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Letters to the Editor

Submissions reflect readers’ opinions and may be edited for length and clarity. Email Magazine@mdc.mo.gov or write to us: Missouri Conservationist, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Black Walnuts

Fantastic article on black walnuts [October]. It’s my favorite for cookies, bread, and muffins. I have made many pieces of furniture from its beautiful wood in my 60 years of woodworking.

Mike Kopp Sr. via email

Nuts for Black Walnuts

I really enjoyed your informational article about black walnuts [Bountiful, Beneficial Black Walnuts, October]. As a retired early childhood educator, I used the Conservationist, as well as Xplor, for the wonderful pictures to add to my curriculum.

Carolyn Foster via email

Your article brought back warm memories. Black walnuts were a source of income for my grandparents. Every fall, Grandpa would hitch up his mules to the wagon, and we would fill it to overflowing with black walnuts. We proudly rode on top of the bounty back to the house, where Grandma would have freshly baked homemade bread with soft homemade butter and recently canned fruit jams waiting for us. After having the nuts hulled, my grandparents dried, cracked, picked, and then sold the nutmeat. Grandpa was a lifelong resident of Osage County and lived to 102. We purchased the wagon, and the wheels now sit in our backyard where I am reminded of those wonderful adventures.

Linda Blevins via email

Greetings from Alaska

An expatriate Missourian since 1976 when we moved to Kodiak, I’ve continued to enjoy the Missouri Conservationist for many years. I was delighted to find that the presentation of the new format with the July issue was again graced with the beautiful photos by Noppadol Paothong and complemented by the articulate commentary in Up Front by your director, Sara Parker Pauley. Her references to the revisions of a wedding veil were particularly apropos and poignant [July].

John D. Erkman, M.D. Anchorage, Alaska

Memories

I lived on Peck Ranch in the mid 1960s while my dad, Willard Coen, was the area manager. I often roamed the nearly 25,000 acres, and sometimes accompanied my dad when he used the rocket nets to capture wild turkeys and transport them to other areas of the state for release.

My dad loved his job at Peck Ranch. I had such an incredible opportunity to be out in nature during those years, which shaped my goal of becoming a geologist and eventually working for Natural Resources until retirement in 2009.

The magazine just made me want to reach out to share some of my memories.

Larry Coen via email

Format

I like the new style of your magazine. In the October issue, I liked the black walnuts story, Up Front with Sara Parker Pauley, and Nature Lab, too. What Is It? Is also nice. I miss the cartoons every month. Keep up the good work.

Margaret Brill via email

The final cartoon ran June 2017, but you can still purchase “Outside Jokes”, a collection of more than 200 nature cartoons by Betty Chmielniak Grace, for $8.75 plus tax and shipping. Call toll-free 1-877-521-8632, or order online at mdcnatureshop.com.
—the editors

Correction

The shooting range on the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area is located 5 miles west of Highway 94, not Highway 95 as printed in the November issue. In addition, the range opened after 34 months of renovation and expansion, not 22 months.

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