MDC: Winona Landowner Elk Workshop set for May 14

WINONA, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) employs a variety of methods to help landowners promote wildlife habitat, including workshops where landowners and biologists meet and discuss options like cost-share opportunities and habitat management.  Landowners within and immediately surrounding Missouri’s elk zone, which spans parts of Reynolds, Carter and Shannon counties, are invited to the Elk Landowner Workshop at Twin Pines Conservation Education Center, Saturday, May 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The workshop will start indoors for a short presentation before the group departs for a habitat tour on private land. Biologists and landowners will discuss priority elk habitat practices, habitat cost-share opportunities, program and maintenance requirements and the basics of getting a habitat project on the ground. There will also be an update on Missouri’s elk herd.

According to Brad McKee, MDC’s Private Lands Services Regional Supervisor, workshops like the Elk Landowner Workshop are one way MDC works with landowners to sustain healthy forests, fish and wildlife.

“The vast majority of land in Missouri is under direct ownership and influence of private landowners,” McKee said. “When we consider that private landowners own more than 93 percent of all land and 85 percent of forest land in our state, we see the importance of working together to develop solid practices that will sustain healthy forests and promote wildlife.”

Priority elk habitat practices include woodland restoration, prescribed burning and food plots designed for elk and other wildlife, according to McKee. 

The elk herd continues to thrive in the restoration zone.  More information about elk in Missouri, habitat development and landowner workshops can be found online at mdc.mo.gov.