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A monthly publication about conservation in Missouri. Started in 1938, the printed magazine is free to residents of Missouri.
St. Joseph, 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 the Mark Youngdahl Urban Conservation Area in St. Joseph. The public can view a draft of the plan during May.
The 85-acre Mark Youngdahl Urban Conservation Area provides hiking, wildlife watching, and outdoor photography opportunities within St. Joseph. The area also has demonstration plantings for using native plants in urban landscaping. This area is in the loess hills, the steep rolling hills with fine-grained soil created by winds and retreating glaciers. Woodland trees, a wildflower meadow, small marshes and old fields provide a diversity of habitat for wildlife. The area also has a picnic area with pavilions and tables.
To preview draft management plans and share comments online, visit mdc.mo.gov/areaplans.
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.
