MDC seeks public input for Chapel View Prairie plan

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News from the region
Kansas City
Published Date
06/01/2017
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Deepwater, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wants to know what Missourians think about its nearly 1,000 conservation areas around the state. MDC is in the multi-year process of updating management plans for conservation areas and invites public comments. Draft plans for the Chapel View Prairie Conservation Area in Henry County will be available for public comment in June.

To preview draft management plans and share comments online, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areaplans.

MDC’s 384-acre Chapel Hill Prairie Conservation Area offers hunting and fishing in ponds southwest of Deepwater in southern Henry County. The area’s highlight is the 303-acre native prairie. This is a good place to see wildflowers, native grasses, grassland birds and butterflies. A portion of the area along a creek also has forest or woodland habitat.

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 state-wide context, and on the professional expertise of MDC staff.