Healthy Forests

Our Glorious Forests Peck Ranch Conservation Area

Project Area: 23,049 acres

Location: 5 miles east of Winona on Route H, then 7 miles east on gravel in Shannon County

Highlights: This area is predominantly pine and oak woodlands with a rich diversity of glades, forest, old fields, cropland and some wetlands. Facilities and features include primitive camping, picnic areas, firearms range, archery range, beaver pond viewing deck, a perennial stream and four Natural Areas (Grassy Pond, Goldenseal, Stegall Mountain and Mule Hollow).

Find more info: Call (417) 256-7161

June is a good time to explore the glories of the Peck Ranch Conservation Area by way of the 11-mile Current River Section of the Ozark Trail. Backpackers will encounter scenic limestone and rhyolite glades, which provide natural openings among the oak-pine woodland that dominates the region. Narrow ridges range from 900 to 1,000 feet in elevation. At 1,348 feet above sea level, Stegall Mountain is the area’s highest point. Rogers Creek and Mill Creek, which flow into the Current River, meander through the area. Peck Ranch began in the early 1900s as Chicago businessman George Peck’s scheme to supply fuel for his Mid-Continent Iron Company. Today, Department managers are using diverse management techniques, including prescribed fire and forest products harvesting methods, to maintain and restore the many natural communities on Peck Ranch. To download the area map and brochure, visit our online atlas, keyword "Peck".

Forest Management Help

Contact a consulting forester for a variety of services.

How can you manage your forest for both wood and wildlife? Private consulting foresters can help you answer this question. They provide a variety of forest management services on a fee basis. Some of their services include appraisals and inventories for assistance in buying or selling timber or timber lands; assessing loss due to fire, theft, chemical spray or condemnation; and tax valuation. Obtain a directory of consulting foresters from the Missouri Consulting Foresters Association online.

We All Live in a Forest

TRIM Program helps communities after ice storms.

The ice storm of January 2007 left 39 Missouri counties in a state of disaster. To help communities replace and repair ice-damaged trees, the Missouri Conservation Commission added $250,000 to the Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance program’s 2007 budget, bringing total funds to $500,000. Since then, more than 40 Missouri communities have received TRIM grants. One of them is the City of Ash Grove, northwest of Springfield. “We lost around 30 trees in the city park,” said Deanna Monnig, advisory park board president. “This year we’re replacing 18 of them. It has been a wonderful blessing to receive the TRIM grants.” To learn how the TRIM program can help community forests recover from storm damage, call Justine Gartner at (573) 522-4115, ext. 3116, or visit online.