Copyright ©2008 Conservation Commission of Missouri. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
1. Hawks add excitement to winter birdwatching
2. Forest management Q&A with state forester
3. Records reflect a memorable fishing year
4. Commission to meet Feb. 3 at Tan-Tar-A Resort
"The trouble is man's intellect has developed much faster than his morals. His machines get away from him. Game conservation can never succeed merely through repressive laws. It must be founded on a respect for living things."-Aldo Leopold
Missouri hosts more hawks and owls in the winter than during the warm months.
JEFFERSON CITY-Birds fly south for the winter, right? So why does it seem like there's a hawk on every fencepost as you drive along Missouri roads in the winter?
The answer lies in the Show-Me State's central location. Many birds of prey do fly south, but those that begin their migrations in the northern United States and in Canada often find Missouri is far enough south to suit their needs. That, says Missouri Department of Conservation Ornithologist Jim D. Wilson, sets the stage for a winter birdwatching bonanza.
"The influx of raptors (birds of prey) from the north is significant," says Wilson. "When you add those birds to the ones that live here year-round, it amounts to a tremendous hawk population."
Wilson says Missouri has far more hawks for most of the winter than it does in the warm months. "If we get a long spell of very severe weather it can chase many migratory hawks on south to Arkansas, but for most of the winter they're very content to stay here."
Wilson oversees a hawk survey to track the number and type of birds found in Missouri from year to year. Each January, volunteer observers drive the same 100-mile routes scattered around the state, counting hawks along the way. Since the survey began in 1993, they have counted an average of about 70 hawks per 100 miles of survey route.
Nearly three-quarters of those birds are red-tailed hawks, the most common birds of prey in Missouri year-round. Redtails are distinguished by their broad wings, large size (2 feet tall, with wingspans up to 5 feet) and distinctive, fan-shaped tails. The rusty-red color of the tail can be difficult to see unless it is lit from behind.
Redtails are easy to recognize when they are perched on trees, telephone lines or fenceposts along highways. Their breasts are bright white and are underscored by a dark band at the base of the chest. Red-tailed hawks are most common in open country, where they prey on rabbits, mice and rats.
The next most common bird of prey in Missouri is even more distinctive. At just 8 inches long, the American kestrel is North America's smallest raptor. Its slender, pointed wings identify it as a falcon. Male kestrels have striking colors of blue-gray and rust set off by patches of white.
Kestrels are so small that many Missourians fail to recognize them as birds of prey. They are commonly seen perched beside roads, and are easiest to identify by their habit of hovering with fluttering wings, waiting for a mouse to show itself in the median strip between the lanes of superhighways. They also may dine on large insects.
Far less common than red-tailed hawks, and harder to identify, are rough-legged hawks. These big residents of the Canadian tundra have broad wings and big bodies like redtails, but their wings and tails are longer, giving them a more angular overall appearance in flight. When perched, their breasts are not as white as redtails', and the dark band on their belly is larger and blacker. Their tails are white, with a black band on the trailing edge. The undersides of their wings show a black-and-white pattern not seen on redtails.
Like redtails, rough-legged hawks are most common in open areas, especially along roads in northern and western Missouri. "If you see a rough-legged hawk, it's really something," says Wilson. "They are very uncommon compared to redtails."
Much easier to identify is the northern harrier or marsh hawk. Smaller than redtails (16 to 24 inches long), they are slender, resembling sea gulls almost as much as hawks.
Harriers share owls' habit of locating prey by sound. They are most often seen swooping low over the ground, where their distinctive white rump patch is easy to see. Male harriers are slate gray, while females and juveniles are brownish. They are most common in open areas in southeastern Missouri.
Whereas the hawks mentioned so far favor open country, the Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks are creatures of the forest. These medium-sized hawks (10 to 15 inches long) have short wings and long tails that aid in quick maneuvering among tree branches.
Sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks are very difficult to tell apart. Cooper's hawks tend to be larger, and their tails are rounded at the end, rather than square. Both species are sometimes referred to as "bluebacks" because of their slate-gray backs Their small size and crossbars on their tails distinguish these from other hawks commonly seen in Missouri.
Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks prey primarily on smaller birds. Feeders maintained by humans are virtual smorgasbords for these graceful raptors. The Conservation Department gets calls every year from backyard bird enthusiasts who are distraught after seeing a hawk dart in and snatch a junco or a cardinal.
Distressing as this can be, says Wilson, it is part of the cycle of life and a normal event where birds gather. Hawks must eat, too, and they perform a valuable service by culling sick birds or those that are poorly equipped to compete in the rough and tumble struggle for life in the wild. Bird lovers can feel privileged to have seen not only another bird native to their neighborhood, but to have caught a glimpse of nature at work.
Although we most often see birds of prey during the day, there is a whole group of raptors that are active almost exclusively at night. Owls may be frequent visitors to a neighborhood without ever being observed.
Missouri's most common nocturnal bird of prey, summer and winter, is the great horned owl, which may reach 25 inches long. The best distinguishing features are its namesake "horns," which actually are large tufts of feathers on top of the head.Great horned owls are most likely to be seen around the edges of fields and woodlands, where their soft, muffled calls of five to seven hoots mark their passage. They are fearsome predators, attacking such formidable prey as skunks without hesitation.
Slightly smaller and less common in Missouri is the barred owl. It is the only large (up to 24 inch) common owl that lacks ear-like tufts of feathers on its head. It is a mottled medium buff color, with noticeable horizontal bars on its wings. It is lighter than the great horned owl.
Barred owls frequent wooded areas along streams. Their mating call, heard from December through late winter, sounds like a ghostly voice crying "Who-who-who cooks for you? Who cooks for you allllll." Frogs, crayfish, small rodents and birds, including small owls, make up the barred owl's diet.
The most common of Missouri's small owls is the screech owl. It stands slightly more than 8 inches tall and sports ear tufts like the great horned owl's. This woodland creature ranges from rusty brown to gray and has an unearthly, high-pitched, quavering call.
The short-eared owl measures 13 to 17 inches long and inhabits open country. This owl tends to linger afield at dawn and may venture out before dark, but it is so uncommon in Missouri that few people ever see one. Like the harrier hawk, these prairie owls sail low over the ground seeking prey.
Missouri's smallest nocturnal raptor is the saw whet owl, so named for the similarity of its voice to the sound of a musical saw. These rare visitors to Missouri stand a mere 8 inches tall. They might be confused with the similar-sized screech owl except for the fact that saw whets have rounded heads without "ears." They normally spend the winter much farther north, but occasionally are forced into the Show-Me State by scarcity of food.
If you have a flair for impersonating birds you can answer owls' calls, and if you sit very still you may spy them flying in on silent wings to find out who has invaded their territory. Don't overdo this, however. Anything that disrupts raptors' natural behavior takes time away from foraging, mating, building nests and other activities essential to their survival.
- Jim Low -
The Missouri Department of Conservation's top forest manager answers questions about how state-owned forest land is managed and why.
JEFFERSON CITY-The release of an environmental group's critique of state forest management in November garnered widespread attention in the news media and spurred interest in how the Missouri Department of Conservation manages forest. This interest prompted State Forester Marvin Brown to provide the following answers to basic questions about how state forest lands are managed and for what purposes.
Q: How much forest land does the Department own?
Brown: Of the slightly less than 1 million acres under Conservation Department ownership and management, approximately 580,000 acres are forested.
Q: How much Conservation Department land is logged each year?
Brown: About six-tenths of 1 percent of the Conservation Department's forest land holdings is harvested each year. Less than one-half of 1 percent is clearcut. This means that over a 100-year period approximately 60 percent of Department land will see some kind of timber harvest.
Since most trees in Missouri reach maturity within 100 years, you can see that under this management Conservation Department lands always will include a substantial amount of mature, fully developed forest. Timber harvests, as practiced on Conservation Department land, does not diminish forest acreage. In fact, the amount of forested land owned by the Conservation Department has increased in recent decades and continues to increase.
Q: Why does the Conservation Department allow timber harvest on its lands?
Brown: The overriding goal is to provide quality wildlife habitat in order to achieve the Department's wildlife management goals. There are other benefits, but those are subordinate to wildlife management objectives.
Timber harvests also are good conservation practice, because they provide economic benefits to the state by allowing environmentally responsible use of a renewable resource.
Q: Clearcutting may be the cheapest way to harvest trees, but aren't there ways of harvesting timber that are less damaging to the environment?
Brown: The Conservation Department doesn't practice clearcutting simply because it is the most efficient way to harvest trees, although in some cases it is the most efficient. The reason we clearcut is because the best way of meeting wildlife management goals for a particular area often is to implement this kind of harvest.
To sustain a variety of wildlife, you need a variety of habitat types. That includes the thick, lush regrowth of trees that follows the removal of all trees from a small tract of forest. We wouldn't want all the state's forest land to be in this "early successional" stage of growth, but we don't want all old-growth forest either. That's not a situation that favors a wide variety of wildlife.
Small forest openings created with scattered clearcuts on Conservation Department areas mimic the openings created by fire, wind and disease under natural conditions. The diversity this lends to the overall landscape is more productive than any one type of habitat could be alone.
There is no clearcutting on Park Service land; not many private landowners do it, and the Forest Service is doing less and less. We fill an important niche by managing some of our land for early successional habitat.
Q: But isn't clearcutting bad for the environment?
Brown: One very common misconception about clearcutting is that it converts land from forest to some other use, such as pasture. Forest conversion on private land is a serious problem, but that isn't what is being done on Conservation Department land. On conservation areas, clearcutting means the rebirth, rather than death of a forest.
Oaks and other hardwood trees found in Missouri regenerate by producing sprouts from the stumps and root systems of existing trees. A clearcut looks bare right after a harvest is finished, but regrowth begins immediately. A clearcut Missouri forest isn't dead, it is regenerating itself.
Another misconception about clearcutting in Missouri is that it leaves large areas exposed to erosion. What we do is very different from the way things are done out West, where clearcuts can cover hundreds of acres. The average clearcut on a conservation area is about 15 acres, and we take great pains to ensure that our clearcuts don't create long-term problems with soil erosion.
Q: How does the Department go about determining how to manage different areas?
Brown: Fish and wildlife management goals are set for each Conservation Area, and forest management practices are planned to meet those goals. The Conservation Department divides its forest land into "compartments" of roughly 1,000 acres each. The management of each compartment is reevaluated every 10 to 15 years to determine whether current management is accomplishing its goals and to develop new recommendations as needed. As part of this inventory process, foresters give each compartment a "management prescription" aimed at producing maximum benefits for wildlife.
Besides allowing the Conservation Department to meet wildlife management goals, periodic visits by foresters yield other benefits. Foresters conducting evaluations discover problems, such as tree disease outbreaks, and often are the first to find and recognize remarkable natural features, such as fens or rare plants.
Q: What are some of the "management prescriptions" the Conservation Department uses?
Brown: "Leave" is the most common prescription. This means that no active management will be done in that unit for the next 10 years. About 60 percent of our land is under this prescription.
Other prescriptions include:
· Early Successional Habitat management calls for clearcuts averaging 15 acres to produce dense growth of small tree seedlings. This type of habitat is beneficial to deer, wild turkey and a wide variety of other wildlife. It is essential for ruffed grouse. As I mentioned earlier, less than one-half of 1 percent of our forested acreage receives this type of treatment each year.
· Late Successional Habitat is what most people call old-growth forest. About 10 to 20 percent of the forest in each compartment is given this designation and allowed to grow to maturity and remain at this stage, with large, old trees eventually declining and dying.
· Intermediate Harvest involves the commercial harvest of some trees to improve the health and growth rate of the remaining trees. The trees removed are good enough to be commercially valuable, and their removal reduces competition for light, water and nutrients, allowing remaining trees to grow faster, while still providing the habitat conditions we want.
· Timber Stand Improvement cuts are used where the trees in a tract are crowded and many are of poor quality, with little or no commercial value. The benefits of this treatment are the same as in the intermediate harvest prescription. Trees removed may be used for firewood or pulpwood.
· Uneven-Age Management means selectively cutting a few trees at frequent intervals. This is in contrast to even-age management, as clearcutting is also known. When done properly, uneven-age management benefits plants and animals that need continuing protection of a forest canopy.
The Conservation Department is increasingly using uneven-age management on its areas. Trees of different ages and sizes are harvested at five- to 10-year intervals, maintaining a stable mix of large, mature trees with enough smaller trees to replace the larger ones as they are harvested.
Uneven-age management is a complicated and data-intensive process. A 4-inch tree and a 16-inch tree of the same species in the same location can be the same age. Without very good information about the trees in a given tract, uneven-age management can result in cutting the best trees and leaving less desirable ones. Over an extended period, this can degrade the quality of the forest.
Furthermore uneven-age management makes it necessary to bring logging equipment into a forest many more times over the course of 100 years than would be needed if the stand was clearcut. Neither clearcutting nor uneven-ge management is the "right" way to manage all forests. When you're managing for wildlife, each has its place.
· Pine Regeneration involves removing hardwood trees from areas that are suitable for growing pine trees and allowing the existing pines to seed and restore the shortleaf pine forest that once covered much of southern Missouri. Although this isn't the same as a clearcut, it may look the same to most people.
· Glade Management consists of removing cedar trees and conducting periodic burns to maintain the dry, open habitat once found on rocky knobs and ridges in the Ozarks. While relatively little Conservation Department land is managed as glades, this habitat contributes to the biological diversity of the state and is seasonally important to many wildlife species.
· Savanna Management is similar to glade management, but includes more trees scattered throughout prairie-like hillsides and ridges. This type of habitat once was common in southern Missouri.
· Riparian Border Strips are wooded buffers that prevent erosion and protect streams from sedimentation. They also provide travel corridors that allow wildlife to move between wooded tracts surrounded by open land.
· Natural Areas are places worthy of preservation because of the unique geological features or the plant and animal communities they harbor.
· Old Fields, Watering Holes, Den/Snag Trees and Food Plots are other management prescriptions aimed at meeting particular wildlife management goals on Conservation Department lands.
· Natural Area Preservation provides for protection of an undisturbed buffer around special areas, such as fens and bogs.
Q: Does the Conservation Department sell timber below market value?
Brown: No. We demand fair market value for timber harvested from Conservation Department land. The people of the state have set aside Department lands for conservation. If anything of value is taken from that land, good stewardship requires that the people of the state get fair compensation for the resources and that the money be used for conservation programs.
Q: Isn't one of the goals of clearcutting on conservation areas to make money for the Conservation Department?
Brown: Certainly not. Clearcutting is a tool we use to maximize wildlife habitat benefits. To be good stewards of the property we manage, we demand fair market value for the trees that loggers cut under harvest contracts. But we don't grow trees with an eye toward selling them at profit any more than we manage bass and deer to make money.
Q: How much Conservation Department land is clearcut each year, and why?
Brown: Approximately two-tenths of 1 percent of Conservation Department forest land is clearcut each year. To put these clearcuts in perspective, consider the following breakdown.
In fiscal year 1997, Conservation Department foresters evaluated and wrote management prescriptions for about 20,000 acres of forest land. Of this acreage, about 1.7 percent was designated for early successional habitat management-clearcuts to regenerate oak-hickory forest. Twelve percent was designated for selective, intermediate harvest cuts to improve growth rate and quality of remaining trees. Another 12 percent was designated for selective timber stand improvement cuts, removing trees with little commercial value, again to improve the quality of remaining trees. About four percent each was designated for pine regeneration, uneven-age management cuts and field management aimed at maintaining open habitat on conservation areas. Smaller percentages were slated for management as glade, savanna, natural areas, old growth and other purposes.
On the majority (about 60 percent) of land evaluated by foresters in 1997, the management prescription was not to do anything on those acres.
Q: Doesn't the Department have a financial incentive to sell timber?
Brown: We never schedule a cut to generate revenue. Making a profit is not considered when making management decisions. Those decisions are guided by what is good for wildlife and forest resources. We try to conserve those resources for the use and enjoyment of Missourians.
Q: How does the Department ensure that private loggers who do the actual work of cutting trees from conservation areas follow good forestry practices?
Brown: Conservation Department foresters and their work teams set up timber sales by inventorying the areas to be cut. They mark the trees to be harvested and sell the rights to cut trees under contracts through competitive bids that specify logging practices to protect forest resources and the environment.
Specifications include leaving undisturbed buffer zones to protect streams, limiting the number and location of stream crossings, the number and construction of roads, the location of log decks and the eradication and reseeding of roads when the work is finished.
After contracts are let, Conservation Department foresters and their crews monitor loggers' work during weekly visits to sites. If the ground becomes too wet to do the work without damaging the soil or if inspections show that improper logging practices are being used, foresters can order loggers to stop work. And since every logger must be bonded, foresters have the leverage necessary to make their judgements stick.
In rare cases where loggers deliberately cut trees that were not part of the sale, the Conservation Department can sue for triple the value of the trees, so loggers have a powerful incentive to abide by contracts.
Q: Who is the typical logger who cuts trees on conservation areas?
Brown: Most contract loggers are small independent contractors, family-owned businesses that employ just a few people. It generally takes them six months to a year to complete a contract for cutting timber on 10 scattered tracts of around 10 acres each.
Q: Don't foresters have a natural bias toward viewing trees as a cash crop rather than for their wildlife or aesthetic value.
Brown: One thing you quickly learn if you spend time around foresters is that they have a real affinity for big trees. They like to see stands carried to maximum age. That makes for high-quality, large-diameter trees that are both beautiful and valuable. Not many forest landowners do that, but you see it on conservation areas all over the state.
It's true that foresters have the know-how to get the most commercial yield out of a stand of timber, but most of these folks got into their profession because they genuinely love trees and forests. Besides, the definition of conservation has always included the sustainable use of resources.
Q: How much Conservation Department land is set aside as wilderness, with no timber harvest ever planned?
Brown: The Conservation Department has designated about 8 percent of its forested acreage for natural community management. This type of management aims at preserving unique plant and animal communities. An example is the 5,700-acre sinkhole complex at Sunklands Conservation Area in Shannon County.
Q: Is the amount of timber on Conservation Department land increasing or decreasing?
Brown: Increasing. From 1972 to 1988 the amount of timber on state land increased by an average of approximately 75 board feet per acre per year. During the same period the average harvest was about 21 board feet per acre per year. Over the past five years, annual timber harvest on Conservation Department land has been 23.7 percent of annual growth.
Q: What use is made of timber harvested from conservation areas?
Brown: Three types of products account for the majority of wood taken from Conservation Department land. Grade lumber is used in making furniture, wood trim and flooring. Pallet material and railroad ties are the other staple products. Smaller amounts of wood from conservation lands go into making veneer, charcoal and wood pulp for paper products.
- Jim Low -
Missourians caught three new pole-line-and-lure record fish and set three records for fish caught by "alternative" methods during 1998.
JEFFERSON CITY-Fishing fun and fame may await you at a nearby pond, lake or stream. In addition to the enjoyment anglers get from catching lunkers they also may qualify for the Missouri Department of Conservation Master Angler or State Record Fish programs. Those programs honor anglers who catch exceptional fish from Missouri waters.
The State Record Fish program recognizes anglers who catch the largest fish from species included on the State Record Fish list. Fish must be captured by legal methods from Missouri waters, weighed on certified scales and verified by a Conservation Department fisheries biologist. A color photo of the fish must accompany the record application. Each angler who catches a record fish receives an engraved plaque.
The Conservation Department recognizes state-record catches in two categories -"pole line and lure" (PLL) and "alternative methods." This year five Missourians entered the record books.
Joseph C. Manley of Calhoun began the year's record setting in March when he snagged a 134-pound, 12-ounce paddlefish from Lake of the Ozarks, setting a new PLL record for that species.
Freeman resident Mark F. Willms' archery catch of a 59-pound, 2-ounce grass carp captured the record for that species in the "alternative methods" category.
Keith Urhahn of Oran held the record for bighead carp in the PLL category for a short time this year. His June catch of a 23-pound, 4-ounce bighead carp from North Ditch in Cape Girardeau County was bested by Norman Hodges in early October. Hodges, of St. Joseph, reeled in a specimen weighing 43 pounds from Browning Lake in Buchanan County. Kurt Kysar of O'Fallon set the record for the quillback sucker in the "alternative method" category on Thanksgiving Day. He gigged a 1-pound, 14-ounce quillback from the Big River.
Anglers who catch lunkers that don't quite measure up to record standards can have their efforts recognized through the Master Angler Program. Anglers who catch fish that meet minimum requirements for eligible species receive certificates acknowledging their exceptional catches.
To learn more about the Missouri State Record Fish or Master Angler programs, contact Fisheries Division, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.
- Arleasha Mays -
OSAGE BEACH, Mo.-The Missouri Conservation Commission's next meeting will be held Feb. 3 at Marriott's Tan-Tar-A Resort on State Road KK, Osage Beach.
The open meeting will begin at 10 a.m., following a closed executive session. Commission meetings are open to the public. Items to be placed on the agenda for presentations or other business should be sent in writing to Director, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180; fax 573/751-4467. Requests must be received by Jan. 22. People requiring special services or accommodations to attend the meeting can make arrangements at the same address, or by phone at 573/751-4115.
Commissioners are: Randy Herzog, St. Joseph, chairman; Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, vice-chairman; Howard L. Wood, Bonne Terre, secretary; and Ronald J. Stites, Plattsburg, member.
- Jim Low -
Copyright ©2008 Conservation Commission of Missouri. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use