1. "Teal" More Than Trendy Color to Young Hunters
2. Eagle Nests Thriving in Missouri
3. Conservation Incentives Make Stream Management Attractive
4. MDC Helps Boy Scouts Soar With the Eagles
"There is as yet no sense of shame in the proprietorship of a sick landscape."-- Aldo Leopold
FOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- Encased in layers of insulating fabric and a new pair of chest waders, Lacey Ward looked like a snowbird with feathers fluffed against the arctic breeze. Raising her 5-foot, 7-inch frame on tiptoes, she peered intently through a gap in the dry marsh grass covering the trapdoor overhead. "Teal!" came the hoarse whisper from Lacey's dad, Craig, crouched at her right elbow. "They're gonna land."
By the time Lacey spotted the smallish ducks, they already were paddling among the 100 or so decoys bobbing in ice-flecked water 50 feet away. "Okay, get ready to shoot," instructed the Ward's guide, Darrell Clark. "When we pop the door they're gonna fly. That's when to shoot. Ready?" Clutching her 20-gauge pump shotgun, Lacey nodded tensely.
The door went up, along with the 13-year-old hunter and two seemingly rocket-propelled teal. Her two shots rang out without apparent effect on the departing waterfowl.
After another hour of watching the sky in vain, Craig Ward said, "Well, darlin', you got to shoot at some flying ducks."
"You don't want to leave, do you?" Lacey asked, apparently willing to continue the vigil at Fountain Grove Conservation Area just east of Chillicothe.
It was Nov. 12, 1995. Besides being the middle of Missouri's most productive waterfowl hunting season in a decade, it was the second day of Missouri's firearms deer season. Craig Ward's skills were in demand at a meat locker plant in nearby Meadville. He had worked past midnight that morning skinning deer, then arose at 3 a.m. to take his daughter on her first waterfowl hunt. Now, at 1 p.m., and with orange-clad deer hunters bringing in the day's kill, he could earn more extra money preparing others' meat. At that moment, though, extra money apparently didn't seem like the most important thing. "We can stay as long as you want," he replied.
At 5 p.m., a scant two minutes before the end of legal shooting hours, Lacey dropped her fifth green-winged teal, filling her limit.
In the lulls between shooting action, Clark, who works as a resource assistant for MDC, gave Lacey duck calling lessons. All the participants received duck calls at their clinics. Slack time also provided an opportunity to discuss matters ranging from duck-blind cuisine (long on candy bars and canned sausages) to the reasons -- good and bad -- why people hunt. As the day progressed and the occupants of the blind got to know each other the warmth of hunting camaraderie gradually dispelled the day's physical chill.
Lacey Ward was one of about 200 youths age 11 through 15 who took part in the first-ever youth waterfowl hunting program sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). All got to attend clinics where they learned the "where," "when," "how," and "why" of duck and goose hunting. One hundred twenty-three were lucky enough to have their names drawn and went on guided waterfowl hunts like Lacey Ward's.
MDC developed the youth waterfowl hunting program in response to demand expressed by Missourians who took part in similar youth deer and dove hunting programs the past two years. Their response was enthusiastically positive when asked if they wanted similar opportunities for other game species. MDC also offered a youth squirrel hunting program this year.
Firearms were available for young hunters who didn't own guns, and waterfowl hunters could borrow waders to keep their feet dry.
The waterfowl hunting clinics were able to accept up to 60 youths at each of eight locations around Missouri. After completing clinic training in firearms use and safety, duck identification, hunting ethics and other subjects, participants could register for 131 spots on guided hunts.
To judge by Lacey Ward's experience, the program was a success. "I think she's got it in her blood," said Craig Ward. "She's going to want to do it again and again, now. She has changed her Christmas list. She says she wants a pair of chest waders instead of a CD player and tapes."
MDC plans to offer the youth waterfowl hunting program again in 1996. Details will be
announced in August.
JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Department of Conservation's (MDC) eagle restoration program isn't going quite the way ornithologist Jim D. Wilson had planned, but you won't hear him complain about that. The number of eagles nesting in the state is well ahead of schedule for Missouri's eagle restoration program.
"Our objective was to have 20 breeding pairs by the turn of the century and 50 pairs ultimately for the state," says Wilson, who works out of MDC headquarters in Jefferson City. "We picked these numbers as reasonable. This past year we had 19 productive nests." Wilson gives a slight chuckle and says, "We may need to upgrade our goal."
Wilson's optimism is fueled by a report of bald eagle nest success. MDC workers found 24 active eagle nests in Missouri last year, and were thrilled to find that 24 pairs of those eagles raised 38 fledgling -- young eagles that left the nest to make their own ways in the world.
Like most young animals in the wild, fledgling eagles suffer much higher mortality than adults. Wilson knows that many of this year's crop of bald eagles won't survive the winter. But it is impossible for him not to be happy when he considers how far the bald eagle has come in just 12 years. In 1984, Missouri had no productive eagle nests. Eagles had not been known to nest successfully in the state for the previous 24 years. Since 1984, the number of nests and young eagles has steadily increased. The number of fledglings broke into double digits in 1991, when 13 eaglets fledged. 1992 saw 21 fledglings, 1993 brought 18, then 25 in 1994.
"Looking at the recent history of the bald eagle in Missouri, this is cause for celebration," says Wilson.
MDC began it's bald eagle restoration program in 1981. The birds were extirpated from Missouri decades earlier. Chemicals such as DDT contaminated eagles' food supplies, poisoning the birds or causing them to lay defective eggs. Loss of nesting habitat due to human development and agriculture also reduced the number of areas suitable for eagle nesting.
The banning of DDT and other pesticides and reintroduction of bald eagles throughout the Midwest have helped the national bird make a comeback. Wilson says while some eagles nesting here were released by MDC, others moved here on their own as the number of eagles increased in northern states.
Wilson says MDC is now in its second phase of its eagle restoration program. Phase two consists of tracking eagle nesting activity and taking action to assure that the birds stay. That action includes advising landowners on how to protect the birds found on their property and banding the young eagles to learn about their survival and movements.
Wilson says changes in Missouri's landscape make it doubtful that the number of eagles in Missouri will again be as high as it was before the birds were extirpated. But he says the bird's strong comeback in the past decade has made eagle sightings commonplace each winter in several locations. And the ornithologist says with the number of breeding eagles increasing, it's likely the birds will more commonly be seen year-round in coming years.
HUMANSVILLE, Mo. -- Missourians have done what has proved impossible out west. Show-me state residents have created an endangered species restoration program that's gotten the approval of environmentalists and landowners.
The Brush Creek EARTH Project is designed to bring back the Niangua darter -- a species designated as endangered in Missouri and threatened nationally. The program is a cooperative effort of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Department of Natural Resources Soil and Water Conservation District Program and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). It is part of the Special Area Land Treatment (SALT) Program.
SALT gives communities the financial and technical support needed to solve local environmental problems. A committee of landowners outlines the objectives of a project and then decides how the land will be managed.
"When we held the public meeting to kick it off, a lot of people had fears," says Ron Dent, fisheries district supervisor spearheading the project for MDC. "When we talk endangered species they fear we will force them to participate. People now recognize we want to work with them and share the costs. They'll benefit from having a higher water quality if they participate." Poor water quality is believed to have contributed to the extirpation of the Niangua darter from Brush Creek. Excessive growth of filamentous algae in the stream left the fish without food or places to nest.
Dent compares the fish to canaries in underground mines. The animals can signal humans to problems in their environments. "If you don't have fish," says Dent, "you won't have good water quality for other animals or people."
The algae is the result of excess nutrients entering the water. Human and cattle waste and fertilizer are among the sources for those nutrients. Nutrients could be entering the stream from the Humansville sewage treatment plant or as runoff from fertilized fields. Another possible source of excess nutrients is runoff of livestock waste combined with the damage to stream banks where animals are allowed to wade in creeks to obtain drinking water.
Stopping runoff from the treatment plant and voluntarily fencing off cattle from the stream will be among the first steps taken to improve water quality. That action will start a cycle that will help improve the land as well as the creek. Without animals walking on stream banks, plants will be able to take root. Those plants can help filter out nutrients that would otherwise enter the stream.
Cleaning up the watershed is only one part of the EARTH projects' mission. Another part addresses problems of the local cattle owners who lose access to the stream.
MDC's Fisheries Programs Coordinator Paul Calvert says those problems will be solved by providing alternate water sources. He says four watering systems have been offered to assure all who are willing to participate and meet certain criteria will receive alternate watering. Water lines will be built to supply pastures near the stream. In other areas, ponds will be built, inactive ponds will be reconditioned, or shallow flood-plain wells will be dug.
Calvert says Brush Creek EARTH project cost-share incentives will pay up to 75 percent of the cost of creating alternate water sources. MDC and NRCS will supply any technical help needed. Quail Unlimited is offering additional incentives for improvements to wildlife habitat around timber edges, stream corridors and ponds. Other components of the project include improvements to woodland and wildlife habitats and pastures, reintroducing Niangua darters and providing educational programs for the watershed community.
"What we're trying to do," says Calvert, "is emphasize good stewardship in watershed
management. If you teach good stewardship instead of force regulations on people, everyone can
work in harmony with nature and we all win."
JEFFERSON CITY -- It's a partnership made in heaven. Boy Scouts and the Missouri Department of Conservation share an interest in conservation. So what could be more natural than working together on projects that involve eagles?
Scouts' interest in eagles isn't quite as literal as MDC's. The highest rank possible in Boy Scouting is "Eagle Scout." This achievement's difficulty and prestige is so widely recognized that many Scouts continue to include it on professional resumes throughout adulthood.
Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and MDC share a literal interest in eagles and other wildlife. Many Scout badge and rank requirements and outdoor activities focus on biological and environmental subjects. And during 1995 and 1996, BSA's national Good Turn Program theme is "Conservation Good Turns."
To earn their eagle's wings, Scouts must fulfill a rigid set of requirements. These include earning a minimum number of merit badges in subjects such as environmental science. Eagle requirements must be completed before the Scout's 18th birthday.
The most challenging Eagle requirement is the planning and execution of a public-service project that makes a lasting contribution to the community and that requires the cooperation of other individuals and organizations. That requirement is fertile ground for partnerships between Boy Scouts and MDC.
Scout Executive Dean Ertel at BSA's Ozark Trails Council headquarters in Springfield estimates that about one fifth of the 80 or so Eagle Scout applications processed by his office involve service projects on MDC lands. "You know Boy Scouts have a tradition of trying to leave the places they visit better than they found them," says Ertel. "Some eagle projects that come through here take a long time before they show results -- like planting willow trees along a creek bank to stop erosion. But after that boy and his workers finish their project, they can go back there with their kids or even their grandkids and say, 'We did that.'"
Ertel says other eagle projects completed in his council in recent years have included planting a tree corridor at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center (CNC), building a native stone walkway at the CNC, shoring up a retaining wall there, conducting a clean-up on the Big Piney River and making permanent caps for wells on conservation areas (CAs) around Branson.
Frank Lewis, director of training and advancement for the St. Louis BSA Council, says he sees eight to 12 eagle projects each year performed at August A. Busch Memorial CA near Weldon Spring. Several more take place at Powder Valley CNC. He sees three reasons for this continuing cooperation between Eagle Scout candidates and MDC.
"First, conservation is something we believe in," says Lewis. "We teach it in our program and our boys believe in it. Second, we use the facilities at Powder Valley and the Busch area, so we know about their needs. Third, these boys want to preserve and give back to the places that have given to them."
An example of giving something back was the building of a 25-foot bridge on a hiking and biking trail at Busch CA. John Miller, MDC naturalist at the Busch area says eight Eagle Scout projects are in progress there now, and he has records of 35 such projects since 1990. These have included building picnic tables and benches for fishing lakes, clearing fallen trees from hiking trails and building and hanging wood duck nest boxes.
Lewis says the enthusiastic cooperation and guidance of MDC personnel help make service projects on MDC lands attractive to eagle candidates.
Alan Westberg, professional Scout executive for BSA's Pony Express Council in St. Joseph, says his office processes 70 or 80 Eagle Scout applications each year, of which a considerable number involve service projects on MDC lands.
Mark Brayer at the BSA Heart of America Council in Kansas City says many of the 300 or so eagle projects in his area each year involve MDC lands. Don Norwat, manager of James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area at Lees Summit, says he works with four or five Scouts on eagle projects each year. Some have involved replacing wood chips on hiking trails, planting trees and building fish habitat structures with discarded Christmas trees. MDC may provide tools and materials for these projects, but planning and organizing the labor force is up to Scouts.
Norwat notes that one young Scout set his sites on a double achievement -- Eagle Scout and the presitigous William T. Hornaday Award for Distinguished Service. Though young for an Eagle Scout -- he was only 12 at the time -- the youngster organized a project to build a wooden foot bridge on a hiking trail. He raised money for materials from trail users and gave hats and T-shirts to donors. Then he organized a work party of Scouts who built the bridge to MDC specifications.
The Pony Express Council's Westberg says, "These projects deal with the outdoors, and that's what Boy Scouts like to do. They would much rather do something for the Conservation Department than paint fire hydrants."
For information about conservation-related Eagle Scout projects, call the nearest MDC or
Boy Scouts of America office.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information about past and current Eagle Scout projects in your area, call:
St. Joseph area - Alan Westberg, (816) 233-1351
St. Louis area and Southeast Missouri - Frank Lewis, (800) 392-0895
Kansas City area - Mark Brayer, (800) 776-1110
Springfield area - Dean Ertel, (417) 883-1636
Central, North-central and Northeast Missouri - Sharon Moulds, (800) 726-8852.
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