hamon
* Deanna Hamon
J. Jeff Hancock
Herman Hanley
Keith Hannaman
Elizabeth Hannaman
Lonnie Hansen
John Harmon
* Milt Harper
Jack Harris
David Haubein
Jessica Hayes
* Susan Hazelwood
Mickey Heitmeyer
Loring Helfrich
* LeRoy Heman
* Randy Herzog
Todd Higgins
Bill Hilgeman
Jim Hill
April Hoffman
Mike Holley
Rick Holton
CW Hook
* Allan Hoover
Bryan Horgiss
John Hoskins
Todd Houf
* Mike Huffman
Wilson Hughes
Larry Hummel
* Patricia Hurster
Kyna Iman
Jason Isabelle
Jim Jacobi
Aaron Jeffries
Robert Jernigan
Jerry Jerome
Roger & Debbie Johnson
* Don Johnson
* Malcolm Johnson
* Pat Jones
Steve Jones
John Karel
Thomas Karl
Jim Keeven
* Duane Kelly
Cosette Kelly
Junior Kerns
Todd Keske
Robert Kilo
* Martin King
Bill Kirgan
* Judd Kirkham
* Ed Kissinger
Sarah Knight
TJ Kohler
Jeff Kolb
Chris Kossmeyer
Chris Koster
Dan Kreher
Carl Kurz
* Ann Kutscher
Larry Lackamp
Kyle Lairmore
* Jay Law
Michael Leach
* Gerald Lee
Debra Lee
Mark Lee
Randy Leible
Wade Leible
* Joel LeMaster
* Norman Leppo
* John Lewis
Bill Lockwood
Leroy Logan
Christine Logan - Hollis
Bob Lorance
Ike Lovan
Wayne Lovelace
Kimberley LovelaceHainsfurther
Jim Low
Mark Loyd
Mary Lyon
Emily Lute-Wilbers
Martin MacDonald
Michael Mansell
Steve Maritz
Danny Marshall
Edward Martin
John Mauzey
Cydney Mayfield
Bill McCully
Chip McGeehan
Teresa McGeehan
Justin McGuire
Nathan "Shags" McLeod
Jon McRoberts
Richard Mendenhall
Tom Mendenhall
Donna Menown
John "Mitch" Mertens
Cynthia Metcalfe
Walter Metcalfe
Larry Meyer
Stephanie Michels
Brooks Miller
Mitchell Mills
Joshua Millspaugh
Davis Minton
Bill Moeller
Lowell Mohler
John Moore, Jr.
Gary Moreau
Johnny Morris
Mary Morris
Zachary Morris
John Mort
Leanne Mosby
Steve Mowry
Diana Mulick
David Murphy
* Dean Murphy
Richard Mygatt
* Steve Nagle
Rehan Nana
Robert Naumann
Phil Needham
J. Roger Nelson
Jeremiah (Jay) Nixon
Gary Novinger
Frank & Judy Oberle
Larry O'Reilly
Charlie & Mary O’Reilly
Beth O'Reilly
Anya O'Reilly
Jeff Owens
Austin Owens
Jeffrey Panchot
Sara Parker Pauley
Scott Pauley
Randy Persons
Edward Petersheim
Albert Phillips
Jan Phillips
Glenn & Ilayana Pickett
Jessica Plaggenberg
Becky Plattner
Zach Pollock
Jerry Presley
Albert Price
Nick Prough
Kirk Rahm
Kurtis Reeg
John Rehagen
David & Janice Reynolds
Carey Riley
Kevin Riley
Mike Riley
Dana Ripper
John Risberg
Mary Risberg
Ann Ritter
Charles Rock
Derrick Roeslein
Rudy Roeslein
Charles Rogers
Kayla Rosen
Gerald Ross
Pete Rucker
Benjamin Runge
Tyler Ruoff
William Ruppert
Tom Russell
Jacob Sampsell
Bruce Sassmann
Jan Sassmann
Frederick Saylor
Michael Schallon
Mossie Schallon
* Evelyn Schallon
Thomas Schlafly
Pamela Schnebelen
Don Schultehenich
Deb Schultehenrich
Tyler Schwartze
* Ronald Schwartzmeyer
Timothy Schwent
Travis W. Scott
George Seek
Arlene Segal
* E. Sy Seidler
* Sara Seidler
Joshua Shadwick
Anita Siegmund
Emily Sinnott
Douglas Smentkowski
Gary & Susanna Smith
Zachary Smith
* M.W. Sorenson
* Ed Stegner
Jeff Stegner
Everett Stokes
William Stork Jr. Winifred Stribling Norm Stucky Mary Stuppy
* Mark Sullivan
Jacob Swafford Jim Talbert
Norman Tanner Travis Taylor Richard Thom Don Thomas
Tim Thompson
Jim Thornburg
* Jeff Tillman
Robert Tompson
Mike Torres
Matt Tucker
David Urich
Jennifer Urich
Alex Uskokovich
Gary Van De Velde
Barbara vanBenschoten
Lee Vogel
Albert Vogt
Frank Wagner
Ray Wagner
* Julius Wall
Ginny Wallace
Mervin Wallace
Randy Washburn
Mary Waters
* Henry Waters, III.
Daniel Weinrich
Michael Weir
Robert Werges
Evelyn Werges Bennish
Tom Westhoff
Gary Wheeler
Georganne Wheeler Nixon
Rayburn Whitener
Mark Williams
Dennis Williams
Dr. Jane Williams
Stephen Wilson
Michael Wilson
Laurie Wilson
Jonathan Wingo
Jon R. Wingo
Michael Wiseman
Daniel Witter
Brenda Witter
* Addie Witter
Owen Witter
Shirley Wolverson
Dick Wood
Howard Wood
Joyce Wood
Nicole Wood
Charles M. Wormek
Brad Wright
Evan Wright
Suzanne Wright
David Young
Judy Young
Dan Zekor
Daniel Zerr
Jim Zieger
Robert Ziehmer
Emily Ziehmer
Lauren Ziehmer
Colton Zirkle
Ethan Zuck
Guy Zuck
Mark Zurbrick
*Deceased
Marble Graphics Spotlight
Marble Graphics manufactures a full line of highquality cultured marble products. Our awards are perfect for anyone from the employee of the month to the company CEO. Our collection of finely crafted cultured marble awards can acknowledge achievement or recognize outstanding effort. Each award is skillfully rendered in high-quality cultured marble and then beautifully laser engraved with your logo, recipient's name, and their achievement. We can also take your picture, and laser engrave it in any of our marble products. Our timeless personalized designs will be cherished by their recipients for generations.
Although marble is our specialty, we offer a variety of other products. We carry acrylic awards, wooden plaques, and wooden plaques with brass or marble. In addition to awards, we carry desk accessories, wedding gifts, staterelated products, name badges, and paperweights.
We have been designing and manufacturing marble products and awards since 1983. We are experienced in catering to all types of businesses, civic organizations, associations, and individuals. Our quality workmanship and ability to meet your needs in a timely manner have established our outstanding reputation. Call them at (573) 636-7620, visit them online at marblegraphics.com, or come to their location at 1424 Jefferson St. in Jefferson City, MO.
Missouri Wine and Grape Board
The Missouri Wine and Grape Board (MWGB), a division of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, is dedicated to promoting the growth and economic advancement of the grape-growing industry within Missouri. Our objectives focus on enhancing interest and support for our state's grape, grape juice, and wine sectors. Collaborating with CFM plays a crucial role in supporting our grape growers and advocating for Missouri's natural resources.
The Wine and Grape Board collaborates with wholesalers, restaurants, retailers, and the general public to promote Missouri wines and juices. Their main focus is to enhance consumer awareness regarding the quality and availability of these products. They achieve this through events, brochures, press releases, and published articles. The overarching aim is to establish a comprehensive program that guarantees high-quality wine and juice product while fostering the growth of Missouri's grape and wine industry.
By hosting wine tastings, vineyard tours and educational events, they provide opportunities for consumers to engage directly with local producers and learn about the unique characteristics of Missouri wines. The Board also supports research initiatives that improve grape cultivation and wine production techniques, ensuring that the industry's standards continue to rise. Through partnerships with universities and agricultural experts, they contribute to sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and the local economy. Ultimately, their efforts not only celebrate the rich heritage of Missouri's wine country but also pave the way for future innovations and successes in this vibrant industry.
Affiliate Highlights
Renew Missouri
In 2023, the global fossil fuel industry received a record $7 trillion in subsidies, maintaining its powerful grip on the energy market with regulatory and legislative influence. But who advocates for clean, renewable alternatives like wind, solar, and energy efficiency? The answer is Renew Missouri!
Since 2006, Renew Missouri, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been at the forefront of advancing clean energy initiatives in Missouri. We’ve successfully pushed for legislation, statewide ballot initiatives, and local ordinances that support renewable energy. We’ve also engaged with Rural Electric Cooperatives and Community Action Agencies as advocates to offer energy audits and rebate programs, helping residents cut heating and cooling costs.
Renew Missouri plays a key role in energy advocacy, regularly testifying before the Public Service Commission to address rate hikes and other energy-related issues. Our ongoing mission is to reduce the financial burden of energy costs for all Missourians.
One of the most effective ways to lower energy bills is through energy efficiency. Renew Missouri promotes energy audits and expanded rebate programs through the state’s 47 Rural Electric Cooperatives. While some cooperatives are making great strides, others have yet to offer meaningful support for members trying to lower their bills. We’re also working to expand broadband access in rural areas.
Just as electricity transformed rural life in the 1930s, today, reliable internet access opens opportunities for remote work and access to essential healthcare and educational services.
Advocacy is central to Renew Missouri’s mission as we constantly engage with decision-makers. We also offer CLE credits through webinars, host in-person seminars, and other events, like our Advocacy Summit, where leaders share strategies for promoting clean energy policies.
Although Renew Missouri doesn’t have formal membership, we’re supported by donations and grants. You can get involved by signing up for our newsletter and staying updated on important energy issues. Visit RenewMO.org and follow us on social media to join the effort!
Together with natural allies like the Conservation Federation of Missouri, we’re working toward a cleaner environment and affordable, reliable energy for all.
Top - This rural Texas County farm uses solar panels in what is a fast emerging field of Agrivoltaics. The ground mounted solar panels double as cattle shade for the farms livestock while coupled with the barn mounted panels in the background help power waterwells for the home and livestock. (Photo: David Stokely)
Left - Renew Missouri participates in many community events to offer current information regarding clean renewable energy. (Photo: David Stokely)
Affiliate Organizations
Anglers of Missouri
Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives
Basshole Bass Club
Bass Slammer Tackle
Burroughs Audubon Society of Greater Kansas City
Capital City Fly Fishers
Chesterfield Citizens Committee for the Environment
Columbia Audubon Society
Conservation Foundation of Missouri Charitable Trust
Dark Sky Missouri
Deer Creek Sportsman Club
Duckhorn Outdoors Adventures
Festus-Crystal City Conservation Club
Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri
Forest Releaf of Missouri
Friends of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Greater Ozarks Audubon Society
Greenbelt Land Trust of Mid-Missouri
Greenway Network, Inc.
James River Basin Partnership
L-A-D Foundation
Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance
Land Learning Foundation
Legends of Conservation
Magnificent Missouri
Mid Mo Prescribed Burn Assn.
Mid-Missouri Outdoor Dream
Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited
Midwest Diving Council
Mississippi Valley Duck Hunters Association
Missouri Association of Meat Processors
Missouri Atlatl Association
Missouri B.A.S.S. Nation
Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative
Missouri Birding Society
Missouri Bluebird Society
Missouri Bow Hunters Association
Missouri Caves & Karst Conservancy
Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Missouri Chapter of the Wildlife Society
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Missouri Conservation Corps
Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation
Missouri Conservation Pioneers
Missouri Consulting Foresters Association
Missouri Disabled Sportsmen
Missouri Ducks Unlimited- State Council
Missouri Environmental Education Association
Missouri Environmental Education Projects
Missouri Forest Products Association
Missouri Grouse Chapter of QUWF
Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation
Missouri Master Naturalist
- Great Rivers Chapter
Missouri Master Naturalist
- Hi Lonesome Chapter
Missouri Master Naturalist
- Meramec Hills Chapter
Missouri Master Naturalist
- Osage Trails Chapter
Missouri Master Naturalist
- Springfield Plateau Chapter
Missouri National Wild Turkey Federation
Missouri Native Seed Association
Missouri Outdoor Communicators
Missouri Park & Recreation Association
Missouri Parks Association
Missouri Prairie Foundation
Missouri River Bird Observatory
Missouri River Relief
Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc.
Missouri Rural Water Association
Missouri Smallmouth Alliance
Missouri Society of American Foresters
Missouri Soil & Water Conservation Society-Show-Me Chapter
Missouri Sport Shooting Association
Missouri State Campers Association
Missouri State Parks Foundation
Missouri Taxidermist Association
Missouri Trappers Association
Missouri Trout Fishermen's Association
Northside Conservation Federation
Open Space Council of the St. Louis Region
Outdoor Skills of America, Inc.
Ozark Chinquapin Foundation
Ozark Fly Fishers, Inc.
Ozark Land Trust
Ozark Riverways Foundation
Ozark Trail Association
Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club
Perry County Sportsman Club
Pomme De Terre Chapter Muskies
Quail & Upland Wildlife Federation, Inc.
Quail Forever & Pheasants Forever
Renew Missouri
River Access Coalition
River Bluffs Audubon Society
River City Foundation
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Scenic Missouri, Inc
Scenic Rivers Invasive Species Partnership (SRISP)
South Side Division CFM
Southwest Missouri Fly Fishers
St. Louis Audubon Society
Stream Teams United
Student Air Rifle Program
The Conservation Fund
Tipton Farmers & Sportsman's Club
Tri-Lakes Fly Fishers
Turtle Conservation Group
United Bowhunters of Missouri
Wild Bird Rehabilitation
Wild Souls Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation
WildHERness
Wonders of Wildlife
World Bird Sanctuary
Young Outdoorsmen United
5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Relics Event Center, Springfi eld, MO 2015 W. Battlefield Road Suite E
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Looking Back Missouri’s Conservation History
Whooping it up at the old Wildlife Building (E. Sydney Stephens Hall)!
The Missouri Conservation Commissioners decided to have a little fun at their March 1943 meeting in Columbia.
On Friday night before their Saturday meeting, the four Commissioners decided to forgo a lavish meal at the Tiger Hotel restaurant to have a sandwich supper at the Wildlife Building (also known as the Conservation Laboratory, and later was named Stephens Hall after E. Sydney Stephens who was a Conservation Commissioner at that time).
They gathered in Room 101 with eight or ten Conservation Department staff from Jeff City, several University fish and wildlife professors and all of the Conservation Department’s research personnel. At that time, the Conservation Department’s fish and wildlife research personnel and all fish and wildlife professors were housed in the Wildlife Building.
Conservation Department and University wives contributed sandwiches and a couple of cakes. There was also ice cream and coffee. However, the piece de resistance was pickled carp suckers. They had been prepared so they could be eaten bones and all and they quickly disappeared. It was recorded That I.T. Bode (the Missouri Department of Conservation’s first Director) scarfed down five of them which explained why some of the guests got none.
After supper, Department employees, and University professors took a few minutes to explain the nature of their work who had very little knowledge of it. Then came a tour of the building and finally some (very) close harmony in Room 9, led by Commissioner Turnbull, Paul Tulenko, D.E. Wade, and Sterling Kyd.
It wasn’t too long into this frivolity that the watchman appeared thinking that there must have been a violation of the university rule that prohibited imbibing on university property. But it was reported later that there had been no violation.
Photo Courtesy of University of Missouri
The Commissioners held an open meeting in the Tiger Hotel ballroom on Saturday the 27th of March. About 250 people attended. There were representatives from 15 or 20 land-use agencies and the they spoke briefly about the parts they play in the wildlife conservation programs of their groups. The climax was a short address in his best oratorical style by then Governor Donnell. The principal out-of-state speaker was Mr. Rutherford of the Fish and Wildlife Service from Chicago who was the head of all Pitman-Robertson government programs to fund wildlife research.
End Note: At the August 16, 1943 Commission meeting, Department of Conservation Director, I.T. Bode, offered his resignation in a dispute with Commissioner Turnbull over the assignment of an employee. Turnbull moved to accept, but did not get a second. Our guess is that if Mr. Bode had not eaten so many of the pickled carp at the March meeting this would never have happened!
Compiled by Joe G. Dillard from The First Fifty Years published by the Missouri Department of Conservation (James F. Keefe, editor) and Newsletter Number 9, April 1, 1943 published by the Missouri Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri.
Joe G. Dillard and Gene Brunk
About the Authors: Joe G. Dillard, a native Missourian, was born in Chillicothe and raised in Blue Mound. Dillard graduated from the University of Missouri in 1965 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fish and wildlife conservation and embarked on a career in fisheries with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). During his career with MDC, Dillard held many positions, including extension biologist, fisheries research supervisor, chief of the fisheries research section and fisheries administrative specialist.
Eugene (Gene) Brunk was born in Piedmont, Missouri in 1937. Gene was hired by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), and served in many capacities during a career that lasted 38 ½ years. He attended the University of Missouri, where he received a BS in forestry in 1959, and Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1959 to 1960. He received a masters degree in forestry from LSU in 1960. He retired from MDC In 1998 and continues to reside in Jefferson City. Gene is a 66 year member of the Society of American Foresters.
Editor's Note
Missouri has a uniquely rich and welldocumented conservation history, which has played a vital role in shaping where we are today. It’s a powerful reminder of the importance of staying committed to protecting our natural resources for future generations.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Joe G. Dillard, a retired MDC employee, who enthusiastically supported the idea of sharing conservation stories and offered to contribute his own experiences. He also suggested involving Gene Brunk, another retired MDC employee, in this effort. Over a cup of coffee, the three of us discussed the project, and they graciously agreed to share the bulk of these stories.
Maybe you have a unique story to add? I am eager to hear about your accounts, and share these, in hopes that they resonate with you as much as they do with me. Here’s to looking back and celebrating Missouri’s conservation history, and ensuring its legacy continues. Tyler
Spring into Ozarks Crappie Action
When the dogwoods bloom the crappie are biting. This old fishing axiom usually holds true on our Ozarks reservoirs since the tasty panfish are usually shallow and in the peak of their spawning cycle. However, crappie anglers can experience good fishing on our lakes throughout all stages of the spawning cycle, which can extend from mid-March through April.
Ozark's crappie nesting activity starts when the water temperature reaches about 56 degrees, according to observations by a fisheries biologist at Table Rock Lake. Nests are usually found in coves that are protected from wave action. Male crappie fan out nests at depths ranging from a few inches to 20 feet deep, but most of the Table Rock crappie nest at 10 to 14 feet deep.
During the prespawn and spawning stage, crappie can be taken on live bait such as minnows or a variety of artificial lures. Here is a look at how three local experts catch crappie in March and April on the following Ozarks reservoirs.
Table Rock Lake
“In mid-March we fish for suspended crappie and troll crankbaits like (Rapala) Shad Raps,” says guide Rick LaPoint. Positioning his boat over a channel 15 to 25 feet deep, LaPoint has his clients troll crankbaits or cast or drift double rigs with plastic tube baits. He usually ties a 1/16-ounce jighead above a 1/8-ounce version and attaches two tubes of different colors (blue-and-white, red-and-white, chartreuse, black-and-chartreuse or pearl) on the jigheads.
The pattern starts changing in mid-April when the water temperature climbs into the 60-degree range. LaPoint looks for brush piles in depths of 10 to 15 feet and has his clients cast Swimming Minnows or plastic tubes on either1/16- or 1/8-ounce jigs.
When the fish start nesting, LaPoint and his clients switch to a bobber-and-jig setup with a tube jig set about 1 foot below the float. This rig allows LaPoint’s customers to slowly reel and pop the floats while keeping the tube jig above the brush.
Bull Shoals Lake
By mid-March, local guide Frank Saksa keys on pre-spawn crappie staging over brush piles at this Missouri-Arkansas border lake. “A lot of times we find them--especially the larger females-- suspended out in front of the spawning coves,” says Saksa.
“The most ideal brush piles are sitting in 20 to 25 feet of water and the branches come up within 10 to 12 feet of the surface,” says Saska.
White, pinkand-white or smoke-colored Roadrunners and marabou jigs in 1/16- or 1/32-ounce sizes work best for these suspended fish. If the brush piles reach within 4 to 5 feet of the surface, Saksa also catches some fish on suspending stick baits.
Saksa finds spawning crappie along banks mixed with pea gravel and chunk rock in the coves when the water temperature climbs into the mid-60s. He catches nesting fish by swimming jigs at depths of 15 to 20 feet deep. Setting a minnow below a slip bobber rig works best for Saksa’s clients when the fish are inactive.
Lake of the Ozarks
Prespawn crappie move into brush piles and under docks about 8 to 10 feet deep in the coves by mid-March. Tournament veteran and guide Terry Blankenship catches these fish on Bobby Garland Lures Baby Shads and 3-inch Slab Slayers attached to 1/8- and 1/16-ounce weedless jigheads or Bobby Garland Lures Itty Bit Mayflies with 1/32and 1/64-ounce jigheads.
“The males will stay around the banks more, but for the females you just turn around and cast behind the boat to catch the bigger fish,” says Blankenship.
When the spawn peaks in mid to late April, Blankenship uses the same lures set about 1 foot below a bobber to catch nesting crappie in the shallows.
So keep an eye on the dogwoods this spring to find out when to try for crappie on your favorite Ozarks lake.
Minnows set below a float produce spawning crappie for guide Frank Saksa at Bull Shoals Lake. (Photo: John Neporadny Jr.) John Neporadny Jr.
COMMITTED TO COMMUNITY AND CONSERVATION
Owned by the members they serve, Missouri’s electric cooperatives do more than provide reliable and affordable electricity. They are active in their communities, concerned for the well-being of their neighbors and devoted to the rural way of life that makes the Show-Me State a special place to live, work and play. Missouri’s electric cooperatives are dedicated to protecting the land, air and water resources important to you and your quality of life.
PRIZES FOR CLOSEST TO THE PIN AND LONGEST DRIVE!
PRIZES BY FLIGHTS
Flights and cash payouts determined by number of teams.
Team registration will include food and drinks at the turn throughout the tournament.
Entry Fee: $400 per team of 4 golfers
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Proceeds will benefit CFM’s Share the Harvest program. Share the Harvest is a statewide program that helps provide nutritious, locally-sourced venison to Missouri families in need. By partnering with hunters, processors, and community organizations, Share the Harvest works to reduce hunger while promoting wildlife conservation and responsible hunting practices. All funds raised through the golf tournament will support this impactful program, ensuring it continues to provide food security and support conservation efforts across Missouri.
Proustian Moments
In my mind’s eye, I can still see her standing over the sink in the corner of the tiny apartment kitchen, plucking feathers from the goose I shot earlier that day. My first Canada goose. A vivid memory of my grandmother I’m thankful I can still recall, a memory I can touch anytime.
And then there’s the old color photograph taken with a Kodak Instamatic camera. A picture of a scrawny kid posing with a goose behind an apartment complex, wearing green military fatigues given to me by a neighbor and altered by my grandmother to fit; I didn’t own actual hunting clothes. A camouflage hunting cap atop my head, purchased in the sporting goods department of a nearby Montgomery Ward store. And on occasion when I hold my old Stevens 16-gauge in my arms, I can unlock the larger story. A goose tag. A man we called Schmitty. A rented hunting blind on a hillside. The shot and retrieve. A wild goose dinner.
Memories are powerful. Triggered by any number of cues – smells, taste, sounds, temperature, light, music, stories, old photos. Some are faded or rightfully buried. And some are just lost as the passing of time erases and deletes. People don’t smoke pipes anymore, and I’m certain a few memories of my father’s father have drifted away consequently. Leather boots and mink oil are not as prevalent, and so my memories of youthful pheasant hunts in southern Wisconsin seem fainter.
I’ve always tried to understand and explore the triggers and cues that activate these Proustian moments. And when the right cue appears and the contents of the old shoe box in my mind are spilled onto the floor, I encourage the flow of spontaneous emotion unleashed. Happiness, gratitude, sorrow, sadness, whatever comes, and whether a smile or laugh, an ache in my heart, or maybe a tear, I embrace the moment.
Flashes to be treated with kid gloves. More valuable than any possession because they can belong to only me and are the very essence of what it means to be human.
And attached to each are lessons learned, stories to be told, and a shared history. A legacy of time. And with a magnifying glass I peer deeper into eyes and the background of the moment, searching for context, imagining what is known and unknown, and wondering how it all came together.
Once, while rummaging through old photos, my mother found a picture of her father, my grandfather. He died too soon and my memory of him is almost non-existent. I heard the stories of his love for hunting and fishing, visited his cabin, fished from his wooden rowboat, but more definitive proof was sparse. The picture she passed on to me was a voice from the grave.
Standing next to the cabin, fish displayed atop the wood pile, I saw a fisherman, a sportsman in his element. And when I opened the envelope my mother sent along with the photo, I was stunned. Inside were two old federal duck stamps from 1935 and 1936, his signature across the front; he was a waterfowl hunter. In these artifacts I found the sinew connecting myth to story and story to truth. And in the fog of this truth stands his grandson who by coincidence or fate would become a fisherman, waterfowl hunter, and a conservationist.
Unfortunately, my people didn’t do a good job of keeping the old photos, and I, too, likely pitched some pictures and other odds and ends while searching through the remains of family belongings after their passing. A terrible mistake because I didn’t know their meaning or the story within. And with the passing of each day, the memories and stories drift further away, eventually becoming spiritual antiquities forever lost with the passing of each person they touched.
In his wildly imaginative book, SUM: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, David Eagleman, tells us, “There are three deaths: the first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.”
But what good is immortality without a memory and a few good stories? We cannot see into the future. And when we are young, the past is disposable; we live only in the moment. But memories, carefully curated, can linger and enrich our lives until the time comes when they vanish or their fossilized remains are left to interpretation by some budding family genealogist.
And so when they ask me, if you could have a conversation with any person from the past, who would it be? I can tell you it won’t be Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, or Socrates.
Grandpa, I’ve got some questions. Did you really try catching muskies with live red squirrels?
Dan Zekor
Cover Left - Grandpa at the cabin circa late1940s.
Cover Right - Dan proudly poses with his first goose.
Top - The old duck stamp.
Photos: Dan Zekor
The Charles Schwartz Murals: A Missouri Treasure
My small 8th grade class from Kingston, Missouri worked our way along the board catwalk outside the recently constructed Department of Conservation headquarters building. We were in the middle of our tour of the new facility built three years earlier. A pair of Canada geese pumped their wings, honked proudly, and skied to a landing in a nearby pond. That is when I noticed what was happening inside the building behind a large glass window. Just a few feet away, Charlie Schwartz was working on a painting. It was a memorable moment for me as a youngster. I was learning to draw, largely using the great illustrative art Schwartz created for publications produced by the Department of Conservation. I never forgot those few minutes watching Charlie work.
Charles W. Schwartz was born in 1914. “Charlie” as he was known, joined the Missouri Conservation Commission as a biologist in 1940. Along with his wife, Elizabeth (Libby), Charlie worked as an artist and filmmaker for 41 years until his retirement in 1981. The Missouri State Historical Society has a “Historic Missourians” page dedicated to them.
Their introduction describes how Charlie, one of the country’s most influential wildlife artists, and Libby, contributed significantly to the conservation and environmental movements of the twentieth century. Together they produced twenty-four nature films, like “Cottontail” and “Bobwhite Through the Year,” and wrote or illustrated a dozen important wildlife books.
With the help of Libby, Charles also designed more than a dozen popular stamps of fish and waterfowl. Charlie also illustrated Aldo Leopold’s Classic work, A Sand County Almanac, first published in 1949, along with a series of wild mammal articles he and Libby produced for the Missouri Conservationist Magazine. The Schwartz series eventually led to a 1959 book published by the University of Missouri and the Department of Conservation titled, The Wild Mammals of Missouri, still in print today.
One of Charlies most impressive legacies came about after the Department of Conservation completed construction on its new headquarters building on Truman Drive in Jefferson City in 1967, the same building that my class was touring when I got to see a glimpse of Charlie at work.
Charlie was tasked with creating a series of murals on the walls of the new headquarters’ reception area. The Schwartz murals would eventually cover all four walls of the foyer, telling the story of conservation in Missouri and becoming a treasure for all Missourians to enjoy.
It was an ambitious project, asking the artist to cover hundreds of square feet of walls with a coherent theme and still make it appealing artistically. The thought of how to proceed stumped Charlie in the beginning. Charlie’s son John explained in an e-mail to me how the mural project finally got moving. John wrote, “One of the earliest memories I have is, despite his artistic skill, Charlie had sort of a “writer’s block” about how to move forward with the overall design for the murals that would tie all the panels together. Libby’s mother, a skilled artist from Columbus, Ohio, was visiting us in Jefferson City one time and she and Charlie got to talking about visual design and patterns. She shared some knowledge she had about visual design concepts that resulted in a “jump start” for the murals and ended up being used throughout the journey until completion all those years later. He was always indebted to her for what she had taught him.”
“The journey” as John described it, began in 1965 when Schwartz began designing and working on the first panel of the murals. According to former MDC receptionist, Sharon Fockler, Charlie teamed up with his fellow Department biologist and artist Glenn Chambers to get the massive project started.
Using the concepts Charlie's mother-in-law had suggested, Fockler remembered, Charlie and Glen “drew wedges, triangles and rectangles on paper until they found a pleasing composition.” Next, the canvas surface that the painting would be done on was tacked to the wall.
At this point, Charlie projected the basic geometric patterns onto the canvas. Once these initial composition reference points were established and outlined, “Charlie started filing in the various shapes with charcoal sketches,” said Fockler, who had a ringside seat at the reception desk. The first images soon began to be transferred from the artist’s conception to the wall in the correct size and proportions. The thing was underway.
The idea was to pictorially tell the story of conservation, beginning with pre-settlement Missouri and its abundant wildlife. This would be panel number one. Illustrations of the early exploitation and abuse of Missouri’s natural resources would follow. The formation of the Conservation Commission would be depicted after this, and then efforts and activities related to modern wildlife management and the passage of “the design for conservation” would complete the series, which would consist of eight separate panels.
Charlie’s style of art was always biologically accurate. His painterly realism style is aesthetically pleasing while at the same time giving an accurate portrayal of his subject matter. What began to appear on the walls was strong, colorful, and didactic. The first four walls were magnificent. On panel one Schwartz chose to illustrate pre-settlement Missouri with the large tracts of forest, teaming with wildlife, that were home to the Osage and other native Americans. These were species and people that were once common, now largely gone in 1965. A mountain lion stands over a white-tailed buck, An Indian hoists a speared catfish, Carolina parakeets, river otters and wild turkeys are prominently worked onto the canvas.
Feature Story
There is no record of the Commission’s thought on how the murals were progressing, but they had to be pleased with what they saw. John remembers; “My older brother was the model for the Native American spearing a catfish and I think also the one plucking a teal.” [in the second panel.] Fockler remembers son John was the teal plucker.
MDC’s Regional Education Supervisor, Brian Flower’s describes the second panel and what Charlie’s intentions were in a 2021 Missouri Conservationist Article: “The second largest habitat in Missouri consisted of 15 million acres of prairies, and Schwartz chose this as the focus of his second mural. Ranging from tall grass prairies to sand prairies and loess hill prairies, Missouri was home to a diverse mix of native grasslands supporting a rich abundance of wildlife. The Wazhazhe (Osage) and the Niutachi (Missouria) both lived within Missouri’s prairie landscape. A man, perhaps from one of these cultures, is depicted plucking a blue-winged teal as he appears to be observing the abundance the land around him offers.”
The third panel depicts the coming of Euro-Americans and the exploitation of the resources they found. The tie man with the ax in panel number three was an 80-year-old who had been a tie hacker by trade. He squared the tie in the scene while Charlie sketched him, a direct link to Missouri’s history captured on canvas. The hunter in the background shooting a doe was Mike Milonski. The man shooting at the passenger pigeons is Charlie himself. The first four panels were eventually completed.
There were a lot of walls and Charlie’s time with the department was winding down. Receptionist Fockler remembers a year-and-a-half stretch between the first four panels and the initiation of painting on the last four panels. Some wondered if Charlie would actually finish the grand project.
After a hiatus, panels five and six were laid out. The beginning of the modern conservation era was represented by a weathered placard urging a vote for Proposition 4, the constitutional amendment that established the Department of Conservation. More fellow MDC employees were coaxed into modeling duties. Retired Director Carl Noren became a hunter in a red shirt. Charlie used quail biologist Jack Stanford as the model for a biologist releasing a wild turkey.
A trout angler and a trout stamp symbolized the Coldwater fisheries in the state, while a youngster with a bluegill tapped into a basic fishing experience available throughout the state. All were beautifully done. On the panel depicting restoration work, three wild turkey gobblers grab the viewers’ attention.
As Charlie’s retirement date approached, it became evident that he was not going to be able to finish the project as an employee. Partially finished canvases with sketches of the intended images stood in contrast to the masterful work on the other panels.
By now Charlie had included, as Flowers writes, “a welldeserved recognition of his wife and partner of 53 years, Libby Schwartz. Libby is depicted working on her box turtle research that she carried on from the couple’s home near Jefferson City. Next to Libby is one of several family pets, a black Labrador, who assisted in finding the reptiles.”
Some former Department of Conservation Employees remembered then Director Larry Gale suggesting to Charlie that someone else could finish the murals after he retired. This possibility was the impetus for Charlie to make the final push.
Charlie finished painting in 1981, after his retirement date, 16 years after the murals were first started. He and Libby moved to their retirement home in Idaho shortly thereafter. In 1987, a dedication of the completed series was held on the Department of Conservation’s 50th anniversary.
Charles Schwartz passed away in 1991. The Murals he created and the conservation history they portray are every bit as inspiring today as they were when the first brushstrokes were applied to the canvas 50 years ago. They are a moving reminder of what we have inherited as Missourians, how we abused it, and then did our best to restore it.
If you look closely at the panel in the southwest corner, you will notice a few roughed-in but unfinished figures. That is fitting I think, since the rest of the conservation story is yet to be told. It will be up to future generations to continue the work that those that went before them have started. The canvas will never quite be finished.
Cover - 1992 photo of two of Charlie and Libby's grandchildren, John Schwartz's son and daughter, David and Britton, sit in front of one of the Schwartz mural panels that John and his wife had taken their kids to see. John noted in his email, "Among the many guiding principles that Charlie and Libby respected in their life’s long work was the idea of protecting nature and the environment for future generations,... I think (this photo) exemplifies that eye towards the future generations that my parents possessed". (Photo: John Schwartz) Right - Wild Turkeys stand at a snowy forest edge, representing a return of the iconic species to the Missouri landscape. (Photo: Kyle Carroll)
Kyle Carroll
Don't Let the Old Man In
Back in August of 2024, my wife and I watched Toby Keith: American Icon on television. It was a tribute to the country music star who died of stomach cancer in February 2024. I have always enjoyed listening to Toby. He was a country boy from Oklahoma that made it big, but he didn’t act like it. He was always just ole’ Toby. A man who loved the outdoors and singing.
The many country music stars that were there, performed their favorite Toby Keith songs. Some shared stories about him. Many tears flowed that night. I am not ashamed to say I wiped a few away.
I knew most of the songs they sang, but in the second half of the show, Jelly Roll sang a song I was not familiar with called, My List. He said, "Toby inspired me to be a better American, a better human, a better songwriter and, with songs like this, he inspired me to be a better father.”
The song, he said, was Toby’s "list" of things he wanted to get done. As he sang it, he would reflect on which things were important on his list, and which were not.
Feature Story
Under an old brass paperweight
Is my list of things to do today
Go to the bank and the hardware store
Put a new lock on the cellar door
I cross 'em off as I get 'em done
But when the sun is settled
There's still more than a few things left
I haven't got to yet
Go for a walk, say a little prayer
Take a deep breath of mountain air
Put on my glove and play some catch
It's time that I make time for that
Wade the shore and cast a line
Look up an old lost friend of mine
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss
Start livin', that's the next thing on my list
It wouldn't change the course of fate
The cutting the grass just had to wait
Because I've got more important things
Like pushin' my kid on the backyard swing
I won't break my back for a million bucks
I can't take it to my grave
So why put it off for tomorrow
What I could get done today
Raise a little hell, laugh 'til it hurts
Put an extra five in the plate at church
Call up my folks to chat
It's time that I make time for that
Stay up late, and oversleep
Show her what she means to me
Catch up on all the things I've always missed
Just start living, that's the next thing on my list
When Toby was growing up in Oklahoma, he loved to be outdoors hunting and fishing. His wife and family enjoyed and have many memories outdoors doing things together. Fishing was his favorite.
The outdoors was a stress reliever for Toby. It can be for all of us. It would have been a big part of his life after he retired from entertaining. He loved to be out in the nature that God created for all of us.
Even though most of his songs were about drinking, partying, and love for his country. Toby put faith and family first. Then he put his love for his country and the men and women who serve or have served.
Throughout his career, on his personal "list", he put a priority on, performing for our troops. He played more than 280 USO shows across 18 countries. He visited 132 military bases and locations to entertain more than 250,000 service men and women. He made more visits to active combat zones than the past four Presidents of the United States combined.
Toby’s daughter, Krystal Keith, also has her own career in country music. She said, “My daddy loved his family and friends. He also loved hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. You might not have known this by some of the songs that made him famous, but he also had a strong faith and relationship with Jesus. He got to a point in his battle with cancer that he told us, “Whatever happens, I know where I am going and I am at peace with that.”
Krystal sang the last song that night at her dad’s special tribute. It is my personal favorite of all of Toby’s songs –Don’t Let the Old Man In. What made it my favorite was that I too am getting old and doing my best to not let the old man in.
This is the true story about how he came to write the song. Toby was playing in a charity golf tournament in 2017. He was paired with legendary actor and Oscarwinning director, Clint Eastwood. They played their way through the course chatting about projects both were working on.
Eastwood said he was about to start directing and starring in a new movie called The Mule. Toby was amazed and asked Clint how, at almost 90 years old, he could remain as active and involved as he was. Eastwood thought for a moment, looked Toby right in the eye, and responded in that famous voice of his, “I don’t let the old man in.” Then he grinned.
That same day, Toby begins writing a song inspired by his conversation with Clint. He was also inspired by something his grandmother had told him about a friend who did not know her exact age due to her not ever having a birth certificate.
When Toby finished the song and recorded it, he sent it to Clint. When he heard it, he called Toby to tell him he loved it and asked if he could use it in his new movie about an old man. Of course, Toby said yes.
Toby Keith’s last television performance was in September 2023 at the People’s Choice Awards where he was presented the Country Icon award. Not many knew it then, but Toby was in great pain. Cancer was ravaging his body as he courageously walked on stage.
His wife of four decades and his kids were in the front row wiping tears. She knew that her husband was saying goodbye to his fans. Toby sang this song for the last time that night. Not only to his fans but to all of us, men and women, who are growing old. These are the words to his song -
Don't let the old man in
I want to leave this alone
I can't leave it up to him
He's knocking on my door
And I knew all of my life
That someday it would end
Get up and go outside
Don't let the old man in
Many moons I have lived
My body's weathered and worn
Ask yourself how old would you be If you didn't know the day you were born
Try to love on your wife
And stay close to your friends
Toast each sundown with wine
Don't let the old man in
Many moons I have lived
My body's weathered and worn
Ask yourself how old would you be If you didn't know the day you were born
When he rides up on his horse
And you feel that cold bitter wind
Look out your window and smile
Don't let the old man in
Don't Let the Old Man In is a song about how the time comes for all of us when we grow old. Garth Brooks’s song, If Tomorrow Never Comes, reminds us that we never know when our time on earth is through. Some of you may not live to old age. Tim McGraw’s song, Live Like You Were Dying, encourages us to go ahead and do the things we would want to do if we knew we were dying.
Age is just a number. We cannot let growing old get to us. We should not worry that we could die at any time. We should live life to the fullest while we are here.
I had another birthday a few months ago. I am now 78-years-old. I don’t know how many more years I have before the Good Lord Calls me home. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the outdoors any way I can and write about it to encourage others to get outdoors too. Doing that and other things, will keep my mind and body active. It can yours too.
We should all work at always having a positive attitude whether we are young or old. Doing that, and having a strong faith in God is part of how to not let the old man or old woman in.
Like many of you, I have not always been who I am today. I messed up a lot, but God did not give up on me. I am still His work in progress. Like Toby, I know Jesus. I plan on being bold and telling as many people about Him as I can through words and actions before it is my time to go.
I want others to have the peace I have of knowing where they are going when it is there time to go. How about you?
I encourage you to live each day like you were dying until tomorrow never comes. While you are doing that, don’t let the old man in.
Larry Whiteley
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
MDC honors George Seek of Meadville with Master Conservationist Award
The Missouri Conservation Commission and Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently honored retired MDC employee George Seek of Meadville with their Master Conservationist Award. Seek was presented with the award at a special ceremony at Fountain Grove Conservation Area near Meadville in north-central Missouri on Oct. 24. Seek worked for MDC for more than 30 years, retiring as chief of the Private Lands Division.
The Master Conservationist award was created in 1941 to honor living or deceased citizen conservationists, former MDC commissioners, and employees of conservationrelated agencies, universities, or organizations who made substantial and lasting contributions to the fisheries, forestry, or wildlife resources of the state. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/about-us/awards-honors/masterconservationist-award-nomination.
Before joining MDC, Seek earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture with a major in Fish and Wildlife Ecology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He also received additional military training and education, including a Master of Science degree in Strategic Planning from the U.S. Army War College.
Seek joined MDC in 1972 as a research assistant for deer and waterfowl biologists. He then served as a wildlife area assistant for the Schell-Osage Conservation Area in southwest Missouri before becoming the assistant manager of the area. Seek was then promoted to a wildlife area manager in 1979 for the Fountain Grove Conservation Area, and helped manage portions of Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge. His responsibilities grew to include managing Grand Pass, Franklin Island, Cooley Lake, and Bob Brown conservation areas and supervising 16 staff persons. He was then promoted to a wildlife district supervisor in 1983 with responsibilities for the 10-county Grand River District. During that time, he was instrumental in major wetland developments at Grand Pass and Fountain Grove conservation areas. Seek became a wildlife regional supervisor in 1997 for MDC’s 19-county Northwest Region.
Department’s newly formed Private Land Services Division in 1999 until his retirement in 2003.
During his time with MDC, Seek was also instrumental in developing the Department’s first Wetland Management Plan, providing important insights from an experienced manager's perspective on the challenges of wetland restoration and management. Seek also led MDC’s initial effort and report on the “Evaluation of Waterfowl and Waterfowl Hunting on MDC Areas,” which provided an important basis for the evolution of public hunting to follow. He also wrote part of the Department’s “Waterfowl Hunting and Wetland Conservation in Missouri” book, considered the most contemporary historic overview of waterfowl and wetlands management in Missouri ever published.
“George Seek's contributions to Missouri's wildlife conservation efforts have been numerous, far-reaching, and lasting,” said MDC Director Jason Sumners at the event. “His efforts spanned a career of more than 30 years, and continue today, even in retirement. At each step of his career, George demonstrated excellent leadership, planning, supervision, innovation, and team-building skills, both internally and with outside partners.”
He then became the division chief for the
After retirement from MDC, Seek focused on helping Ducks Unlimited establish the Confluence Focus Area near St. Louis for land protection to secure donated conservation easements on 25,000 acres of waterfowl habitat. Seek is also the founder and primary manager of Massasauga Flats, LLC, a private 250-acre wetland in north-central Missouri that provides diverse natural shallow wetland habitat where more than 160 different wetland birds have been documented and is a model for how to manage wetlands without dependance on crops.
He has also served as a member, vice-chair, and chair of the Wetlands and Waterfowl Resource Advisory Committee for the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the state’s oldest grassroots conservation organization. As a lifetime member of CFM, and chair of the committee, Seek helped to develop and gave the welcome address at the Missouri Wetlands Summit in 2023.
“George’s lifelong dedication to conservation embodies the mission of preserving and enhancing Missouri’s natural resources,” said Tyler Schwartze, Executive Director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri. “His visionary leadership and tireless efforts, from wetland restoration to public hunting initiatives, have left an enduring legacy for wildlife and future generations. George’s work serves as an inspiring model of what can be achieved through passion, collaboration, and commitment to conservation.”
In addition to his extensive conservation work, Seek also retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves after more than 30 years of service in the Reserves and the Missouri National Guard from 1972-2003.
Conservation Commission Chair Margy Eckelkamp added that Seek has left his mark on conservation across Missouri, and beyond. “The nomination of George Seek for our Master Conservationist Award was accompanied by many letters of endorsement, including three from former conservation commissioners,” said Eckelkamp. “We thank George for his many decades of service to both conservation and our country, and wholeheartedly congratulate him on this well-deserved award.”
Left - Seek was presented with the award at a special ceremony at Fountain Grove Conservation Area near Meadville in north-central Missouri on Oct. 24. (Photo: Courtesy of MDC)
Top - The Missouri Conservation Commission and MDC recently honored retired MDC employee George Seek of Meadville with their Master Conservationist Award at a special ceremony at Fountian Grove Conservation Area on Oct.24. Shown l-r: Commissioner Margy Eckelkamp, Commissioner Ray Wagner Jr., MDC Director Jason Sumners, former Commissioner Jeff Churan, George Seek with his wife Connie Seek, Commissioner Mark McHenry, Commissioner Steven Harrison, and former Commissioner Chip McGeehan. (Photo: Courtesy of MDC)
MISSOURI STATE PARKS
Thousand Hills State Park Certified as an Urban Night Sky Place
Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville, Missouri, was certified as an Urban Night Sky Place by DarkSky International. This is a culmination of efforts that began several years ago, validating the work of Thousand Hills State Park in protecting the night sky above and around the city from the effects of light pollution.
"This achievement reflects the dedication of Thousand Hills State Park, DarkSky Missouri, Truman State University and the city of Kirksville to reducing light pollution as a vital step toward protecting and celebrating the region's significant cultural and natural resources. It is encouraging to see so many collaborators supporting this effort," stated Amber Harrison, International Dark Sky Places program manager.
Thousand Hills State Park is located in northern Missouri and is made of up of gently rolling hills, as well as steep, rugged inclines that can be found in a patchwork of woodlands and grassy meadows. The formation of the landscape began millions of years ago when the area was covered with a thick layer of rich soil. The multitude of ridges and valleys formed as rivers and streams were cut into the earth, dissecting the land and forming “thousands of hills.” Archaeologists believe the area was once part of an ancient ceremonial ground used by the Native Americans who inhabited Missouri as many as 1,500 years ago. Ancient rock carvings can be found at the petroglyph site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ryan Persinger, superintendent of Thousand Hills State Park, spearheaded the initiative to promote night sky preservation and light pollution abatement. He has worked diligently in making certain the park met the standards to earn the certification.
“First, we had to determine which DarkSky certification the park would qualify for and then we worked to get the park lighting and management plans to meet those requirements. We developed a light management plan for the park and inventoried all the outdoor light fixtures in the park,” Persinger said. “After getting 67% of the park lights to meet the certification requirements and getting community support letters, we were able to submit our application to DarkSky International.”
The idea for the DarkSky certification came about in early 2020 from a group of Truman State University students under the guidance of their professor Dr. Vayujeet Gokhale. Persinger then worked with both DarkSky Missouri and DarkSky International for application and certification requirements and guidance. The park team worked with the
Adair County Public Library and Truman State University staff on dark sky and astronomy programming and also gathered community support letters.
By 2021, Persinger submitted the initial certification inquiry to start the process with DarkSky Missouri and by September 2024, Thousand Hills State Park received their certification. Currently, the park’s outdoor lighting is currently 78% compliant with plans to be 100% compliant by the end of 2025!
Thousand Hills State Park is located at 20431 State Highway 157 in Kirksville, Missouri. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
About the International Dark Sky Places Program: Founded in 2001, the International Dak Sky Places Program is a nonregulatory and voluntary program encouraging communities, parks and protected areas worldwide to preserve and protect dark sites through effective lighting policies, environmentally responsible outdoor lighting and public education.
When used indiscriminately, artificial light can disrupt ecosystems, impact human health, waste money and energy, contribute to climate change, and block our view and connection to the universe. Thousand Hills State Park now joins more than 220 Places that have demonstrated robust community support for dark sky advocacy and strive to protect the night from light pollution. Learn more by visiting https://darksky.org/what-we-do/ international-dark-sky-places/.
About DarkSky International: The mission of DarkSky is to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting. Learn more at darksky.org.
RENEW YOUR
HUNTING and FISHING PERMITS
TODAY
Buy Missouri hunting and fishing permits from vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits or view through MDC’s free mobile apps, MO Hunting and MO Fishing.
GOOD FOR LAND. GOOD FOR LIFE.
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Six Morel Mushroom Hunting Secrets
Interest in hunting morels has mushroomed in recent years. And competition for the succulent morsels has grown fierce. Only those who have honed their fungi hunting skills are able to routinely serve up mounds of these golden fried delicacies.
Possessing a sixth sense about the appearance of morels is a skill set that is acquired from many years of experience in the woods. “Most people these days can’t dedicate days at a time to hunting morels,” said naturalist Jim DiPardo.
Don’t worry, even if your sixth sense isn’t fully honed, there’s still hope for enjoying a meal of morels this spring. While DiPardo wasn’t willing to share the location of his favorite hunting spots, he did pass along six secrets that can help you track them down in your neck of the woods.
1. Calculate When the Morels Will Pop
Mushroom hunting spots are a well-kept secret. Check around decaying timber in damp creek bottoms to find some of your own.“Morels begin to emerge when a combination of climactic factors converge,” DiPardo said. “Part of the mystery of hunting morels is figuring out when temperature, humidity, soil acidity and other factors are just right.
A decreasing variance between daytime and nighttime temps is an important factor. When temperatures reach the forties at night and the sixties in the daytime, you better have your pickin’ bag ready. Paying close attention to these factors will greatly improve your success rate.”
2. Don't Wait for the Sun to Hunt Morels
A common misconception about morel hunting is that you must wait until the sun pops out after a spring rain. “Morels grow incredibly fast,” Dipardo noted. “If all conditions are right and it is going to rain until 3 p.m., be there before noon. You may beat someone else to the prize.”
Only those who have honed their fungi hunting skills are able to routinely serve up mounds of these golden fried delicacies. (Photo: Bill Cooper)
3. Don't Trust Mother Nature
Just because you found morels in one spot last season, does not mean you will the next. The best plan is to have many locations where you have found morels over the years. Then you will have morels to eat every spring.
4. Use Your Binoculars to Help Find Morels
A pair of high-quality binoculars will allow you to cover a lot of ground without wearing out your boots. Do some scouting from the road or take a glance across the creek before wading through. If you are glassing for spring turkeys don’t forget to take the occasional peek at the ground—morels and turkey breast can make a mighty fine meal!
5. Bring a Bag for the Mushrooms You Find
Be prepared. The opportunity to hunt morels may catch you off guard. Pack a bag in your vehicle, turkey vest, and tackle box.. Small plastic bags are handy, but to ensure morels for the future, use a woven mesh bag—such as the ones oranges come in. Spores will fall from the morels you pick, seeding the area for the next season.
6. Final Tip
“False morels,” while sometimes can be consumed without ill effects, have been known to cause acute toxicity. The cap of the false morel appears wrinkled or” brainy,” while real morels have honeycomb or net-like caps. An easier way to determine their difference: When the stem is cut open, false morels contain a cotton balltype substance, while stems of the edible kind are hollow.
Bill Cooper
Fried Cracker Crumb Morels
1-pound morels 3/4 cup whole milk 1/2 cup cooking oil 4 ounce packet of saltine crackers, finely crushed 2 eggs
Salt and pepper
1. Soak the mushrooms in salt water for several hours. Clean thoroughly with a damp paper towel or soft brush. Cut larger mushrooms in half.
2. Using a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
3. In the meantime, beat the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl.
4. Toss in the cracker crumbs. Coat the mushrooms in the mixture.
5. Carefully place coated mushrooms into the heated oil. They will cook quickly. Once they are golden brown, flip them to brown the other side.
6. After the mushrooms are thoroughly browned, remove them to drain on a paper towel. Salt and pepper to taste. Eat while hot.
Serve as an appetizer, or include fried fish, a small dinner salad, and iced tea.
The Adventures of Frank & Ed: Deer Scoutin’
Okay boys lets go look for deer sign,” I told them. “Huh? it’s not deer hunting season Papa,” says Frank. Ed says, “I’ve seen one of those signs on the side of the road, it’s a big yellow one with a deer on it!” Ha, you silly boys, “I mean deer sign like tracks, rubs, scrapes, shed antlers, deer paths, and poop!” Frank exclaims, "POOP! I’m not looking for poop, Papa!” “Me neither,” Ed says.
That’s how our day started in early March, as the boys and I traveled down the road toward our scouting location. So, I began to explain the finer art of early springtime deer scouting. Boys, one of the best times to find out where to hunt deer next fall is right now in the early spring before all the vegetation starts growing again and covering up what we’re looking for. Deer paths really stand out this time of year and are easy to follow. We’re gonna walk deer paths to find out where the deer feed, bed, and travel. Along the way we should see the tracks, tree rubs, scrapes, poop, and maybe even a shed antler.
Just as I’m getting ready to really expand on all the wonderful things we’re going to find, I glanced up looking at the boys in the rearview mirror and you know what I see, yep both of them with their faces buried into their tablets. I’ve lost out to another electronic gizmo that’s more colorful and interesting than listening to Papa talk.
Oh well, at least it will be a quiet drive with no sibling arguing. Don’t get me wrong because I’m not against screen time. Heck, I like my smart phone and laptop time as much as anyone else. I just know that kids need real outdoor experiences as much or maybe even more than they need those electronic screens. Just remember that the outdoor experiences need to be planned with the kids in mind to have a positive experience. What that means to me is good weather, short trips, and listening to what the kid wants to do.
Sure, your first trips will be short, and you will hear “I wanna go home now” but with each positive trip afield you’ve made an impact that they will remember. As the child grows older those outdoor trips will become longer and more challenging, just remember when you’re dealing with children under ten especially, to make it fun for the child.
We’re here, I say as I park the truck. “Where are we at?”, asks Ed. “At the farm”, I replied. “The farm” as I call it, is a 110-acre piece of property in Hickory County that we own. Although we call it the farm, the only thing, we raise there is wildlife, so I guess it’s not really a farm at all. The boys leave the screens in the truck, and we head out carrying a small backpack with drinks and snacks. We find our first deer path almost immediately just beyond where we’ve parked. The path is heading out of the field and into a wooded patch. Frank and Ed see deer tracks in the path, so we follow for a short distance and come across another sign. I point out a small cedar tree that has the bark rubbed off it and some small limbs broken.
“Is that a deer rub?”, asks Frank.“It sure is”, I answer. I ask Ed if he thinks a boy or girl deer made that rub?
Ed says, “probably a boy because boys like to tear stuff up.” Good answer Ed as I go on to explain how a buck uses his antlers to rub on trees. Tree rubs are what bucks do to strengthen their muscles and to leave a signpost for other deer in the area, announcing his presence in this piece of the woods. Then we all take turns thrashing the cedar tree acting like a buck. “Now my hands are sticky”, Franks says. “What’s that smell?” Ed asks.
“Cedar tree sap and scent”, I replied. The boys’ “Cedar Tree 101” lesson learned today. As we continued our scouting we saw more rubs, tracks, and yes, we did find several small piles of deer poop. We talked about the pellet shape and how to tell if it was fresh new poop or old poop. I don’t know why but boys seem to love to say the word poop. I heard a lot of poop references that day with a little giggle after each one. Sibling rivalry is a real thing, and soon we had a heated competition going on over who could find the most poop!
“Be on the lookout for a good tree to put up a deer stand”, I tell the boys. Next thing I know Frank is climbing a tree and asks, “How’s this one Papa?” “Looks promising, we’ll keep it in mind for next deer season”, I reply.
Near the end of our scouting expedition that day Ed found a real treasure in a field at the edge of the woods.
“Whoa, Hey, look what I found!” Ed shouts as he picks up a small deer antler.“Cool, let me see it” older brother Frank says. “NO, its mine!” screams Ed. “You have to share, right Papa.” Ok, Ok boys, take it easy, we’ll all get to look at it and I bet you will find one next time we go deer scouting Frank, besides you won the poop competition right Frank?
It’s been a great day of deer scouting but now I’m ready for some more of that quiet screen time during the ride home.
Jeff “Papa” Blystone
Left - Ed finds a deer antler. (Photo: Jeff Blystone) Right - Frank climbing a tree. (Photo: Jeff Blystone)
Safari is Swahili for Journey
Although the primary focus of CFM is on conservation efforts for Missouri, members are also concerned about conservation throughout the country and the world. I had the opportunity to experience some amazing conservation-via-tourism efforts first hand in Uganda and Kenya in November and December.
Safari is the Swahili word for journey, and this trip was a journey in every sense of the word. From tracking through dense rain forests in Uganda in search of chimpanzees and gorillas to encountering rare southern white rhinos and meeting orphaned elephants and their keepers in Kenya, we took deep dives into the culture, history and environmental issues of these east African countries.
Our women-only group (except for our male drivers and guides) was able to not only explore the national parks and wildlife wonders, but also to experience meaningful connections with native communities and learn about their traditions and challenges.
We began in Uganda, often called the Pearl of Africa, where tourism related to chimpanzees and gorillas brings in crucial funds to promote conservation efforts and to fight poaching.
Chimpanzees on the move
While back home in the United States our families were preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, we set out from our tented lodging at Kibale Forest Camp early in the morning to report to the ranger headquarters at Kibale Forest National Park. After registering, paying fees and getting a briefing, we met our assigned rangers and set out on foot to find the chimpanzees. Several groups of chimps have been conditioned to the presence of humans, and the rangers scout their locations ahead of time to know which directions the tracking groups should head.
As the oldest person in our group, I had to admit that I couldn’t keep up that pace, and I stopped to catch my breath. While I was fretting to myself that I was going to miss seeing everything, the ranger suddenly grabbed my hand and pointed wordlessly to my right. There, heading toward me, was the alpha male, making his way nonchalantly up the trail. I froze as he walked right by me, lightly brushing my backside as he passed. I ended up having the closest encounter of them all!
Tracking gorillas in Bwindi
Several days later we found ourselves in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, and one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Standing on the deck of our cabin at the Bweza Gorilla Lodge and looking out at the view in front of me, I kept thinking to myself that this must be Shangri-La. The towering peaks covered in the deep green of the dense rain forest, the valley floor below where a stream wove its way around the village, and the wispy clouds hanging suspended below the peaks – the scenery was mystical, beautiful, enchanting, and a wee bit intimidating.
I had read several articles describing how physically difficult tracking gorillas could be, but I somehow wasn’t mentally prepared for the challenge of tracking chimpanzees, who tend to move a lot, either on the ground or through the tree tops, and to move quite quickly! Once we neared the group of chimps, our pace quickened and soon we were practically running through the rain forest, trying to avoid tripping over roots and branches, while chasing after the chimpanzees.
Bwindi is one of the richest biological and botanical regions in the world. The incredibly dense rain forest, which lives up to its name “impenetrable,” is home to approximately 400 wild mountain gorillas, which represent about half of the world population of these apes. As with the chimpanzees, several families of gorillas have been conditioned to accept the presence of humans, and go about their activities without paying any attention to the humans gaping at them and frantically taking photos and videos.
Groups are limited in size (there were eight in our group, plus the rangers, porters and guards) and once the group reaches the gorilla family, they have exactly one hour to observe the gorillas before heading back to the base station. For both the chimpanzees and gorillas, the humans are required to wear face masks to prevent spreading disease to the primates.
Our adventure begins by checking in at the Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger station, where we are given a briefing then assigned to our rangers to learn which gorilla family we will be observing. Depending on where the gorillas have moved in the forest, the hike in can be anywhere from one to four or five hours, and the going is tough, with porters swinging machetes to hack a trail
The alpha male chimpanzee walked right by me, brushing against my backside as he passed me on the trail. (Photo: Barbara Gibbs Ostmann)
through the dense vegetation. The terrain is steep and the foliage is wet and slippery. Rain is common, and trackers need to come prepared with ponchos or rain gear and good boots.
We are assigned the Nshongi family of 13 gorillas, including females, babies, adolescents and the dominant silverback. When we reach them deep in the jungle, we drop our packs, put on our face masks, and grab our cameras. For the next hour, we move quietly around the steep hillside, slipping and sliding as we follow the gorillas as they go about their daily activities of eating, nursing, grooming, and interacting with one another – all without paying the least bit of attention to us.
One mother was sitting and nursing her baby while a youngster groomed her back and shoulders. Two young males played and snacked on green plants. Another male pounded on his chest Tarzan style, while another climbed trees. In front of us, maybe ten feet away, a male, female and nursing baby sat in a row with their backs to us, eating the vegetation. The male stood, stretched, took two steps forward – and disappeared! The vegetation is so dense – impenetrable -- that he was literally no longer visible after just stepping into the greenery.
It was an experience I will never forget.
On to Kenya
Our conservation experiences continued in Kenya, with close encounters with rhinos and elephants in sanctuaries, along with amazing game drives where we saw lions, giraffes, zebras, cape buffalo, wildebeest, hippos, crocodiles, and so much more – plus an astounding variety of birds of all sizes and colors.
I never expected to be within feet of a rhinoceros while on foot in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, but there I was at the Olchoro Oirouwa Conservancy, following a ranger through the brush as we went in search of the two Southern white rhinos that live in the sanctuary under the surveillance of the Kenya Wildife Service. Suddenly the ranger stopped and raised her hand, then pointed to a movement behind a nearby bush. Lo and behold, there was a white rhino, grazing on the sparse grass. As it moved along, so did we, leapfrogging one another to get a better photo angle. And suddenly there were two. Both rhinos were within yards of us, calmly munching on the shrubbery.
The Mara Rhino Project, of which Olchoro is part, is committed to safeguarding the Southern white rhinoceros, one of the world’s most endangered species. Through conservation efforts and community involvement, the project aims to restore and expand the rhino population while developing a sustainable coexistence between wildlife and local communities.
A 9-day-old baby named Lenny
Have you ever seen a 9-day-old baby elephant? Let me tell you, you will fall in love instantly. At least that was the case when we met darling Lenny, who was born on Dec. 4, 2024, to Lima Lima, an orphaned elephant that was rescued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) in 2013. Lima Lima first went to SWT’s nursery unit in Nairobi and later to the reintegration unit at Umani Springs in the Kibwezi Forest. She returned to the wild, although she continued to visit her human and elephant families at Umani Springs. After giving birth during the night in the forest, Lima Lima showed off her newborn baby boy at Umani Springs the morning of Dec. 4.
The elephant keepers named the baby Lenny, which means “brave as a lion.” He is the 67th known calf to be born to an orphan that was rescued, raised and reintegrated back into the wild by the Trust.
Seeing baby Lenny surrounded by his nannies and already developing a close bond with the keepers was a highlight of our visits to the reintegration unit. As foster parents of elephants aided by SWT, we were able to stay at Umani Springs Lodge, which is just minutes away from the elephant stockade.
We watched the elephants drink their bottles of milk (actually a veterinary formula) each morning, then head out into the forest for the day. And we were there each evening when the elephants returned to the stockade right before sunset for their nighttime bottles and a hearty serving of tree leaves and branches to nibble on overnight. At midday, we watched as the elephants enjoyed their mud baths just yards away from our comfortable lodgings.
We also stayed in another SWT facility, the stunning Galdessa Camp on the Galana River in East Tsavo National Park. As SWT foster parents, we were allowed to visit the nearby Voi Reintegration Unit and watch as the elephants covered themselves with the distinctive red clay of Tsavo as they rolled in mud baths or sprayed themselves with the muddy water. They also enjoyed their bottle feedings, rushing up to the keepers and grabbing the bottles with their trunks.
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was founded in 1977 by Daphne Sheldrick in memory of her late husband, David Sheldrick, the founding warden of Tsavo East National Park and a famous naturalist. Their daughter, Angela, helped Daphne run the Trust for 20 years. After Daphne passed in 2018, Angela continued the mission with support from her husband and sons. The Orphans Project is the heart and soul of the Trust, which is best known for its work with elephants. The Trust has expanded to include veterinary units, anti-poaching units, community projects, and habitat initiatives.
Our Kenya tour was led by Henry Gathura, of Capture Kenya Expeditions, with assistance by Joshua Njoroge, of Kiboko Expeditions. The tour emphasized both conservation and supporting local communities in need.
“Kenya has long been a leader in wildlife conservation, but the survival of several species still hangs in the balance in the wake of climate change, population growth, poaching, and more,” said Gathura. “Tourism through visits to parks and refuges that lead protection efforts … remains a key way to protect threatened elephants, giraffes, zebras, and more.”
It is also a surefire way to create lasting memories of an amazing journey.
Barbara Gibbs Ostmann
Cover - The elephants know when it’s time to eat and come running for their bottles at a reintegration unit operated by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Tsavo East National Park. (Photo: Barbara Gibbs Ostmann) Bottom Left -The Olchoro Oirouwa Conservancy, in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, protects two southern white rhinos, one of the planet's most endangered species. (Photo: Barbara Gibbs Ostmann) Born on December 4, 2024, baby Lenny was the star of the show at the Umani Springs reintegration unit in Kibwezi National Forest Reserve in Kenya. (Photo: Barbara Gibbs Ostmann)
Road trip. We didn’t choose the perfect playlist. Or program the GPS. But we did fuel the car that made you realize there are no wrong turns, only new adventures. When the energy you invest in life meets the energy we fuel it with, amazing journeys happen.
The Houseboat
Our family summer vacations started out as camping trips to Colorado and Wyoming. Since I grew up in Colorado, I knew lots of cool places to visit and camp. The trouble with these driving trips from Missouri was Kansas, a long state difficult to cross with three young boys in the back seat of a 1985 Pontiac Safari station wagon. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were no video games or TV screens in cars for entertainment and distraction. Instead, we had cassette tapes of 1930s and 1940s radio programs such as The Shadow and Flash Gordon, which we all found interesting. Our sons also had read-along books with cassette tapes that dinged when it was time to turn the page. As long as we could hear the dinging, we knew the fighting in the back seat wasn’t too serious or vicious. We usually stopped in Hays, Kansas for the night at a motel with a swimming pool which allowed the boys to work off energy. Unfortunately, the drive home wasn’t any better.
After four long, miserable trips across Kansas, we decided on a different approach for the summer vacation, renting a houseboat on the upper Mississippi River between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Of course, Iowa was in the way but the driving distance was much less than crossing Kansas and eastern Colorado. We rented a houseboat nearly 50 feet long from a marina near Redwing, Minnesota on Lake Peppin. The Upper Mississippi River is controlled with a series of locks and dams to make barge traffic possible from St. Louis to St. Paul. Lake Peppin is one of the widest pools in the lock and dam system.
I had never driven a houseboat or even a motorboat. My nautical experience was confined to a sailboat and canoe. This houseboat was powered by a 4-stroke outboard motor which was innovative technology for the time.
The attendant drove the boat out of the marina into the river and gave me the Cliff Notes 2-minute training session on how to steer a big houseboat. Then he stepped off the deck into a motorboat which pulled up to retrieve him telling me to have a good time and be careful. I was on my own and spent the next two hours zigzagging south on the Mississippi River until I learned how to anticipate the delay in a course change after I turned the steering wheel.
The first night we beached the bow of the boat on a sandbar and held it in place with two big anchors on long ropes tied to the stern. This sandbar had a mound of sand over 50 feet tall. The Upper Mississippi River has very little current because of the locks and dams. But tributary rivers are constantly delivering sediment to the pools behind the dams. The US Army Corps of Engineers dredges the pools periodically to maintain a navigation channel deep enough for barges. The dredge spoil is piled everywhere including huge mounds in the river and along the banks. I knew this and brought flexible plastic carpet sleds for the boys to use on the sand mounds. They were thrilled.
Climbing to the top of a sand mound was exhausting because the sand was loose. Kirk, our youngest son who was five years old at the time, was the first to slide down the sand mountain. As he passed me, heading to the water with a huge smile and an expression of joy on his face, the result of speed, I realized I had underestimated the physics associated with his descent. When he hit the water, it was like running into a brick wall. The force ripped his shoes off which we never found and knocked the air out of his lungs as he skipped across the water. Fortunately, he was wearing a life jacket since both Mrs. Urich and I turned away so he couldn’t see us laughing. Our other two sons took note of what happened and made certain adjustments to their descent.
The next serious challenge was entering a lock. Barges had the right-of-way and recreational watercraft had to circle in front of the lock entrance until a light on the lock turned green. Circling at slow speed in a houseboat was challenging because the wind became the primary force affecting the direction of the houseboat. When the light turned green, our houseboat happened to be the closest to the lock gate and we entered first.
The process involved pulling up to the concrete side wall inside the lock. Corps of Engineers staff threw ropes down which people in the boats held to keep the boats in place while the water level went up or down. As we approached the lock wall, I realized when I saw the Corps rope handlers stepping back, I was at the wrong angle and going too fast. I put the motor in reverse but it didn’t help. We hit the concrete wall hard enough to make the cabinet doors open, and all the dishes, cooking items, and food supplies shot out onto the floor. The houseboat skidded along the concrete wall. Fortunately, there were no boats in front of us or I would have smashed them all. I understood why the bow and sides of the houseboat were covered with old tires.
Subsequent trips through the locks went much better, but finally, it was time to pull into a marina for gas. Plus, Mrs. Urich wanted to visit towns along the river so she could browse antique shops. Our sons were used to Mrs. Urich’s antique store stops because they had never experienced a vacation without pausing the trip periodically for her shopping. They were much more tolerant of these delays if they had an ice cream cone in their hands while they sat on the curb waiting.
The operator of the marina where we rented the houseboat warned me approaching a wooden dock at more than three miles per hour would crush the dock. But by this time, I was learning to control the boat at slow speed while adjusting for the wind. I eased the boat to near the dock regulating the power to the motor to account for the wind. For reasons I never understood, our youngest son ran across the deck of the houseboat and tried to jump onto the dock about three feet away. He didn’t make it and hit the water. Mrs. Urich’s instincts kicked in and she dashed up to the side of the boat and yanked him out of the water by his arm just as the houseboat hit the dock. After this incident, the new rule was all passengers under the age of 21 had to be sitting in a chair with a lifejacket on when we approached a dock or lock wall.
We fished from the houseboat, but it was a poor fishing platform. It was nearly impossible to maneuver the houseboat into good fish habitat because of its size and draught. Plus, there was no depth finder on the boat, and I didn’t want to get stuck in shallow water.
Because of the wind, the houseboat was difficult to keep in one spot unless it was anchored to a sandbar. But we walked along the edges of the dredge spoil sandbars and were able to catch catfish in the late evening and at night using cut bait and worms.
After several more days, we finally headed back to the marina. We were a day from the end of our trip when there was a loud bag from the motor and the houseboat lost power and steering. The motor was running and sounded fine but the propeller was not turning. The driveshaft had broken. The wind was now the guiding force and pushed the houseboat into a rock wing dike. The wind was strong enough to pound the houseboat continuously against the rocks making a terrible racket.
I stood on the back of the houseboat and waved my arms frantically at passing boats. None stopped and this went on for hours. I tied the houseboat to the rocks on the wing dike to keep the boat from being blown across the river into the marsh on the other side where nobody would see us. At this point in the vacation, those dismal drives across Kansas with combating, squawking sons in the back seat of the station wagon looked pretty good. After three hours, a small aluminum boat approached with a big engine in the center rather than on the transom. It was a towboat. Someone reported our stranded houseboat to a marina which sent the towboat. The operator lashed ropes to the side of the houseboat and the powerful diesel engine nearly lifted the houseboat out of the water.
The towboat deposited us at an upriver marina. I called the marina where we rented the houseboat from a payphone. I also paid for the tow which was hugely expensive. We spent the night on the houseboat at the marina. The next morning the houseboat staff picked us up in a small motorboat and delivered us to our car. The owner of the business apologized for the inconvenience and offered a 50% off coupon for a houseboat rental next summer.
This seemed like a good deal, plus I was now an experienced houseboat driver, and I understood the ways of the pooled portion of the Upper Mississippi River. We decided to accept the offer and returned the following summer which turned out to be a huge mistake. Stay tuned for the next article to learn why. We should have driven across Kansas again.
David Urich
Cover - Houseboat on the Mississippi River near Redwing, Minnesota. (Photo: David Urich) Left - Tim Urich with bluegill caught off the houseboat on the Upper Mississippi River. (Photo: David Urich)
Our Shared Grassland Birds: Winter Edition
As we long for days of prairie blooms, you may wonder where the grassland birds that breed here spend their winter. Some, like Bobolinks and Dickcissels, make quite long journeys into South America, while others, like Eastern Meadowlarks, may only migrate relatively short distances. Our breeding grassland birds likely spend more than half the year outside the state, making full annual cycle conservation extremely important. The species selected for this article were identified as priority grassland bird species in the 2019 Missouri Bird Conservation Plan Technical Section. The following graphics for the non-breeding season (explicitly identified in each graphic) are powered by eBird and contain their respective citations, with narrative content provided by Birds of the World species accounts. Let’s take a species by species look at where some of these grassland birds are spending their January:
The Grasshopper Sparrow finds itself in the far southern United States and Central America during the nonbreeding period (November 29 to February 15), leaving their winter range relatively late and arriving back in Missouri in early to mid-April. The lighter color on the graphic indicates a lower relative abundance during this period while the darker color indicates a higher relative abundance.
The Henslow’s Sparrow, whose full annual cycle lies completely within the United States, spends the nonbreeding period (November 8 to March 8) in grassy habitats that include pine barrens of the Southeast. The lighter color on the graphic indicates a lower relative abundance during this period while the darker color indicates a higher relative abundance.
The Bobolink migration includes multiple discrete stops in several South American countries, with many individuals spending their non-breeding period (December 27 to March 22) in both dry uplands and wet lowlands of Paraguay and Argentina. Their southbound migration in fall takes much longer than their northern return in spring. The lighter color on the graphic indicates a lower relative abundance during this period while the darker color indicates a higher relative abundance.
Eastern Meadowlarks exhibit interannual variation in how far south they spend their non-breeding period (November 22 to February 15), with more northern breeders potentially only migrating relatively short distances within the United States during relatively mild winters and occupying similar open lands habitats to that of their breeding grounds. The lighter color on the graphic indicates a lower relative abundance during this period while the darker color indicates a higher relative abundance.
Dickcissels are another long-distance migrant, ultimately arriving in portions of Venezuela during the non-breeding period (December 27 to March 15) and occupying grasslands, savannas, and croplands. The lighter color on the graphic indicates a lower relative abundance during this period while the darker color indicates a higher relative abundance.
While we often refer to breeding grassland birds as “our” birds, these maps indicate that “our” Missouri birds call many states and countries home. Strong collaborations are needed across many jurisdictions to ensure full annual cycle conservation of these species. Missouri’s strong Southern Wings Program dedicates funding to conservation of bird species in places like Central and South America and links bird lovers from across the hemisphere in our shared vision of conserving neotropical migrants into the future.
Conservation Day at the Capitol
April 2, 2025
Join fellow conservationists from across Missouri i n a day of celebration and support for our natural reso urces and conservation efforts. This is an exceptional opportunity to learn about various conservation organizations and how they collaborate to protect Missouri's natural resources. Tune into 96.7 FM
7:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Third Floor Rotunda For more information, visit: confedmo.org/events It's important to note that this event is
Sand Natural Communities of Southeastern Missouri
Rare sand prairies, savannas, and swales of southeastern Missouri formed on sand deposits associated with ancient channels of the ancestral Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. These southeastern Missouri sand communities are unique—not only because they are vastly different from other prairie communities of all types in northern, western, and southwestern Missouri but also because they are substantially different from the few sand prairies remaining in northeastern Missouri.
Many of the plants and animals of sand communities in southeastern Missouri have more affinities to the eastern and southeastern U.S. and even to the Gulf Coastal Plain than to other prairie communities in Missouri.
Conserving and restoring remnants of these fascinating habitats is critically important to safeguarding the breadth of Missouri’s natural heritage.
Sand Prairie Formation and Natural History
In the 1820s, General Land Office surveyors delineated nearly 36,000 acres or 57 square miles of sand grasslands in southeastern Missouri. These sand prairies, wetlands, and savannas harbored familiar prairie species including greater prairie-chickens, as well as many other plants and animals restricted to this part of the state.
In the upper part of the Bootheel, two distinct alluvial terraces or sand ridges are present—the Sikeston Ridge and the Blodgett Terrace. These two land features represent the markedly dry and permeable ridges upon which sand natural communities (sand prairie, sand savanna, and sand woodland) became established over the approximately last 8,000 years.
Exceptionally persistent periods of dryness common to the ridges coupled with anthropogenic fire favored sand grassland formation. Sand woodland and savanna ebbed and flowed as distinct community types in direct correlation with climatic and seasonal drought periods, fire regime intensification and moderation, and position on the landscape in relation to fire-protected landforms and subsurface water availability.
Sand prairie is excessively dry—a desert-like dry environment with prickly pear cactus and stunted scrub oaks—but it has been shaped by water and is, paradoxically, close to water. The landform supporting the sand communities was formed by the give-and-take alluvial processes of the Mississippi and Ohio River systems. The wetland systems present in the area are resolutely tied to the Mississippi embayment aquifer system, a vast resource of subsurface freshwater present in extensive and massive beds of sand. This aquifer becomes more or less evident with fluctuations in stages of the Mississippi and Ohio River systems. When river levels are high, wetlands on the Blodgett Terrace swell with water and are expressed in swales and lowlands.
Strikingly rare plants and animals adapted to the wet and dry cycles and seasonality of southeastern Missouri’s climate grow in these sandy, wetter areas. Hall’s bulrush (Schoenoplectus hallii), dwarf burhead (Echinodorus tenellus), creeping St. John’s-wort (Hypericum adpressum), yellow-eyed grass (Xyris jupicai), juniper leaf (Polypremum procumbens), and others persevere in and along wet sandy swales on treasured remnant sand communities.
Sand Prairie Demise
The Mississippi embayment aquifer system, a giver of life to wetlands and rare plants and animals, has also been the sand prairies’ bane—a source of freshwater for wells and center pivots and a solution to the often inarable condition of southeastern Missouri’s sand ridges.
Sandy and rapidly permeable soils such as those belonging in the Scottco soil series, prevalent on the Blodgett Terrace, are particularly suited for center pivot irrigation. Locals say the area had a completely different look before irrigation was introduced and spread through the area in the early 1980s.
Scottco sands did not hold well when cleared, and when the winds would whip, the sand would dry and blow. When the rains would cease for the summer, crops perished or never grew at all. Pastures were poor and animals suffered. Fields were cleared. Sand blows would start, and then fields were abandoned and forgotten, with some becoming revegetated with sand prairie vegetation. The sand grasslands in conservation ownership today are former cropland revegetated with sand prairie vegetation, odd acreages that a pivot simply wouldn’t fit on, or small unplowed tracts that were tucked away by fortunate happenstance.
Southeastern Missouri Sand Communities to Visit
Sand Prairie Conservation Area - This 200-acre Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) area is in Scott County near Benton. It is positioned on the Blodgett Terrace, precisely along an abrupt elevation change.
Interestingly enough, in the General Land Office survey records, the margin of the floodplain adjoining Sand Prairie Conservation Area was mapped as a linear cypress swamp—clues of this striking change in landform are still apparent today. Visually darker swampy wetland soils, wetland plants, a seasonally flood-prone condition, and cackling and peeping frogs in the spring suggest that just a handful of decades ago a cypress wetland still had a foothold in the landscape here.
Sand Prairie Conservation Area has a unique series of sand dunes and sand blows that extend from the main parking lot on Scott County Road 333 through two 80acre units that comprise the core of the area. The area is a favored haunt of tiger beetles and burrowing spiders. Rare sedges, sand milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis), and jointweed (Polygonella americana) are among the many plant species documented at the conservation area. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/sandprairie-conservation-area.
Edgar W. Schmidt Sand Prairie
This nearly 55-acre Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) property near Benton in Scott County includes the only tract in conservation ownership in the state containing intact sand prairie and sand savanna, which are critically imperiled natural communities in the state. The property also has a rare sand swale and provides habitat for a remarkable 18 species of conservation concern.
The sand prairie, sand swale, and sand savanna communities of the property provide habitat for characteristic species like golden aster (Heterotheca camporum), tickseed coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), Plains puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense), meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana), and sand milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis).
The Missouri plant species of conservation concern documented from the property include jointweed (Polygonum americanum), pine barrens tick trefoil (Desmodium strictum), creeping St. John’s wort (Hypericum adpressum), and sand hickory (Carya pallida). The six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), a lizard found in a variety of habitats including sand prairies, lives here as well.
This sand prairie was owned for many years by the Charleston Baptist Association and was leased for nearly 20 years for sand prairie management conducted by MDC. MPF acquired this property in 2021, with funding including a bequest from the late Edgar W. Schmidt and a grant from MDC. Learn more here: moprairie.org/project/ edgar-w-schmidt-sand-prairie/.
Carol Davit is the executive director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. This article was adapted from a Missouri Prairie Journal Volume 34 (1) 2013 article by Bob Gillespie, then a natural history biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. This article also includes information from MPF Vice President of Science & Management, Bruce Schuette.
Cover - SOCC blue-eyed Grass (Photo: Bruce Schuette) Top - Schmidt Sand Prairie American jointweed (Photo: Bruce Schuette)
Carol Davit
Taking My Brother-In-Law Fishing
Last summer my wife asked me to take her brother, Gus, fishing. Problem is, I hate Gus. He is arrogant and drives one of those foreign fancy cars with a horn that making a twinkling sound instead of a loud “Honk” Like my Ford. He wears the best suits, has a corporate jet at his disposal and even smells good all the time, a trait my fishing buddies and I find disturbing.
My wife knew she had struck a nerve when I sat around the house pouting. I couldn’t imagine Gus wanting to fish or sit in my old boat with customized plastic scooped seats until she explained he had just gained a new client that loved to fish so he wanted to learn fishing lingo and fishing techniques. I knew there had to be a catch like there always is when you have dealings with Gus.
That evening at dinner I started thinking about the scene in the Godfather movie where Michael Corleone’s brother, Fredo was taken out in a lake and then soundly thumped over the head with a boat oar before being shot a few times for good measure, then weighted down and deposited to sleep with the fishes. I wondered how many concrete blocks it would take to sink Gus with his ample stomach measuring several sizes too big.
Apparently, I had an evil grin on my face while trading Gus for Fredo in the scene and my wife wanted to know exactly what I was thinking. I told her of a checkout girl I was wildly attracted to, even though she was 30 years younger. I figured that would be safer than admitting my desire to “bump off” her brother. I was right, she knew a young woman would not even bat an eye at me, but she had no doubt that I would find watching her brother fall off a cliff great entertainment.
Truthfully, I didn’t want to croak Gus, but I dreaded being anywhere near this dandy fellow. I smiled while imagining his disgust of finding nightcrawler dirt under his well-manicured fingernails or hauling a mess of fish in the trunk of his fancy car.
We picked him up at the airport and he walked through the gate looking like Gatsby with a white tennis sweater and gray slacks adorned by highly polished shoes and a white fedora. His blonde hair was newly colored, well parted and slicked back by some type of European hair stuff that probably cost more than the electric razor my wife drags over my graying hair and bald spots. He walked with the stature of a Greek God that made any average man fantasize about pushing him in front of a speeding beer truck.
Then it occurred to me at dinner, why not help him? He wanted to impress an important client and that we can do.
“So, Gus, what kind of fishing does your client do?” I asked.
“He is a bass fisherman, kind of a big deal to him, but more importantly he has an impressive, well-rounded portfolio,” Gus answered.
I wondered why he would be impressed by a man’s portfolio? I certainly had little trouble watching a woman’s portfolio, especially when she was walking away. But I decided to ignore his comment about the rich fisherman’s backside.
“When and where are you fishing with him,” I asked.
“Next week in a bass tournament at Table Rock Lake,” Gus answered. “Personally, I think fishing is barbaric.”
“Then we have a lot of work to do, especially polishing your fishing lingo,” I said. “That man will think you are a nimrod the way you are dressed and talking like you do. I have to teach you how to speak his language.”
“I would be forever grateful for your teachings about this nasty outing,” Gus answered while running a piece of floss through disgustingly white teeth that reminded me a of a shark. “By the way, what’s a nimrod?”
Never mind, it’s just fishing lingo,” I answered.
We dressed Bud in my best pair of Big Smith overalls that had only just started fading a few years before and a Red Man Chewing Tobacco ball cap. A neighbor loaned him one of his best faded red flannel shirts.
My fishing buddy brought him a minnow bucket to carry on the dock first morning of the tournament and we explained that everyone would be impressed if he yelled:
“Howdy, I brought some miners for the bass tournament and a bunch of bananas to snack on.”
We failed to mention that bananas are universally considered bad luck in a boat. I thought that was a nice touch.
“Do you really think all of this will impress my tournament partner?” Gus asked.
“Your partner will never forget you,” I said.
Snapperhead Andy, another fishing buddy, delivered the icing that topped Gus’s cake. He handed him one of his old spoonbills snagging rods complete with big treble hooks on old 100-test line.
“Now leave the hooks on this rod when your carry it on the dock,” Snapperhead said. “The other bass fishermen will be more than impressed when you explain the hooks are for snagging bedding bass, a common tournament anglers’ trick.”
The day of the tournament we all wondered what was going to happen, but no one had the nerve to go watch. Days later I got a letter from the man Gus was to fish with.
It read:
“Sir, just a note to thank you for preparing Gus to join our bass tournament. Your brother-in-law destroyed our tournament. We know now that Gus is a good swimmer, even when weighted down. We cancelled the tournament meant to raise funds for my daughter’s wedding. By the way, do you remember the Godfather scene where the guy is croaked in his boat? That was based on my life. Be seeing you soon, Guido!”
Oh yeah, and my wife kicked me and my dog out of the house—again!
Kenneth
L. Kieser
Include the Conservation Federation of Missouri in your estate plans.
Leave a legacy for the natural resources and traditions you have valued throughout your life. Make CFM a beneficiary of your will, trust, life insurance policy, or retirement plan. Any amount helps preserve Missouri’s resources and natural history for generations to come. What will your legacy be? Call 573-634-2322 to find out more information.
