Teaching Missourians About Fish, Forest and Wildlife Resources
Facing our challenges:
When Missourians were asked what the Department of Conservation could do to better serve the people of our state, the most frequent response was “educate the public.” In today’s busy society adults struggle under the burden of too little time to get everything done and children are more likely to play a computer game than to play in a stream or catch fireflies. It is in this context that we strive to help Missourians enjoy and learn about the natural resources of our state. Increased understanding of the needs of fish, forests and wildlife will allow citizens to make better decisions about the future of their natural resources and to experience the many benefits that nature has to offer.
Goal: The Conservation Department will make conservation information easier to find and understand.
Results we want to achieve:
- Increased availability and use of conservation-related information.
- Missourians understand present and future threats to fish, forest and wildlife resources and participate in the protection of these resources.
- Missourians appreciate the natural world and the numerous benefits that derive from healthy fish, forest and wildlife resources.
What we will do:
- Create a new, school-based Learning Outdoors program by 2008 that features wildlife, ecology and aquatic units designed to meet testing standards while providing exciting, hands-on learning experiences for Missouri students.
- Put the Learning Outdoors program into action by providing $500,000 in grants annually for field trips, outdoor classrooms, learning kits, special presentations and outdoor skills equipment.
- By 2010, develop a series of publications and materials for Scout, 4-H, home school and after-school programs to help youth learn about nature.
- Provide free, high-quality conservation information to Missourians through the Missouri Conservationist magazine, Missouri Outdoors TV show, news releases and a world-class Web site.
- Support the growth of the volunteer Master Naturalists so that, by 2015, more than 3,000 adults acquire the skills they need to initiate conservation projects in their communities.
- Provide a variety of exhibits, programs and experiences through Conservation Nature Centers, Department Visitor Centers, Shooting Ranges and Outdoor Education Centers.
- Educate Missourians about the benefits of using native plants in their yards, on their farms and on commercial sites by working with appropriate partners to provide annual Grow Native! landscaping workshops.
What Missourians tell us
“Not enough information” is one of the top three obstacles that keep Missourians from participating in outdoor activities.
Seventy-one percent of Missourians said they could use information about nearby places to enjoy the outdoors, 56 percent said they could use information about landscaping with native plants, and 63 percent wanted information about planting and caring for trees and shrubs.
Fifty percent of Missourians said they could use information about backyard bird feeding, 47 percent wanted to know about nearby places to fish, and 49 percent wanted to know more about Missouri’s designated natural areas.
Missourians report that they obtain conservation information from Department publications (50 percent), the Missouri Outdoors television program (51 percent), the Missouri Conservationist magazine (52 percent), friends or neighbors (61 percent), the local newspaper (67 percent) and television news programs (68 percent).
