Be a part of one of the largest volunteer clean-up events in the region & help beautify the Lower Missouri River watershed.
Learn more at: https://volunteer.openspacestl.org/agency/detail/?agency_id=132647
Thursday, March 13, 5:30 p.m. – Thursday Night Hike: Fawns Ridge Trail at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Join the team at Lake of the Ozarks State Park for a series of guided night hikes each Thursday from March 13 to April 3. Participants will explore a different trail each week and are encouraged to bring water and snacks. This hike will begin at the trailhead by Public Beach #1 and is 1.4 miles long. Registration is required and can be submitted by visiting icampmo.com or by calling Brian Fredrick at 573-690-0450. Lake of the Ozarks State Park is located at 403 Highway 134 in Brumley.
Thursday, March 20, 5:30 p.m. – Thursday Night Hike: Lake View Bend Trail at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Join the team at Lake of the Ozarks State Park for the second hike in a series of guided night hikes each Thursday from March 13 to April 3. Participants will explore a different trail each week and are encouraged to bring water and snacks. This week’s hike will begin at the trailhead and is 1.5 miles long. Registration is required and can be submitted by visiting icampmo.com or by calling Brian Fredrick at 573-690-0450. Lake of the Ozarks State Park is located at 403 Highway 134 in Brumley.
Saturday, March 22, 3 p.m. – Backyard Birds at Bennett Spring State Park.
Join the team at the nature center to learn about the basic backyard birds that are found in Missouri year round. Afterward, test your identification skills by watching our feeders for these common birds. Bring binoculars if you wish to watch the birds at the feeders. This free program is open to the public, and no registration is needed. Bennett Spring State Park is located at 26250 Highway 64A outside of Lebanon.
Thursday, March 27, 5:30 p.m. – Thursday Night Hike: Rocky Top Trail at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. The third hike in a series of guided night hikes each Thursday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. Participants will explore a different trail each week and are encouraged to bring water and snacks. This week’s hike will begin at the trailhead and is 2 miles long. Registration is required and can be submitted by visiting icampmo.com or by calling Brian Fredrick at 573-690-0450. Lake of the Ozarks State Park is located at 403 Highway 134 in Brumley.
Saturday, March 29, 3 p.m. – Early Spring Blooms at Bennett Spring State Park. Visit the nature center to learn about the early spring wildflowers that bloom at Bennett Spring State Park. This free event will be held at 26250 Highway 64A outside of Lebanon.
For detailed information on any of these activities, please visit mostateparks.com/events. 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.
Photo by Holly Shanks
Hiking: Wonderful Wildflowers
Date/Time: Saturday, March 29, 2025, 9:00AM-10:30AM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join a Powder Valley naturalist for a guided hike and learn about these temporary treasures! This hike will take place along the long loop of our Hickory Ridge Trail, which covers 1.2 miles of hilly oak-hickory forest.
Hiking: Wonderful Wildflowers
Date/Time: Saturday, March 29, 2025, 11:00 AM-12:30PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join a Powder Valley naturalist for a guided hike and learn about these temporary treasures! This hike will take place along the long loop of our Hickory Ridge Trail, which covers 1.2 miles of hilly oak-hickory forest.
Everything in nature spends half of its existence under night. And while humans may be sleeping, much of the natural world is wide awake and active. Both plants and animals on Earth have evolved with the darkness of night. The increase of artificial light in the last few decades is changing that and impacting these species.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites the public to learn more about this emerging field of study at Nature at Night: How Lights Affect Ecosystems, a free program at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center Friday, Feb. 28 from 6 – 8 p.m. The event is open to ages nine years and up and includes a night hike. Participants under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is required.
Did you know that at least 30% of vertebrates and 60% of invertebrates are active at night? For millions of years, the natural world has thrived on the predictable rhythms of daylight and darkness. However, recent studies reveal that the growth of artificial light at night is increasing sky brightness by 10% each year.
Don Ficken, Founder of DarkSky Missouri and Lights Out Heartland, will discuss the fascinating world of nature at night and how adopting responsible lighting practices can safeguard Missouri’s ecosystems.
The doors will open at 6:00 p.m. with a naturalist-guided night hike on the Tanglevine trail starting at 6:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin at 7 p.m.
Nature at Night: How Lights Affect Ecosystems is a free event, but advanced online registration is required – CLICK HERE.
Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center is located at 11715 Cragwold Road in Kirkwood, near the intersection of I-270 and I-44.
PHOTO CREDIT: Starhill Forest Arboretum.
by Don Corrigan
The term “Post Oak” means different things to different people:
• To Virginians, Post Oak is an unincorporated community in Spotsylvania.
• To folks in western Missouri, Post Oak is a community in Johnson County.
• To Texans in the city of Houston, Post Oak is a mixed-use skyscraper.
• To folks in East Texas, Post Oak is a shopping mall in College Station.
For citizens in Missouri’s Greentree City of Kirkwood, a post oak is a tree, but no ordinary tree. On March 1, the post oak will be officially and most definitively declared “Kirkwood Tree of the Year 2025.”
The post oak tree program is from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center at 210 E. Monroe Ave. Visitors can consult with tree specialists and forestry experts at information tables.
“My goal for the March 1 event is to build enthusiasm among Kirkwood residents to plant more trees,” said Kirkwood Mayor Liz Gibbons. “As everyone can see, we have been losing some tree canopy in the city.
“Holding an event to highlight the ‘Kirkwood Tree of the Year,’ and to inform citizens on the advantages of a fuller canopy, should get us to the goal of replacing lost tree canopy.”
Photo: MDC
Few words can describe the thrill of seeing America’s national symbol soaring through the air in the wild, or close enough to touch. And winter is the ideal time to view bald eagles in Missouri, especially along one of North America’s greatest rivers.
The metro area’s premier celebration of bald eagles returns for 2025 to the Audubon Center at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in West Alton. The event will take place Saturday, Feb. 8 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. This popular annual festival offers the chance for all ages to discover a close connection with the bald eagle.
The Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary is an outstanding convergence point for bald eagles and many other exciting waterfowl species during the winter. Owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Rivers Project, the 3,700-acre sanctuary sits on the banks of the Mississippi near its confluence with the Missouri River . . . an ideal location to view eagles.
Participants can see eagles through spotting scopes staffed by trained volunteers at viewing stations along the river. Live “All about Eagles” programs will be presented by experts from the World Bird Sanctuary at 9:15 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. Visitors can see a live bald eagle as they learn the fascinating story behind these amazing raptors. Additionally, there will be two Eagle Meet and Greet events at 10:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. where participants can see a bald eagle up close and get a photo taken with World Bird Sanctuary naturalists and their bald eagle companions.
Late summer color at the Wohlwend Elementary native plant garden, established with an MPF Prairie Garden Grant in 2023, by Dave Meschke.
The Missouri Prairie Foundation Prairie Garden Grants Program is accepting applications for 2025 grant awards through January 24, 2025. We invite you to share this opportunity widely to your networks.
Gardening and other conservation groups, parks, schools, and other entities in Missouri and immediately surrounding states are invited to submit proposals to MPF’s Prairie Garden Grants Program. In 2025, MPF would like to award several grants to help fund the establishment or improvement of prairie gardens or plantings using Midwest native plants. Grants will not exceed $800 each. Those with smaller projects are encouraged to apply as well. Matching funds are not required, but proposals with secured matching funds may be evaluated higher than others.Funding will be dispersed in February.
To read guidelines and apply, visit MPF’s Prairie Garden Grants page at https://moprairie.org/mission/grants/
The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 59-year-old prairie conservation organization and land trust. In addition to its prairie conservation work, the Missouri Prairie Foundation also runs Grow Native!, a 23-year-old native plant marketing and education program, and administers the Missouri Invasive Plant Council. To learn more, visit www.moprairie.org or www.grownative.org, or call 636-303-7418.
Photo: Courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
Bird buffs, falcon fanciers, and anyone enraptured by raptors is invited to meet the objects of their admiration during this year’s An Evening with Raptors event.
The annual An Evening with Raptors hosted by the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center will be held again this year on Friday, Jan. 24 from 7 – 9 p.m. The event is free, open to all ages, and offers both in-person and virtual participation options.
Falconry is the art of training raptors—birds of prey like hawks and falcons—to capture wild game, so that bird and trainer essentially become hunting partners. It’s an ancient sport that goes back thousands of years, and you can learn about it at An Evening with Raptors event.
“Several area falconers will gather to offer the rare chance to observe and learn about these fascinating feathered hunters,” said MDC Assistant Nature Center Manager, Robyn Parker. “They will also explain how those interested can get started in this age-old sport themselves,” she added.
Powder Valley will open at 6 p.m. for this event. Visitors can tour the exhibits and explore educational stations, including a biofacts table to learn about Missouri’s birds of prey. They can create a take-home bird of prey craft and also meet members of the Powder Valley naturalist team.
The main presentation will take place at 7 p.m. in the nature center’s auditorium. Afterward, visitors can meet the falconers and see their live hunting partner birds up-close in the classrooms. The falconers will display their falconry tools, hoods, and other equipment, and visitors will also have the chance to ask them questions.
Alternatively, participants may opt to attend just the main auditorium presentation virtually.
MDC needs experienced birders to help with the National Audubon Society’s 125th Christmas Bird Count between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. Go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds, such as these eastern bluebirds.
Become citizen scientists by helping with the National Audubon Society’s 125th Christmas Bird Count between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) encourages experienced Missouri birders to become citizen scientists by helping with the National Audubon Society’s 125th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, 2025.
The CBC is an annual bird census where thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada, and other countries go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. The data on winter bird populations helps track the long-term status of species and large-scale trends. Each CBC has a coordinator who assigns portions of a 15-mile diameter count circle to participants to count all birds seen and heard over a 24-hour period.
Missouri hosts about 20 CBCs. Learn more at audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count and contact the CBC organizers listed for details on the specific count circles.
Powder Valley Nature Center presents a special concert by the band Shortleaf, featuring Mike and Tenley Fraser, on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. The evening of music and storytelling offers a unique connection to nature and the Missouri Ozarks. Photo: MDC
The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center invites you to discover nature through music. The nature center will present a special concert by the band Shortleaf, featuring Mike and Tenley Fraser on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. The performance promises an enjoyable mix of entertainment and education suitable for the whole family.
Mike, an accomplished Ozark fiddler, and partner, Tenley, are a husband-wife duo who specialize in performing traditional music of the Ozarks. Honoring a long-time heritage of music and storytelling, the two use tales of Ozark history and Scots-Irish culture to create an engaging blend of songs and spoken word. The Scots-Irish people settled in the hardscrabble Ozarks after migrating west from the Appalachian country and gave the region much of its unique character.
Environmental Echo 