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A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
Parkville, 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 Parma Woods Shooting Range and Outdoor Education Center are available for public comment through October 31.
To preview draft management plans and share comments online, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areaplans.
Parma Woods Shooting Range is a staffed shooting range. MDC staff supervises and controls the firing line for the rifle and pistol target shooting ranges. The range’s headquarters building also includes an education classroom. MDC staff offers various programs about nature, fishing, hunting, and hunter education certification in the classroom. But the range only occupies a portion of the 200-acre area west of Parkville and near Interstate 435. Steep, timbered hills also include hiking trails. Hunting and birding are among the activities available on the forested ridges.
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.
