Conservation Values

Missouri Master Naturalist Booth with Beti and Nanci

Missouri Natural Resources Conference is an annual meeting organized and sponsored by four societies that promote wise use and management of Missouri's natural resources:

Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Missouri Chapter of the Society of American Foresters
Missouri Chapter of The Wildlife Society
Show-Me Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society

The conference hosted about 1500 people this year working in natural resources fields who meet to exchange information and ideas and encourage continued cooperation among resource professionals, agencies, and other natural resource stakeholders.  Cooperating agencies are:

Missouri Department of Conservation
University of Missouri
School of Natural Resources, Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research
Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S Forest Service and the Natural Resource Conservation Service

As one of ten Missouri Master Naturalists, I received a scholarship to attend this 3-day event February 4-6, 2015 at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach, Missouri.  In my first year as a Missouri Master Naturalist, I more than doubled the volunteer hours and advanced training hours required after completing 48 hours of initial classroom training which all began in February 2014.  For more information about my first year see an earlier blog article, I Am A Missouri Master Naturalist.  My direct association is through the University of Missouri Extension and Missouri Department of Conservation.

This conference was packed with information and inspiration to help learn about Missouri's natural resources.  I cannot cover all the examples of ways I was impressed on my first time attending!  This year's theme, "Values of Conservation…Fostering Natural Resources Appreciation Through Research, Management, and Outreach," was very timely and covered a variety of topics of interest.  Of course, one could not attend it all so I'm going to write about what impressed me the most.

The first day was an afternoon of getting acquainted with the layout which included a huge exhibition hall with 29 Exhibitors.  My favorite Exhibitors include:

MO Wildflowers Nursery
MO Prairie Foundation
Missouri Department of Conservation
MO State Parks
MU Extension
MO Stream Team Watershed Coalition

There were some short classes to attend that were not posted until the last minute; I choose one about Prairie Restoration.  Pete Berthelsen from Pheasants Forever seemed to have gotten some attention from land managers in the room when he talked about an ideal prairie seed mixture.  He said an ideal prairie seed mixture contains 12 grasses and 51 wildflowers for a cost of $80/acre.  This is a much lower cost than what seemed to be familiar to land managers in the room where $100+/acre were typically what they knew.  Once he had the land managers' attention, he went on to say that the USDA Seeding Specifications use seeds per square foot NOT pounds per acre.  His example was that the Showy Partridge seed was $13.59 per pound and is a large seed.  The Cardinal Flower seed comes in at $1115.99/pound and is dust-like seeds.  Because size of seed makes a difference, it is best to think in terms of seed per square foot not pounds per acre.  He also went on to suggest to managers that the choice of seed mixtures should not be in the hands of seed vendors and that a custom selected seed mixture that better fits the management goals should be considered and is available. This choice should include pollinators for the whole season which is April through October instead of the typical "spring/early summer" mixes.  I got the impression that this man from Nebraska knew what he was talking about.  I suspect that Missouri land managers will take a much closer look at the way they had been doing things.  More information can be found on another PF Nebraska site that utilizes videos.

I think the afternoon was mostly for the Student Job Fair with Resume Review and Speed Networking with Resource Professionals.  There was also an hour about Career Possibilities, Qualifications, and Interviewing.  I was so happy to see these opportunities made available for young people getting started in a career and so wished it had been there for me when I first got interested in Conservation just out of high school in 1972!  Of course, there are no regrets as I did become involved in many conservation related programs and outdoor interests throughout the years as I made my career in another state department for 30 years.  Now that I am in my third year of retirement, I can truly say that my passion to be a volunteer has grown and I can likely give and receive more from associations with Conservation  now than if it had been work to me making my living.  I have come full circle now and am very happy about the choices I have made and can volunteer with all my heart and knowledge.  Rewards are not always monetary.

So with a youthful atmosphere present all around with so many young people attending, it was just right for fun and games at the Mixer and Poster Session which took place at the huge Exhibition Hall.  The games included Washer Madness where you through large metal washers on a board with a hole in it.  The highest score won  a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge shotgun or a Bass Pro Gift Card.  I didn't win but I had fun trying especially when there was an open bar for drinks after the barbecue banquet which was included for free with paid registration!  The young people who were mostly MU students were available as they stood alongside their wonderful posters that some of them used in there graduate projects.  There were also raffles and silent auctions all over the hall.  It went on until 11 p.m.

The two plenary speakers set the tone on the second day.  I found Dr. Doug Tallamy to be very inspirational!  His topic, "Conserving Nature by Conserving Food-webs," invites us to raise the bar for what we want landscapes to do and that landscapes should be greater than decorative value.  He talked at length about Specialization which involves specific food webs for specific species.  We have 50% fewer birds in 2014 compared to 40 years ago.  We have degraded ecosystems 60% worldwide.  There has been a 96.4% decline in Monarchs since 1976.  We can share our landscapes by creating corridors connecting natural areas, reduce lawn areas, and transition from alien ornamentals to native plants.  Our goals for what we want landscapes to do includes to support life, sequester carbon, support pollinators, and to manage water.  I definitely will buy his book "The Living Landscape" published in 2014 and coauthored with Rick Darke.  I am also a Master Gardener and what better way to combine my knowledge with being a Master Naturalist?  Volunteer projects can combine both!

The second speaker was Dave White and his topic was "Nine Billion Reasons."  He is highly credentialed and obviously spent the past 35 years in great leadership positions getting important things done creating and implementing landscape-level conservation for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and in the private sector and on Capitol Hill.  His topic this day was relative to our increase in earth's population - from 7 billion today to 9 billion projected by 2050.  I got the impression overall that he is at the end of his active time in conservation and that the rest of us need to step-up.

There was a nice Italian buffet lunch that refreshed us for the afternoon sessions.  There were three workshops to choose from - Missouri Natural Heritage Program, Successful Partnerships/Significant Benefits, and Stream Restoration/Enhancement.  There were also four Contributed Papers Sessions - Water Quality/Hydrology/Soils, Forestry, Fisheries/Aquatic, and Wildlife.  I spent the whole time in "Celebrating 35 Years of the Missouri Natural Heritage Program."  There were seven speakers. It was interesting to me as it was mostly about data collection.  It was created in 1981 and currently has 31,000 records in the database growing by about 1,000 records annually.  "Data is shared with 34 partners, including federal, state, and local agencies and organizations along with private consultants in mitigating impacts and enhancing conservation efforts for rare species."  This program is an essential component in future projects.  The Element Occurrence Record (EOR) is essential in ranking rare, threatened, and endangered species statewide and globally.  Part of the Citizen Science area of being a Master Naturalist allows a volunteer, such as myself, to be an important part of data collection.  I currently have a Frog and Toad Calling Survey.  For several months each spring, I drive 25 miles around Stockton Lake, stopping at ten specific areas, listening for up to 22 species, and observing as I was trained.  The forms I fill out will be useful in keeping track of the health of the frog and toad populations.  It is also a lot of fun to do late at night!

There were Society Meetings after a mid-afternoon break that I assumed were intended for members.  I decided to leave as the remaining time was for dinner on your own then the Awards Ceremony and Dessert Buffet.  Since I had a late departure the night before and the Awards weren't going to start until about 9 p.m., I decided to drive home.  It was a cash bar and social time with free dessert that wasn't enough of an incentive to keep me around this night.  I did receive highest bid on one of many silent auctions and a friend took care of it for me and I got with her the next day.  I bid on a lovely framed garden art picture.

The last day's sessions began early and ended about noon.  There were two workshops that took the whole time:  They concerned Ecological Sites which included an outdoor field trip to the nearby State Park for the second half and the other one was about Big River Task Force.  There were nine other shorter workshops relating to grazing, cover crops, endangered species, volunteers, law enforcement, diversity in conservation, hydrilla, invasive species and shooter training.  I choose to attend the first half (indoor part) of the "Ecological Sites for Conservation Planning and Land Management in Missouri " and then the Volunteer workshop instead of the field trip.

There were five different speakers in this first session.  Mostly it was about Ecological Sites Descriptions (ESDs): What they are and what they look like (there are 4 typical), using these sites with landowners for conservation planning and farm bill applications, managing conservation areas using ESDs, and the Natural Area system in Missouri.  Some things I noted were that Missouri is 21st in terms of native species diversity.  There are 259 of these ecological sites statewide and 82 Natural Areas.  There are sources for maps of these areas online and they can be useful for the land manager to help set priorities for management goals and to know what one is getting into before a field visit.  Jason Villwock with MDC gave out a lengthy website but apparently I didn't get it all or I would have included it here.  So then there was a break and those that wanted would meet at the State Park nearby. I went onto the "Volunteers and Priority Geographies" workshop.

This was the best workshop of all as it directly involved me as a Master Naturalist.  The panel included:

Syd Hime, the Volunteer and Interpretive Programs Coordinator, Outreach & Education Division, and oversees the Master Naturalist Volunteer program which is sponsored jointly with Missouri University Extension.  She is frequently visible at our local chapter events.  She gave an overview of the newly revised MDC Conservation Volunteer Policy and Procedures (just out this week!)

Mark Van Patten is the Missouri Stream Team Coordination Biologist for the St. Louis and SE regions.  He Coordinates the activities of Stream Team volunteers throughout his region.  He founded the first Stream Team in 1989.  He was an inspiration to me as I attended many of his workshops and had  Stream Team #770 in my area for 10 years (1996-2006).  He also taught me everything I learned about fly-fishing in the late 1990's which I have continued to enjoy regularly.

Chris Riggert is with the MDC and has worked with the Stream Team program since 1999 and has been program lead since 2007.

Danelle Haake is a Stream Team Volunteer and a professional ecologist in the St. Louis area.  The title of her talk, "How Can I Help You?" says it all.

Kevin Meneau with the MDC is a Fisheries management Biologist in the St. Louis Region with 28 years experience and talked about successful efforts with volunteers at the LaBarque Creek watershed in Jefferson County.

The objective of this workshop was to "...discuss the opportunities that exist for Resource Managers to work with volunteers to help accomplish meaningful objectives on the lands they manage including priority areas." We heard about successful partnerships and there was an open session for questions from the audience for the panel.  It was very productive and interesting.  The handout for the new "Missouri Department of Conservation Volunteer Policy and Procedures" is a revised policy that contains Director approved procedural changes.  It was useful to know, for instance, that an exception is made for "Master Naturalists, Forestkeepers, and Stream Teams" to conduct activities previously exclusive to Conservation Staff Volunteers if they have specialized training and area manager approval.

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to attend this year's conference.  I have some new tools and ideas that I can use to engage others in appreciation for nature and contribute useful and meaningful volunteer hours to help achieve conservation goals for Missouri.