Healthy Forests

Our Glorious Forests

Henning CA

• Size of area: 1,534 acres
• Location: West of Branson on Highway 76
• Facilities: Hiking trails
• Features: White River Balds Natural Area, and a permanent stream (Roark Creek)
• Find more info: visit our online atlas, keyword "Henning".

Visiting Branson for the holidays? Be sure to stop by the Henning Conservation Area, the legacy of Ruth and Paul Henning. Paul is best known as the creator of the Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction television series. His native landscape also inspired earlier writer Harold Bell Wright, whose 1907 book, Shepherd of the Hills, immortalized local features such as Dewey Bald, Boulder Bald, Sammy Lane’s Lookout, the Signal Tree and Little Pete’s Cave. “Balds” are what local people called the area’s scenic glades (open desert-like areas) that make up the White River Balds Natural Area. The area also includes a small section of bottomland forest along a half-mile stretch of Roark Creek, a relatively undisturbed Ozark headwaters stream. As you near the area on Highway 76, be sure to tune into the Conservation Department’s broadcasts of local history and folklore on radio station AM 1630.

We All Live in a Forest

Emerging ethanol markets call for best practices.

With the price of oil and gas fluctuating, it makes sense to develop fuel alternatives here at home. Wood is among the many renewable resources that can be converted to ethanol. Although Midwestern processing facilities and markets are still developing, they will soon be online to help landowners meet the growing demand for bio-fuels. Landowners can ready themselves for emerging markets by learning best harvesting practices. These will ensure landowners’ ability to sustain forest health, as well as a steady supply of woody biomass for the market. Visit  to download a set of best management practices developed by the Conservation Department and its partners. Contact your local forester to learn about local opportunities to provide timber for this emerging market.

Rare Native Oak

Landscape-worthy seedlings in cultivation for 2010.

In 1974 botanist Paul Thompson noticed an unusual oak at an I-70 rest stop near Concordia. His discovery revealed a botanically rare, three-way hybrid that occurs only in Lafayette County. At the time, few specimens remained. Concordians hurried to get the rare acorns to the state nursery. Thanks to Friends of the Concordia Oak and the George O. White State Nursery, the oak’s future is secure. To learn more about seedling availability, call Concordia Parks and Recreation at (660) 463-4277.