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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

Morels and Fish

We loved reading this issue [April]. We go mushroom hunting during the spring and fall. My daughter was excited to see the article [Spring Trifecta] and to see other people enjoying morels and fish.

Maria Amjed via email

Missouri Orchids

Thank you for featuring Missouri’s beautiful orchids in the April issue [Missouri Orchids]. Such refreshing reading while we are staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic. We have this beautiful magazine to enjoy, and the parks will still be there when it’s safe to gather again.

Andrea Britton St. Louis

I loved the quality writing in April’s Missouri Orchids. It was insightful and informative with great images, and just a delight to read.

My dad always had stacks of the Missouri Conservationist in my childhood home, and I remember it being incorporated into my middle school science class curriculum.

I’m 30 now and this past year I started my own subscription. Every month, I save my copy to read on any given gray Sunday morning. Starting the day with a cup of coffee, reading about Missouri bats and trout fishing, really helps me feel at home.

Anna Youngyeun via email

Schooling with The Conservationist

With the sudden closure of public schools in March, I was left in a brief panic, wondering how to educate my three children. Then I remembered the burrowing crawfish article in the March issue [Burrowing Crayfish}. We had previously seen mud chimneys along a creek, but weren’t sure what they were. The article saved the week until the school could make a plan. There was reading the article, walking the creek, observing the crawfish, and writing their findings.

The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Conservationist are terrific assets to our state.

Sarah Davis Buchanan County

Appreciating Local Nature

The April Up Front by Sara Parker Pauley has had me thinking about howler monkeys and northern cardinals. How lucky Ms. Pauley was to experience the trip to Costa Rica. A comment from her nature guide saying his life’s dream was to see a northern cardinal made me realize how fortunate we are here in Missouri to experience them every day.

Thanks for opening my eyes to a beautiful bird we take for granted and forget to admire.

Ramona Allen Sedalia

Stopping the Invasion

The day after reading Invasive Species: Missouri’s Least Wanted in the April issue [Page 8], I cut down 10 burning bushes growing on the side of our house.

I am writing to thank you for not only educating us on how we can do our part to help our environment, but also to say that your article may have saved our home from a fire. Removal of the burning bushes revealed our exterior dryer vent. It was almost fully clogged with lint. Just noticed that “burning” bushes may have saved our home from burning!

Laura Swindle via email

Certain Magazine in Uncertain Times

You put together one terrific issue after another — from Danny Brown’s St Louis: Where Birds of Prey Abound [November] to Isabeau Dasho and Bob DiStefano’s Burrowing Crayfish [March]. Wonderful photography, wonderful information. In these uncertain times, I hope you keep publishing this wonderful magazine.

Susan Clauss St. Louis

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