News and Almanac

Busch area hosts Family fishing fair

The 11th Annual St. Louis Post Dispatch Family Fishing Fair will be June 7 on Lake 34 at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area near St. Louis.

The family event runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants can move from station to station to learn about cleaning and preparing fish, catching bass, what lives in the water and much more.

Other attractions include face painting and a pond life information station.

For more information about the fair, call the St. Louis Metro Office at (314) 821-1571.

Stream teams win national award

The National Wildlife Federation recently honored the Missouri Stream Team program with its 1996 National Conservation Achievement Award.

Since its creation in 1989, the Stream Team program has attracted more than 18,000 volunteers who work in about 1,000 Stream Teams to maintain and improve Missouri waterways. Several states have modeled their water conservation programs on Missouri Stream Teams.

Each stream team is composed of local members addressing local needs. Some teams work to produce a trout fishery; others an urban corridor.

Members remove trash from streams, convert areas around streams into greenways with trails, plant trees to protect stream banks and test water quality.

The Missouri Stream Team program is cosponsored by the Conservation Department, the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Department of Natural Resources.

For more information about the Missouri Stream Team program write Missouri Stream Teams, Conservation Department, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, 65102-0180 or call toll-free (800) 781-1989.

Attend outdoor writing Workshop

Aspiring or experienced outdoor writers can develop their craft at the Missouri Conservationist's Outdoor Writing Workshop Sept. 21-26 at the YMCA of the Ozarks in Potosi.

Workshop instructors include Sue Hubbell, Scott Stuckey and Joel Vance.

Hubbell has written several books on the natural world and writes on natural history and other subjects for The New York Times and the New Yorker and Smithsonian magazines.

Scott Stuckey has edited children's magazines for 13 years. He left his position at Boy's Life to become managing editor of the National Geographic Society's World magazine.

Joel Vance spent 22 years as news and magazine writer for the Conservation Department and has written for numerous outdoor publications. He is an Excellence in Craft honoree of the 2,000-member Outdoor Writers Association of America.

The workshop costs $610, which includes tuition, five nights in a private room with bath, all meals and access to Sunnen Lake and YMCA facilities.

For registration information, write Missouri Conservationist Outdoor Writing Workshop, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, 65102-0180, or call (573) 751-4115, ext. 247.

Apply now for Treescape Awards

Applications are due Aug. 1 for the 1997 Missouri Treescape Awards.

One award is given annually in each of 12 categories for outstanding tree planting projects on public or private property that contribute to communities or the surrounding area.

Five categories are for tree planting on municipal property and are based on community size. Other categories include commercial, institutional, multi-family residential and elementary and secondary schools.

For a brochure describing the competition and an application, write Marvin D. Brown, State Forester, Conservation Department, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, 65102-0180.

Volunteer Naturalists Needed

Three St. Louis area conservation centers are seeking volunteer naturalists.

Those selected will be trained to give conservation education programs to the public, including Scout and school groups, monitor trails and answer questions about fish, forests and wildlife.

People interested in volunteering are invited to attend open houses at August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area ((314) 441-4554) from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. July 16; Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center ((314) 301 1500) from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. July 20; or Rockwoods Reservation ((314) 458 2236) from 1 p.m to 3 p.m. July 26.

Nominate Master Conservationists

The Conservation Department is seeking nominees for its Master Conservationist and Missouri Conservation Hall of Fame programs.

Living or deceased citizen conservationists and employees of conservation-related agencies who made substantial and lasting contributions to the state's fish, forest or wildlife conservation efforts are eligible to be named Master Conservationists.

The Missouri Conservation Hall of Fame honors deceased citizen conservationists and former employees of the Conservation Department and conservation-related governmental agencies who made a substantial and lasting contribution to state conservation efforts.

Nominations should describe the nominee's accomplishments and include a brief biography. Attach confirming documentation, if available.

Submit nominations in a letter to or request a nomination form from David Hurlbut, Conservation Department, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, 65102 0180.

Otters Increase Despite Trapping

Analysis of the 1996-97 trapping season showed both otter harvest and otter populations larger than predicted.

New population surveys of otters indicate a statewide population of over 6,300 animals, more than twice the amount forecast.

Over 4,500 people bought trapping permits, up from only 2,500 in 1990. High prices for raccoon and beaver and a growing market for wild fur pelts likely contributed to this increase.

Trappers caught and registered 1,054 river otters during the season, nearly two-thirds of them in beaver or raccoon sets.