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Feel Like A Kid Again At MDC’s Camp Hellbender

MDC’s Camp Hellbender returns in 2024 during June and July to make grownups in the St. Louis region feel like kids again.

Everybody grows up eventually.  But being adult doesn’t mean a person can’t still be a kid . . . at least sometimes.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is inviting adults in the St. Louis region to become kids again and experience a bit of what it felt like to be out of school for the summer, one more time.

MDC is hosting Camp Hellbender 2024, a series of nine events in June and July for those age 18 and over that recreate the fun of a day at summer camp.  Camp Hellbender returns after proving to be an extremely popular series of events in 2023.  Each camp session is free and will be held at a different MDC site in the St. Louis region.  Adult summer campers can register for one session per location, at as many sites as they wish.  Each session will have a different agenda of activities that will highlight the resources its location has to offer.

“This summer camp is designed to let adults feel like a kid again and have fun in the outdoors while exploring some of the best conservation areas in the region and the unique resources each one has,” said MDC Naturalist, Sabrina Hansen.

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Posted on April 21, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Battle Against Invasive Asian Carp Continues

Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.

By: Zoe DeYoung

A billion dollar project to prevent invasive Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes is set to begin construction this year, but don’t feel too bad for the nuisance fish.

The species has been wreaking havoc throughout the Mississippi River Basin, out-competing native fish for living space and resources since the 1980s.

Pictured: Jill Moon

Longtime Alton Telegraph reporter Jill Moon first heard of the invasive carp issue at a 2009 city council meeting in Grafton, a river town where the Illinois River acts as a perfect feeder for breeding carp.

Three entrepreneurs presented a plan at the meeting to capitalize on the carp. “They thought they had a good money making venture,” Moon said.

The plan involved an Asian carp processing plant. It got the green light. Moon was on the story from there: if you have lemons, make lemonade; if you have carp, put them on the menu.

“When I went to these city council meetings, they would have the boring stuff like, ‘The Street Department fixed Oak Avenue.’ A factory to make Asian carp byproducts stood out to me. And I already knew that the Asian carp was a problem,” Moon said.

A problem not only for native aquatic life, but for boaters. Asian carp tend to feed at the water’s surface and are very easily disturbed. When agitated by a boat propeller or even a sculler’s oar, they can jump up to 10 feet in the air. Think popcorn, but instead it is hundreds of soaring fish.

“Certain times of year when they are spawning, the Asian carp will jump out of the Illinois River. They’ve jumped in boats before, and they’ve accidentally given bloody noses,” Moon explained. “They’re a nuisance species,” Moon added. “So that just struck a nerve in me to find out more.”

The Grafton-based American Heartland Fish Products plant was the brainchild of those entrepreneurs at the meeting Their plan came to fruition, soon processing as much as 60,000 pounds of carp a day, as well as fish oil, fish meal and a funky smell.

The odor began to bother residents, so much so that the plant was given 30 days to address the stink. Ultimately, the plant went kaput.

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Posted on April 18, 2024 in Environment, Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Meramec College Event: Area Tree Celebrations Blossom In Month of April Showers

STLCCM Arbor Day, Carrie Coyne with Horticulture students. Photos by Robert Weaver.

by Don Corrigan

April showers may bring May flowers, but April 2024 has brought an abundance of events honoring trees in the St. Louis area. Missouri is celebrating both a state and a national Arbor Day on the April calendar.

On the state-designated Arbor Day of April 5, a crowd at the Meramec campus of St. Louis Community College in Kirkwood enjoyed the addition of a new oak species to the campus oak collection.

The Missouri native swamp chestnut oak was the gift of Bill Ruppert, who is with the school’s Horticulture Program Advisory Committee. Horticultural student Abigail Andrews expressed appreciation for the tree addition.

“This ceremony today means so much to us, because trees are so important,” said Andrews, an Oakville resident. “To plant a tree is to do something for posterity.

“Trees are all about future generations,” added Andrews. “We don’t plant them just for us, but more for the coming generations who will enjoy them.”

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Posted on April 13, 2024 in Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Environmentalist Says: “We All Live In A Watershed”

Environmentalist David Wilson, an expert on watersheds and wetlands, surveys Shady Creekin suburban St. Louis. Photo by  Ursula Ruhl.

by Jack Farish

The creeks and streams of St. Louis play crucial ecological roles and can provide social and economic benefits to the communities on their banks. Unfortunately, due to intervention, watersheds can be damaged and their natural beauty destroyed. Local watershed expert David Wilson can teach us a lot about watersheds, how they should function, and how we can change our ways to encourage their survival.

Wilson began his academic career as a student of history. As a graduate student, Wilson studied Chinese history at Washington University in St. Louis and had an opportunity to spend two years abroad in Hong Kong.

“It’s a very crowded city,” said Wilson. “When I was there in the 1970s, there were 4 million people living in Hong Kong”

Due to a combination of drought and political tensions in China, Hong Kong was neither able to collect nor trade for the water needed by its growing population.

“They limited the water to four hours a day,” Wilson recounted. “Then they limited it to four hours every two days – that’s all the tap would run. Then it was four hours every four days. If you live in an environment like that, you become very aware of your environment and where your water comes from.”

That awareness grew into a concern for environmental issues. When Wilson returned to St. Louis, he began volunteering, and eventually working for, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, taking on a variety of different issues. For the last fifteen years, Wilson has worked as a water quality and watersheds specialist with the East-West Gateway Council of Governments – the metropolitan planning organization of greater St. Louis.

In addition to working to address environmental issues directly through these organizations, Wilson has strived to get the word out on issues he is passionate about. He has taught sustainability at Webster University and organized tours of local watersheds.

The first lesson of watersheds is that everyone lives in one, according to Wilson. “A watershed is not the river,” Wilson said. “It’s not the river and the river banks or the floodplains around it. The watershed is everything that drains into the river. Everybody’s in a watershed.”

This means that the responsibility to manage watersheds in an effective and sustainable way falls not only on the communities right along river banks but on all of us. Unfortunately, human-managed watersheds are often far from naturalistic.

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Posted on April 11, 2024 in Environment

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The Wild and Scenic Film Festival, April 10

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival shares an urgent call to action, encouraging all of us to learn more about what we can do to save our threatened planet. Showcasing films from directors across the country, the Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature through film.

Join Great Rivers Environmental Law Center as we premiere a selection of environmental short films designed to inspire and educate. The event is free and open to the public with tickets first available to existing donors. The event will be held at Chase Park Plaza Cinemas, 212 Kingshighway Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet representatives from Great Rivers to learn more about how we ensure compliance with the environmental laws that protect us.

We support and value the work that the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center does to protect Missouri’s natural resources. We’ve partnered with them to present a series of short films at the Chase Park Plaza Cinema in St. Louis.

Click HERE for all the information you’ll need. The code to register is, of course, Magnificent.

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Posted on April 5, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Brews & Blooms Event with Grow Native! and Civil Life Brewing Company

The Grow Native! program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation will host its first Brews and Blooms native plant education event in partnership with Civil Life Brewing Co. at their South City brewery on Saturday, April 6 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Grow Native! will be offering a free native plant giveaway (one per household, while supplies last), a container gardening demonstration, and gardening advice from St. Louis native plant and landscaping experts. Grow Native! merchandise will also be for sale, including native plant garden signs manufactured in Washington, Missouri.

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Posted on April 3, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Learn About Naturescaping Your Yard for Blooms, Bugs, and Birds with MDC Webcast April 10 at Noon

Join MDC to learn about Naturescaping Your Yard for Blooms, Bugs, and Birds through the MDC Wild Webcast on April 10 at noon. Register in advance at mdc.webex.com/weblink/register/r9350abfe19cf8e5c13de93d5820f7b8f.

Spring is the time when many gardeners are digging in the dirt to prepare their landscapes for the coming growing season. Whether you have a big yard or just a bit of a porch or patio, you can attract butterflies and other good bugs along with birds through naturescaping with native blooms.

Planting native plants can help the garden grow by attracting native bees, birds, and butterflies as pollinators. And many fruit and vegetable plants produce better from pollination by some of Missouri’s hundreds of species of native bees and butterflies.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites anyone interested in gardening, landscaping, native plants, and native pollinators to join its free, online Wild Webcast on “Naturescaping Your Yard for Blooms, Bugs, and Birds” on Wednesday, April 10, from noon to 1 p.m.

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Posted on April 2, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Gentle Barn: Haven For Rescued Cows & Cuddling Turkeys

By Jess Holmes

The magic of the Gentle Barn became known in the St. Louis area after the rescue of the “St. Louis Six”— six cows who broke free from a slaughterhouse in north St. Louis in 2017. While the allure of the cow rescue tale will never fade, Christine Seacrist, manager of the Missouri location, emphasized that The Gentle Barn is a many-faceted, regional asset.

“One thing that makes our sanctuary really unique is that we invite people in. We have our weekly visitors on open Sundays who can come learn about the animals’ stories of resilience, find comfort with the animals, and experience joy,” she said. “During the week, we have private tours, field trips, and animal therapy programs – cow hugs, equine and barnyard therapy.”

In classic sanctuary fashion, conversations with Seacrist are held in the barn yard. Seacrist holds a partially-blind turkey in her lap, a rooster crows in the background, and a cow eavesdrops on conversations. It’s clear the animals are not only comfortable, but enjoy the company.

Seacrist has a history of animal advocacy. Upon learning some facts about the food she was eating, she made the decision, at the age of 10, to become a vegetarian. Her passion for animals continued to grow, inspiring her to go vegan. In college, Seacrist majored in non-profit management, so she could dedicate her life to animal rescue.

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Posted on March 29, 2024 in Environment, Home

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Farmers’ Table Wine Trail, April 6

The Missouri Department of Agriculture:  Enjoy the best of what Missouri has to offer. Meet the local farmers behind the food as you taste your way through six delectable wine and food pairings along the Hermann Wine Trail.

The event is Saturday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person.

Ticket price includes a souvenir wine glass. Price does not include transportation to wineries or additional wine tasting.

There are limited tickets are available. Advance purchase required.

2024 Farmers’ Table Wine Trail Tasting Menu:

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Posted on March 26, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Missouri’s Deforestation: A Threat To “Healthy Environments and Cohesive Communities”

Forest ReLeaf reminds us that trees not only provide us with incredible beauty, but they are an essential part of the earth’s ecosystem. Photo courtesy of Forrest Keeling Nursery.

by Jack Fraish

Trees are under attack in Missouri. On the edge of the once-great eastern woodland, many of these living antiques have been lost to sprawling urban development and devastating pests and diseases. Meridith Perkins can count the ways that deforestation impacts St. Louis. She is the executive director for Forest ReLeaf, an organization dedicated to planting trees and sustaining a tree canopy across Missouri.

Perkins grew up in downtown St. Louis. She didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors growing up. She said that where she lived there were “sirens and concrete,” so she spent a lot of time inside.”

Perkins expresses fond memories of the time she did spend outdoors as a kid — finding respite from the hustle and bustle of the city in parks and among the trees.

“A lot of environmentalists grew up playing in creeks and forests and such,” said Perkins. “Now I think that more of us are starting to care about environmental issues because we missed out on a natural outlet. I remember the calm of spending time in a nice green space, but for the most part, I stayed indoors growing up.”

In search of a natural outlet, Perkins decided to study forestry at the University of Missouri in Columbia. For Perkins, studying forestry was a way to better understand the green spaces that brought peace in her childhood – the natural outlet that she felt was lacking. But she felt that the forestry program at Mizzou at the time was geared toward understanding how to turn trees into profit.

“When I first started forestry school it was heavily geared toward industrial forestry which wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing.”

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Posted on March 22, 2024 in Environment, Home