MDC to host Poosey Conservation Area fall tour on Oct. 18

Visitors will be able to drive through rugged hills and fall color near Chillicothe

Chillicothe, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will host the 29th annual fall driving tour through the Poosey Conservation Area on Sunday, Oct. 18. Forest trees and prairie grasses will be turning gold, crimson and purple. The public will have a chance to drive on roads in the heart of the area that are normally not open for vehicles.

   

MDC’s Poosey Conservation Area is known for rugged hills, lakes, and upland fields and ponds. For the tour, MDC will have conservation education stopping points along the route.

   The tour begins at Pike’s Lake on the northeast side of the conservation area, which is reached off Route W and County Road 504 northwest of Chillicothe. Gates will open at Noonand the last vehicles will be allowed to begin at 4 p.m. This tour allows visitors through a historical site once known as the Poosey community. Sites such as the Panther’s Den sandstone bluff will be tour stops.

   MDC staff members will be stationed along the route to explain habitat management practices benefitting wildlife and native plants. Included will be stops explaining prairie grass ecology, noxious weed eradication, forest management, fisheries management, and wildlife habitat management. Staff will be available to answer questions.

   All roads are graded and graveled for easy travel. However some sections of the tour route involve steep slopes and crossings in low areas. Four-wheel drive and high-clearance vehicles are recommended. Visitors should allow time for stops to enjoy scenery and discussions at exhibit areas.

   The driving tour winds through Poosey’s diverse mix of forest, woodland, meadows and fields. This event is another way MDC encourages people to discover nature. Autumn is a beautiful time to be afield on lands managed for people to enjoy trees, plants and wildlife.

   For information on the tour contact MDC Resource Forester Phil Sneed, 660-646-6122. Maps and information about Poosey Conservation Area are at http://on.mo.gov/1p3D4sL. To learn more about conservation in Missouri, visit http://www.mdc.mo.gov.

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• Cutting back on roadside mowing in Iowa to help pollinators (thegazette.com)

Discover nature with MDC through fall color

MDC weekly reports and mobile app can help find fall color all around the Show-Me State.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the heat of summer fades into the cool weather of fall, trees and shrubs around the Show-Me State transform from leaves of green to a fall-foliage color palette of golds, reds, oranges, and purples.

Leaves turn colors when two things happen. First, sugars produced by photosynthesis are trapped inside leaves by chilly – but not freezing – autumn nights. Those sugars are the building blocks for red, yellow, orange, and purple pigments. Cool nights simultaneously cause the breakdown of green pigments, allowing these other colors to show through.

Missouri’s fall color starts in late September and usually peaks in mid-October. This progression of color change starts earliest in northern Missouri and moves southward across the state. Normally by late October, colors are fading and leaves are beginning to drop from trees. Generally, color change is predictable, but can vary year to year. Much depends on weather.

According to Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Community Forestry Program Manager Nick Kuhn, this year’s fall color is expected to be good due to several factors. 

“A wet spring and cooler summer gave trees what they needed and extended springtime,” said Kuhn. “Healthy trees with lots of leaves and recent warm and dry weather brought trees fully into the summer season in expectation of good fall color. The final part for great color will be the right conditions in fall, and those are sunny days and cool nights with no frost or high winds.”

MDC can help folks discover fall color around the Show-Me State through weekly fall-color reports and a free fall-color mobile app.

                             

MDC collects fall-color reports from foresters around the state and assembles them into weekly online updates atmdc.mo.gov/node/4548. The reports run from late-September through November. Fall-color forecasts for northern regions will be posted beginning Sept. 19. Forecasts for remaining regions will be posted beginning Sept. 26.

MDC also offers a free fall color application for smart phones and other mobile devices. The MO Fall Color app provides users with up-to-the-minute fall-color scenes from places near them and around the state, complete with GPS navigation information. The app also provides weekly fall-color reports for various areas of the state. Users can even add their own fall-color photos and share them with Facebook friends and others. The MO Fall Color app is active during fall-color changes beginning in September through November. Download MO Fall Color for Android and Apple devices atmdc.mo.gov/mobile/mobile-apps/mo-fall-colors.

Enjoy leaf color as well as local culture through the Missouri Division of Tourism’s website at www.visitmo.com. Find things to do, places to stay, events, trip ideas, and deals and discounts for all around Missouri. Visit Tourism’s blog site for info on fall festivals around the Show-Me State at blog.visitmo.com/fall-festivals-of-missouri/.