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.
Domien and Eileen Meert at their Christmas tree farm near Festus, Mo. Domien holds the first tree dibble he ever used when he started his tree farm. Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
The Missouri Department of Conservation offered a few tips on how to choose an environmentally friendly Christmas Tree for the holidays.
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
The collection of 19,200 Deer harvest tissue samples were collected from 29 Missouri counties during the opening weekend of fall firearms deer season. The samples will help the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) evaluate next steps in chronic-wasting-disease management efforts.
Photo by Diana Linsley, Webster-Kirkwood Times.
“Physical deer counts done over the course of several winters indicate the deer population is much greater than what is considered ecologically sound,” noted Yegge. “When deer numbers are high, other plant and wildlife species may struggle to survive or disappear all together.”
Photo Credit: Missouri Department of Conservation
The Share the Harvest program, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri, enables hunters to help families in need through the voluntary deer meat donation. Since it started in 1992, Share the Harvest has provided more than 3.5 million pounds of lean, healthy venison to help feed hungry Missourians.
Mike Walsh, and a volunteer Jim Horn plant tree at Community Tree Garden in St. Louis area. The group has been helping with tree planting around the state for 20 years.
The Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant program awarded 36 Missouri communities a total of $380,754 this year. The monetary awards are granted through the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).
The TRIM grant program is “cost-sharing funding for government agencies, public schools, and nonprofit groups to manage, improve or conserve trees on public lands.
See a list of the 36 Missouri communities awarded the 2016 TRIM grants. (Many of the cities are in the St. Louis area.)
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Representatives from the City of Webster Groves, a Tree City USA community for 33 years, enjoyed the anniversary celebration.
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.
For the last four decades, people who live in Tree City USA communities have enjoyed the benefits of having a greener, healthier places to live. In Missouri, that includes 88 communities representing almost 43 percent of the state’s population.
Deer hoof print in the snow. Photo by Holly Shanks.
Missouri Hunters: Be sure to update the MDC’s mobile app before the 2016 deer and turkey hunting season starts to Telecheck your harvest.
The update will also provide the most current regulation and data information.
To learn more or to download the MDC hunting App – CLICK HERE.
Posted in Outdoor/Nature
Little brown bat; close-up of nose with fungus, New York, Oct. 2008. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Photo courtesy Ryan von Linden/New York Department of Environmental Conservation
Bats in the U.S. are under threat from a fungus that causes a disease known as White Nose Syndrome. The disease has the potential to wipe out entire bat populations and is spreading.
Jo Schaper is the guest on this week’s Environmental Echo podcast. Recently, Schaper attended a conference about White Nose Syndrome, held in Denver, Colorado. She shares updated information about what wildlife and conservation organizations are doing to help stop the spread of the disease and what efforts are being implemented to help save the U.S. bat populations.
Environmental Echo 