In Brief

Go Native!

Buy native tree and shrub seedlings from MDC’s George O. White State Forest Nursery

Need trees and shrubs for your landscape? Go native with tree and shrub seedlings from MDC’s George O. White State Forest Nursery. Native trees and shrubs can help improve wildlife habitat and soil and water conservation while also improving the appearance and value of private property.

The state nursery offers a variety of low-cost native tree and shrub seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, erosion control, wildlife food and cover, and other purposes.

The nursery provides mainly 1-year-old, bare-root seedlings with sizes varying by species. Seedling varieties include pine, bald cypress, cottonwood, black walnut, hickory, oak, pecan, persimmon, river birch, maple, willow, sycamore, blackberry, buttonbush, hazelnut, redbud, ninebark, elderberry, sumac, wild plum, witch hazel, and others. MDC recommends ordering early for the best selection.

Seedlings are available in bundles of 10 or increments of 25 per species. Prices range from 40 cents to $1.17 per seedling. Sales tax will be added to orders unless tax exempt. There is a shipping fee and a $9 handling charge for each order. Receive a 15 percent discount up to $20 off seedling orders with a Conservation ID number. Orders will be shipped or can be picked up at the nursery, located near Licking, from February through May.

New this year, MDC is offering four different types of seedling bundles: pollinator, wildlife, edible, and nut bundles. Each customer is limited to only two of each bundle. 

• Pollinator bundles include five each of the following: false indigo, buttonbush, elderberry (cook before eating), witch-hazel, and redbud. These provide much-needed nectar for bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators.
• Wildlife bundles include five of each of the following: false indigo, blackberry, smooth sumac, white oak, and Nuttall oak. These provide food and cover for a wide variety of insects and other wildlife.
• Edible bundles include five of each of the following: blackberry, elderberry (cook before eating), American plum, hazelnut, and black walnut. These provide food for both humans and wildlife.
• Nut bundles include five of each of the following: black walnut, pecan, and shellbark hickory. These species are edible for humans and are a great source of protein.

Find the 2025–2026 Seedling Order Form in the September issue of the Missouri Conservationist. You can also get a copy at MDC regional offices and nature centers or by contacting the State Forest Nursery at 573-674-3229 or StateForestNursery@mdc.mo.gov.

Orders can be placed through April 15, 2026, online at short.mdc.mo.gov/ZNZ.

Find fall color with MDC

The peak of fall color in Missouri is usually around mid-October. This is when maples, ashes, oaks, and hickories are at the height of their fall display. By late October, the colors are normally fading, and the leaves are beginning to drop from the trees. Fall color is typically finished by the middle of November. 

The progression of color change usually starts earliest in northern and western Missouri and moves southward and eastward across the state. Generally, the color change is predictable, but it can vary from year to year, much of it depending on the weather.

Find some of the best places to view fall color, related events, and a weekly update on how colors are looking throughout the state at short.mdc.mo.gov/ZVf.

Join us for Deer Management Open Houses Around the State

Enjoy hunting deer or watching them? Want help managing private land for deer? Want to know more about our efforts to keep deer healthy? MDC invites deer hunters, landowners and managers, wildlife watchers, and others interested in Missouri’s white-tailed deer to a series of community open houses around the state.

Attendees can talk with MDC staff about deer management and regulations, impacts of chronic wasting disease (CWD) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) on deer populations, managing private land for deer, and MDC’s Deer Management Assistance Program. In addition, MDC staff will share new information on CWD and how MDC is working with hunters, landowners, and other partners to minimize the threat of CWD and keep Missouri deer healthy.

“For generations, Missourians have worked together to protect deer and deer hunting,” said MDC Director Jason Sumners. “Fueled by a shared passion for white-tailed deer, hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts inside and outside MDC have built a healthy, abundant herd. These open houses offer a chance to build on that foundation.”

MDC staff will share information on the previously mentioned topics and welcome questions and comments from attendees.

MDC invites the public to stop by the community open houses anytime between 4–8 p.m. No registration is required. They will be:

• Sept. 30 in St. Joseph at the Stoney Creek Conference Center, 
  1201 N. Woodbine Road
• Oct. 1 in Chillicothe at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center, 
  10780 Liv 235
• Oct. 2 in Lone Jack at the Civic Center, 509 S. Bynum Road
• Oct. 6 in Palmyra at the American Legion Hall, 600 Short St.
• Oct. 7 in Macon at the Expo Center, 1303 S. Missouri St.
• Oct. 8 in Eugene at the Cole County R-V School, 14803 Hwy. 17
• Oct. 9 in Eureka at the Eureka Community Center, 333 Bald Hill Road
• Oct. 14 in Poplar Bluff at the Three Rivers College Tinnin Fine Arts 
  Center, 2080 Three Rivers Blvd.
• Oct. 15 in West Plains at the Civic Center, 110 St. Louis St.
• Oct. 16 in Mount Vernon at the University of Missouri Southwest Research Center Educational Building, 14548 State Road H

In addition to welcoming public comments at the community open houses, MDC is also accepting public comments on the related topics online through Oct. 17 at short.mdc.mo.gov/4yd.