Missouri Conservationist online

Jim Auckley is the managing editor of the Conservationist magazine. One of the first articles he wrote for the magazine in the 1970s was about water quality. For this month's story he traveled to the Big River near Desloge, where 500 acres of lead mining wastes loom over the banks in an area that was declared a Super Fund cleanup site.

Doug Clemons is a fisheries management assistant with the Conservation Department. To call him an avid catfish angler is perhaps not a strong enough description. He enjoys promoting the sport of catfishing and recently traveled to South America to fish for exotic catfish. He, his wife, Penny, and their two children, Megan and Dalton, live in Cameron.

Tom Cwynar is the editor of the Conservationist. He wrote for and edited many commercial publications before coming to the Conservation Department in 1991. He was born in Michigan but has lived in Minnesota, Maryland, Alaska, California and Texas. He often writes about fishing, sometimes humorously. He says fishing and fantasy fit well together.

Kathy Etling's last contribution to the Conservationist was a humorous story of her and her husband's foray into the complexities of goose hunting in October 1998. They live at Osage Beach where they own a bass boat and are busy sampling the lake's fishing and hunting opportunities. Kathy often writes freelance articles for outdoor magazines.

Tim Frevert is urban/community forestry specialist in the Conservation Department's Forestry Division in Jefferson City. He has been with the Conservation Department since 1970. He travels to all parts of the state to help devise plans for tree management on public property. He said he enjoys doing just about anything outdoors.

Joel Vance has been jousting with Missouri's wild turkeys for 30 years and entertaining Conservationist readers along the way. Joel carries an ancient but beloved Model 12 Winchester through the woods, yelping on a mouth call at opportune times. Joel and his wife, Marty, live near Russellvile, an area where the turkeys seem to be especially well educated.