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“Who likes trees?”
That was the question posed by Missouri Department of Conservation Community Forester Jennifer Behnken at the Coffee and Connection event at the Francis E. Robinson Event Center on Tuesday.
Behnken along with Perryville Conservation Agent Chris Doran discussed a variety of topics pertinent not only to trees, but also wildlife and other topics.
“We really have a dynamic set of responsibilities and for me it really doesn’t just center on forestry, but also on fish and wildlife.”
Behnken went on to explain that MDC looks to assist people in growing the wildlife population on either public or private land.
“We are the stewards and advocates for the resources,” Behnken said. “We want to be able to facilitate and sustain what we have in Missouri.”
The Missouri Department of Conservation does this in a variety of ways including fish stocking, like in Legion Lake in Perryville where the entity has partnered with the city and county to supply the lake with trout, which has been going on for the last several years.
“When it comes to the wildlife species like deer, fish, and quail we have people on the ground that help with practices to make our wildlife thrive in Missouri to the best of their ability. We have also reintroduced species that have gone by the wayside over the past decades.”
One of those species is the Sixth elk that has been reintroduced into the Ozark region of Missouri in Carter, Shannon, and Reynolds counties. More than 108 elk were moved from Kentucky into the region. Unfortunately, Doran noted that there have been multiple cases of poaching the elk for which the MDC is offering a reward for anyone with information on the issue.
“Sometimes they take just the heads or leave them for dead,” Doran said. “We want the elk to thrive here in Missouri and we have tried to publicize this in as many places as possible to try to find these individuals.”
In that same vein, Missouri is cracking down on the enforcement when it comes to feral hogs. Prevalent in mostly the Missouri Ozarks, this week the U.S Forest Service has banned recreational hog hunting in the Mark Twain National Forest after getting more an 1,000 comments and complaints.
Feral hog hunting has been legal in the Mark Twain National Forest, but for almost a year the Forest Service has weighed whether to ban hog hunting outright on forest land, which covers about 1.5 million acres in Missouri.
“Now people are only allowed to do this during certain times of the year, on Forest Service ground and private ground now,” Doran said.
“People ask why there is such a ban? Believe it or not, but there are people who profit off of releasing hogs and selling hunts to their friends out of state.”
Doran finished his segment with information on Chronic Wasting Disease.
There has been one positive case in Perry County years ago, but nothing since. Many of the positive cases in this area have been found north of Ste. Genevieve.
So the culling operation starting in January will be in that area to try and control the spread of the disease.
“This is something that our department is trying to learn from other states such as Illinois, that have culled that went into an area and culled hot spots. What we don’t want to have happen is for CWD to become so common place like in Wisconsin where one of every two deer test positive.”
Behnken wrapped up the event with what her duties are as a forester where she takes inventory of the tree species and their composition, along with working with landowners when it comes in invasive species management.
She also spoke on how droughts and rain affect trees in forest and what that does to the nature around it.
“We as a community put a lot of emphasis on a singular tree because it’s in our backyard and we have a connection to it because it has been there for a long time,” Behnken said. “Trying to have those same attitudes towards a tree you find in a forest is something I am constantly trying to do. Trees are an important part of our ecosystem.”
