Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
Anyone with access to a computer, tablet or smartphone and an internet connection can eavesdrop into the secret lives of the fastest creatures on Earth, thanks to the Falcon Watch partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Ameren Missouri and the World Bird Sanctuary (WBS).
Access the Falcon Watch live stream HERE.
Read more from the MDC release below.
MDC is in its third year of a five-year tagging project to help monitor paddlefish numbers and improve species management. Department staff are placing metal jaw tags on up to 6,000 paddlefish netted in Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake and up to 1,000 netted from the Mississippi River. Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
Missouri’s annual spring paddlefish snagging season starts soon! The season is a popular pastime for thousands of anglers in the state. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is in its third year of a five-year tagging project to help monitor paddlefish numbers and improve species management. If you head out to Missouri lakes to enjoy the spring paddlefish season, don’t forget to help out by reporting tagged paddlefish and to NOT remove tags from undersized or released paddlefish.
The state’s major paddlefish snagging waters include Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake, and Table Rock Lake, according to the MDC. The paddlefish snagging season for these and most other waters in the state runs March 15 through April 30. The season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15. (Read more from the MDC’s press release below.)
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports Riley Nolan of Fenton became the recent record-breaking angler in Missouri when he gigged a gizzard shad on the Big River in Jefferson County.
“Believe it or not, that shad was the only fish my dad and I got that evening,” he said.
See more of the MDC story below.
Picture courtesy James Kramper, National Weather Service.
Missourians are urged to participate in this year’s Severe Weather Awareness Week coming up March 6 -10, and the statewide tornado drill on Tues., March 7, at 10 a.m., to be prepared for the deadly hazards posed by tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flooding and lightning.
Len Patton (left) and Bob Campbell (right), Missouri Department of Conservation instructors, at the shotgun shell reloading seminar held at Jay Henges Shooting Range & Education Center, Feb. 21, 2017. Photos by Holly Shanks.
Event coverage by Holly Shanks
A small group gathered at Jay Henges Shooting Range and Outdoor Education Center recently to explore the basic techniques of shotgun shell reloading. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) seminar, led by Bob Campbell and Len Patton, offered a hands-on learning experience. Both men have been reloading for decades and have extensive first-hand knowledge of procedures and best practices.
Lead safety procedures were included in the seminar. Also, how the MDC handles toxic lead clean-up at Jay Henges Shooting Range are included in the story. See more of the story below.
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently received DNA results from a confirmed mountain lion in Shannon County. Those results indicated the mountain lion was a female with a probable origin in the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota, and Northwest Nebraska. This is the first definitive confirmation of a female mountain lion being present in Missouri since 1994.
More from the MDC press release below:
All photos provided by Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers.
In 2013, Kirkwood School District’s Keysor Elementary opened the PROJECT IDEA outdoor natural learning space. The nearly one acre of space offers a natural play area and an outdoor lab for enhanced STEM learning. The area is an all-inclusive area for students, families, and the entire community.
Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers and husband Derek, kids Wyatt (12), Shiloh (8), and Ryder (7).
Dr. Meredith Spiekerman Byers, co-chair of Kirkwood School’s PROJECT IDEA, is the guest on Behind the Editor’s Curtain with Don Corrigan.
Byers shares the story behind PROJECT IDEA outdoor space, the community and professional partners of the project, the learning opportunities for students and the community, the STEM emphasis, and the future goals of the project.
Click “continue reading” to hear the podcast with Byers below.
Don Robinson State Park.
Gov. Nixon announces the opening of Don Robinson State Park. The land donated to the state in 2012 features sandstone cliffs, diverse forests and a significant tributary to the Meramec River
Read more from Gov. Nixon’s press release below…
Photo by MDC.
Help provide wildlife habitat in local lakes by donating your Christmas tree.
Information from the Missouri Department of Conservation for donations from now to January 16, at the August A. Busch Conservation Area in St. Charles and Blackjack Lake at the North County Recreational Complex and Spanish Lake Park.
Missouri Gov. Nixon released information about three new state parks.
“Missourians are gaining three new state parks in southern Missouri that will have some of the state’s most distinctive natural landscapes and features on their more than 8,000 acres, Gov. Jay Nixon announced today (December 16, 2016.) The addition of Eleven Point State Park in Oregon County, Bryant Creek State Park in Douglas County and Ozark Mountain State Park in Taney County will bring the total number of state parks in Missouri to 91.”
To read the full release CLICK HERE.
Environmental Echo 