Give a gift to Nature
Your Christmas tree can be the last gift you give this holiday season — no wrapping required
MDC forestry staff remind you — don’t throw that cut Christmas tree into the trash after the holidays. Recycle it! Many communities have a Christmas tree-recycling program. If not, there are several creative ways to make further use of your tree.
Place the tree in the backyard to offer cover for wildlife or under bird feeders to provide nesting locations in the branches. Add some post-holiday treats as ornaments by coating pinecones with peanut butter and adding bird seed.
Have your tree shredded or chipped for mulch, or place cut branches over dormant plants to provide a bit of insulation during the winter and to add organic matter as the needles fall.
You can also sink the tree in a pond to enhance fish habitat by giving them a place to rest, nest, and escape predators. Multiple live trees make the best cover, so work with friends, family, and neighbors to combine efforts. Anchor the trees with concrete blocks and sink them at a depth of about 8 feet with the trees placed in a row.
If you used a balled live evergreen and your ground is still soft enough to dig, add it to your home landscape for years of enjoyment and wildlife cover.
Buy Your 2026 Hunting and Fishing Permits
MDC reminds Missouri hunters and anglers that most annual permits expire at the end of February, including 2025 permits for small game, fishing, trout fishing, and combination hunting and fishing.
Buy Missouri hunting and fishing permits from one of many vendors around the state or online at
mdc.mo.gov/buypermits. Once purchased, permits may be carried electronically through MDC’s free mobile apps, MO Hunting and MO Fishing, available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.
Save time by buying hunting and fishing permits for multiple people in a single transaction. Select the Additional Customer option during the permit purchase.
Commercial and lifetime permits can be purchased only through the MDC Permit Services Unit by calling 573-522-0107 for an application.
Apply for Spring Managed Turkey Hunts
Missouri youth, archery, and firearms turkey hunters can apply online for 2026 spring turkey managed hunts starting Feb. 1 at mdc.mo.gov/springturkeyhunts. Managed hunt details and application procedures are outlined on the webpage. Drawing results will be posted starting March 15.
Spring turkey hunting youth weekend will be April 11–12 with the regular spring season running April 20 through May 10.
Detailed information on spring turkey hunting will be available in MDC’s 2026 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where permits are sold beginning in March. Learn more about turkey hunting in Missouri at short.mdc.mo.gov/Ztu.
Winter Trout Harvest Begins Feb. 1
MDC stocked more than 70,000 rainbow trout in urban area lakes around the state for winter trout fishing beginning last November. Many of these areas allow anglers to harvest trout as soon as they are stocked, while other areas are catch-and-release until Feb. 1.
Beginning Feb. 1, all urban area lakes allow the harvest of trout. The daily limit at these locations is four trout with no length limit. All Missouri residents older than 15 and younger than 65 must have a fishing permit. All nonresidents over age 15 must have a fishing permit. To keep trout, all anglers regardless of age must have a Missouri trout permit.
Find locations of winter trout fishing areas at short.mdc.mo.gov/ooF.
Welcome New Conservation Agents
MDC congratulates its new conservation agents who graduated from the 2025 Conservation Agent Training Academy.
The 20 new agents join more than 170 existing MDC agents in protecting Missouri’s fish, forest, and wildlife. The graduates include Sarah Abbott, Dominick Montileone III, Tyler Besaw, Trent Oberg, Dalton DeHart, Joshua Paskiewicz, Lorena Farrell, Erik Lahm, Jacie Hopfinger, Jacob Iman, Cade Petree, Nathan Jobe, Tyler Polley, Bradley Laux, Hunter Ridenour, Bryce Menhennet, Justin Shearman, Joshua Slocum, Andrea Michelson, and Korben Tucker.
Sandhill Crane
by Kristen Heath-Acre
Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) are tall, elegant birds found in open prairies, harvested fields, and shallow freshwater marshes across North America. Adults stand over 3 feet tall and have gray or rust-colored plumage with a bright red crown. Across the Great Plains, flocks numbering in the tens of thousands create spectacular sights each spring, fall, and winter as they soar overhead or gather at staging and wintering areas to rest and feed.
Why It’s Imperiled
Until the late 1800s, sandhill cranes were very common in Missouri. Due to overhunting and the degradation and loss of breeding and migratory habitat, sandhill cranes have suffered steep declines.
Sandhill cranes can live to be 35 years old in the wild, but they have slow reproductive rates, making them susceptible to population decline. Most populations across North America are either stable or slowly increasing, which includes the growing number of cranes seen in Missouri.
MDC Restoration Efforts
Wetlands are vital habitats for many migrating and breeding Missouri bird species, including sandhill cranes. An estimated 87 percent of Missouri’s historic wetlands have been lost, but MDC and other conservation partners have made substantial headway in restoring and improving wetlands across the state. These efforts, in combination with hunting regulations, ensure that more migrating and breeding sandhill cranes will be seen in Missouri as time goes on.
What Can You Do?
Report any sandhill crane sightings in Missouri through eBird, a citizen science app, or contact your regional MDC natural history biologist to record the observation in the state’s Natural Heritage Review Program. You can also help conserve Missouri’s natural heritage by maintaining and restoring wetlands on your land. Federal and state cost-share programs can support these efforts. Contact your local MDC private land biologist to learn more.
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Answer:
Eastern Screech-owl
The eastern screech-owl is the only small, yellow-eyed owl with prominent ear tufts in Missouri. The tufts may be lowered and concealed from view. This owl is gray, brown, or red, but red is the least common in Missouri. Despite its name, the call is rarely described as a screech. Instead, the whistled call is more like a descending coo.
Also In This Issue
Cold-weather treks have much to offer the prepared hiker
SERVING NATURE AND YOU
Fiscal Year July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025
And More...
This Issue's Staff
Editor – Angie Daly Morfeld
Associate Editor – Larry Archer
Photography Editor – Ben Nickelson
Staff Writer – Kristie Hilgedick
Staff Writer – Joe Jerek
Staff Writer – Dianne Van Dien
Designer – Marci Porter
Designer – Kate Morrow
Photographer – Noppadol Paothong
Photographer – David Stonner
Circulation – Marcia Hale