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A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is in the multi-year process of updating Conservation Area Management Plans and is seeking public input on how conservation areas are important to Missourians. A draft management plan for the Department’s Binder Community Lake is available for public review through Dec. 31. To preview this draft management plan and share comments online, visit mdc.mo.gov/areaplans.
MDC partners with Jefferson City Parks to provide Binder Community Lake. MDC owns and maintains the 155-acre lake, dam, and shorebird viewing area below the dam, as well as area features including a boat ramp, three docks, and a disabled-accessible fishing jetty and restroom. MDC manages the fishery at Binder Community Lake for bass, catfish, crappie, and sunfish. Jefferson City Parks owns the surrounding 644-acre park, which offers RV camping, pavilions, picnic shelters and tables, and hiking and biking trails. This management plan covers only the portions of the property managed by MDC.
Statewide, MDC conservation areas cover almost one million public acres for the purpose of restoring and conserving forest, fish and wildlife resources, and for providing opportunities for all citizens to use, enjoy and learn about these resources. Most Missourians are within a 30-minute drive of an MDC conservation area.
Conservation Area Management Plans focus on natural resource management and public use on conservation areas. The plans do not address regulations on hunting, fishing, and other area uses, which are set by the Conservation Commission and enforced under the Wildlife Code of Missouri. MDC will consider all ideas received and will work to balance the issues and interests identified with the responsibility of managing areas for the present and future benefits to forest, fish, wildlife, and people. Decisions on which ideas to incorporate into area plans and on how to best incorporate them will be based on the property’s purpose, its physical and biological conditions and capabilities, the best roles of the property in its local, regional, and statewide context, and on the professional expertise of MDC staff.
