Category Archives: Environment

By Don Corrigan

When Carolyn Mueller Kelly was age 8, she dreamed of having every birthday party at the St. Louis Zoo; and attending Zoo Camp; and of becoming a zookeeper. Kelly found that, like fairy tales, dreams can come true.

Kelly’s many Zoo dreams continue to come true. The latest dream coming to fruition has a title: “The Story of the St. Louis Zoo.” It’s a book that’s well-suited for any 8 year-old today, but it’s also sure to please any 80 year-old Zoo fan with fun memories.

Carolyn Mueller Kelly with Kali at the Saint Louis Zoo.

“The book celebrates a special, magical place in our community and will teach readers about amazing animals – and the Zoo’s conservation work,” said Kelly. “My goal was to capture the Zoo magic, and Richard Bernal definitely made that happen with his beautiful illustrations.”

Ask Kelly about her favorite magical animals, past and present, and she goes totally gaga. She gushes over Zoo legends like Phil the gorilla, Miss Jim the elephant and Kali the polar bear.

Kelly also has more contemporary creature heroes – with species like the scimitar horned owl, the amazing Aldabra tortoise and the hard-working leaf-cutter ant. They’re all part of a magical menagerie.

“When the Saint Louis Zoo bought that beautiful elephant, she was renamed ‘Jim’ after James Harper, then president of the St. Louis Board of Education,” explained Kelly. “The “Miss’ was added so that people would know she was a female.

“St. Louis school kids made it possible to have an elephant by saving up their pennies to purchase Miss Jim,” added Kelly. I have a co-worker whose great grandmother was one of those kids. She still has a certificate from the Zoo to prove it.”

The furry fellow named Kali was the first polar bear to live at the Zoo’s Polar Bear Point. He was an orphan in the wild before he came to the Gateway City, according to Kelly. He now has matriculated to the Detroit Zoo, but Kali remains a legacy of the Lou.

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The Fair Shares Crew photo from left to right: Sarah Trone (New Owner), Malinda Sullivan, Arianna Aerie, Jamie Choler (Founder), Lydia Powell, Seth Powell (summer help and their family are members), Grace Smith.

By Don Corrigan

Just about 20 years ago, Jamie Choler, Sara Hale and Lindy Sullivan sat at a kitchen table and wondered why that empty table couldn’t be full of safe, locally-grown food. An idea was born: Fair Shares.

That idea is as fresh now as it was in 2007. It’s an especially relevant idea now as news reports tell us we need to worry about contaminated lettuce and the berries. Produce from distant places could be making us sick.

“In our 20 years, none of our farmers have had a scare of their produce being tainted,” said Choler. “Our produce just isn’t handled at the same scale of production as industrial farming.

“Our farm suppliers harvest produce, and our staff of four weigh it, count it and pack it into bags for our Fair Share members,” added Choler. “The food is touched by only a few people. In a grocery store or market, many people touch food they aren’t going to purchase.”

Fair Shares started in late 2006 when Webster Groves sisters, Jamie Choler and Sara Choler Hale, were picking up Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) supplies at the Maplewood Farmers’ Market.

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by Don Corrigan

Cats have a long history at Kirkwood’s National Transportation Museum. In the early years, the felines found favor with museum officials in ridding rodents from locomotives, rail cars, and caboose displays.

Cats as “mousers” have always been preferable to poisons in keeping mice and rats at bay – and off the rails. Cats excel at deterring mice through scent and stress, as well as outright confrontations with the little beasts.

In contrast, rodent poisons carry a high risk of secondary poisoning to pets and predatory birds. Owls in particular suffer from eating poisoned rodents. Poisoned rodents die inside walls and insulation causing severe odor.

Even before environmental sensitivities cautioned against the use of toxic chemicals for rodent control, the transport museum wisely employed Felix the Cat and the ubiquitous Garfield to manage the rodent population.

A new book by William Matteson Schaberg of Kirkwood entitled, “Origins” covers the founding of the museum and its early years from 1941-1955. He includes a Chapter 13 headlined, “The Cat Chronicles.”

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By Don Corrigan

Kirkwood residents were well represented at an open house at Fenton City Hall on May 26. That’s because the meeting topic was about a plan for a walking and biking bridge over the Meramec River.

The river bridge would provide a connection from St. Louis County’s Unger Park to Kirkwood’s Greentree Park. The bridge would also link a north-south section of the trail along the river from Fenton, to an east-west section of the trail along the river that ends in Valley Park.

Brian Stith, senior project manager for Great Rivers Greenway (GRG), was on hand with other greenway officials to explain visuals and diagrams about the project, as well as to answer questions from area residents.

“We manage over 140 miles of greenways and we work with more than 265 partners,” said Stith. “We have a lot of greenways now that we are either managing, planning or developing.

“The Meramec Greenway plan began more than 30 years ago,” Stith added. “We continue to focus on making connections – locally, regionally, and really even beyond the region.”

The major partners in the Meramec Greenway Bridge Feasibility Study are Kirkwood, St. Louis County, and Fenton. St. Louis County owns Unger Park at 550 Yarnell Road and its park lake.

The park includes an 18-hole disc golf course with open holes, wooded paths and water hazards in the park and by the river. It also offers hiking and fishing. Unger Park is included in the Meramec River Greenway.

The Great Flood of 1993 did extensive damage to the park and the road closed at the lake parking lot. Following the flood, about 25 properties were acquired in the area between Interstate 44 and the river.

More recent flooding has damaged the hiking and biking trail and rendered it unusable. The realignment project will move the original trail to higher ground away from the river. That new trail would presumably connect to the bridge over the Meramec to Kirkwood.

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by Don Corrigan

Fuel prices at Missouri and Illinois gas pumps have skyrocketed due to the conflict and turmoil in the Middle East, which affects global crude oil costs. Some legislators seek to soften the blow of high prices with an ethanol blend fuel solution.

Illinois drivers face some of the highest costs in the Midwest with gasoline averaging more than $4.20 – $4.30 per gallon. Missouri prices, though lower, also have seen significant upward trends.

The Land of Lincoln has experienced severe surges, with averages around $4.30 per gallon. The per gallon cost in Metro East area exceeds $4, while prices at some Chicago locations are approaching $5 per gallon. Costs for diesel fuel can be as high as $6.50 – $7.

Missouri gas prices, while historically cheaper than neighboring states, have risen to over $3 per gallon in most areas, with St. Louis leading the state in higher average costs of $3.85 to $4.

Experts say the situation is volatile, and steep prices will persist depending on geopolitical developments. In an effort to ease the pain for drivers, legislators and governors are urging action by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said he will allow gas stations to sell a blended fuel containing 15% ethanol into the summer season as part of an effort to lower gas prices.

The blend is normally prohibited in many Midwest states over the summer months to reduce smog. The blend known as E15 contributes to foul air that in recent years has been aggravated by wildfire smoke from western states and from Canadian fires.

The move by EPA, which ethanol producers are applauding, could prevent more spikes in prices at the pump during the war with Iran, which has thrown oil markets in disarray worldwide.

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Members of MoDNR and Guidehouse met in Jefferson City this week to kick off development of the new Comprehensive State Energy Plan.

This week, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources embarked on an intensive six-month project to develop Missouri’s next State Energy Plan.

Guidehouse, the contractor for the new plan,  will work with the department’s State Energy Program to conduct economic and power sector modeling, and demand forecasting. The team will also develop policy recommendations.

“Missouri’s energy landscape has changed dramatically over the past 10 years, and state policymakers sit at a crossroads as to how they can shape Missouri’s energy resources to benefit Missourians for decades to come,” said Kurt Schaefer, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Missouri’s current electricity generation portfolio is a diverse mix of fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy sources, with a recent significant shift to natural gas. The new plan will address Missouri’s drift away from net electricity exporting to becoming increasingly reliant on imported electricity. In 2025, Missouri relied on generation from other states for over 15 percent of its electricity needs.

Furthermore, massive growth in energy demand driven by data centers and manufacturing onshoring poses a new challenge, but a potentially unmissable opportunity for local Missouri economies.

“The ambitious new plan will go above and beyond previous plans,” said Schaefer. “It will forecast future demand and model multiple tailor-made scenarios for the state to evaluate the costs and benefits of meeting Missouri’s energy needs. This includes investments in specific energy technologies and correcting Missouri’s reliance on electricity imports.”

The department’s State Energy Program has conducted various forms of statewide energy planning and analysis since the 1990s to recommend plans for Missouri’s energy future to policymakers. The last Comprehensive State Energy Plan was published in 2015.

Learn more about MoDNR’s vision of the energy future at Division of Energy | Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

(Information from MO DNR press release.)