Emerald Ash Borer advances across more Missouri Counties

Emerald ash borer (EAB) infestations have been detected for the first time in 12 Missouri counties this spring. In southeastern Missouri, EAB was detected in Carter, Dent, Iron, Phelps, Ripley, Shannon, Stoddard, St. Francois, St. Genevieve, and Texas counties. The addition of those counties to previously known infestations results in a contiguous block of 18 EAB positive counties in that part of the state. 

EAB was also detected for the first time this spring in Clinton and Ray counties, adding to the four other Missouri counties and five Kansas counties with EAB infestations in the vicinity of Kansas City and St. Joseph. Other infestations are present in the St. Louis and Hannibal areas. A total of 27 counties are now known to have EAB infestations across Missouri.

The big jump in number of EAB detections this year is largely due to an increased effort by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) visually surveying for infestations in southeast Missouri. The USDA and Missouri Department of Agriculture are also monitoring EAB traps in many counties throughout the state to detect additional infestations.

EAB populations can expand slowly on their own to new areas, but the primary way that EAB spreads quickly is by movement of firewood. As the number of EAB infestations increases, the risk of EAB hitchhiking on firewood increases. To slow the spread of EAB and other invasive forest pests, don’t move firewood. Buy it near where you burn it!

You can prepare for EAB’s arrival by knowing the signs of an EAB infestation. Report EAB suspects if they’re in a new county where EAB has not yet been found. And start planning how you can manage EAB infestations when they arrive in your community. For more information see: eab.missouri.edu

New MDC foresters ready for duties in southwest Missouri

Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Resource Forester
Cody Bailey will work out of MDC's Cassville Office and will
work with landowners in Barry, Lawrence and a portion of McDonald counties.

Cody Bailey and Guerric Good will work with landowners and on public land.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Helping landowners with conservation needs will be the primary duties of Cody Bailey and Guerric Good, two new Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) resource foresters who will work in the southwest part of the state.

Bailey, who began his job Jan. 16, will work out of MDC’s Cassville Office. He replaces Adam Bale, who is now district forester at MDC’s Neosho Office. Bailey will work with landowners in Barry, Lawrence and a portion of McDonald counties. He will also assist with the management of 13 MDC-owned lands. He can be contacted at 417-847-5949 or atCody.Bailey@mdc.mo.gov

Prior to coming to Cassville, Bailey was a resource forester assistant at MDC’s Sullivan Office. Before that, the Taylorville, Ill. native and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale graduate held forestry jobs in Illinois and Mississippi.

“I am very excited to begin helping landowners and to explore all the new MDC areas that I will be working with,” he said.

Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Resource
Forester Guerric Good will work out of MDC's Bolivar Office
and will work with landowners in Polk, Cedar, Dade and a portion
of Hickory counties.

Good will work out of MDC’s Bolivar Office and will start his job Feb. 1. He will work with landowners in Polk, Cedar, Dade and a portion of Hickory counties. Also included in his duties will be assisting with the management of nine MDC areas in Polk, Dade and northern Greene counties. He replaces Brice Kelso, who transferred as resource forester to MDC’s Northeast Regional Office in Kirksville. Good can be contacted at 417-326-5189 or atGuerric.Good@mdc.mo.gov.

Good, a graduate of Ball State University, is planning to complete his master’s degree program this spring from the University of Missouri. He has performed forestry work previously in Indiana and Montana.

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MDC workshop shows prescribed fire as land, wildlife management tool

Landowners can learn to use prescribed
 fire as a land management tool at a
Prescribed Fire Workshop presented by the
Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)
 Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the MDC’s
Southeast Regional Office in Cape Girardeau.
 (MDC file photo)

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Landowners can learn to use prescribed fire as a land management tool at a Prescribed Fire Workshop presented by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the MDC’s Southeast Regional Office in Cape Girardeau. This workshop is offered two different times to provide landowners a better opportunity to attend. The first is from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and the second is from 6 to 9:30 p.m.

Prescribed fire is an ancient technique used to manage grasslands, Conservation Reserve Program and old fields for forage production and improvement of wildlife habitat. Used first by Native Americans, the technique is now taught by the MDC across the state.

“Prescribed fire is a low-cost method for landowners to use,” said Brad Pobst, an MDC Private Lands Conservationist.

Pobst said the workshop will include classroom discussions on methods, equipment, safety, and why and when to use fire as a management tool. Emphasis will include how to conduct a safe and effective burn to control sprouts, encourage beneficial plants and create better quality quail habitat. Pobst said participation in this workshop will qualify landowners to have a prescribed burn plan prepared for their fields and use available loan equipment.

Workshop attendees are also invited to optional demonstration burns held later in the spring to demonstrate the use of tools and techniques.

To register for one of these workshops, contact the MDC’s Southeast Regional Office at (573)290-5730. For more information about prescribed fire, go online to mdc.mo.gov.

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MDC seeks comments on forest-management guidelines

Guidelines to help landowners achieve forest management goals while also benefiting wildlife.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – If you own or manage forest land, you might want to take a look at the newly created, voluntaryforest-management guidelines being developed in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).

MDC is asking for comments about the guidelines from anyone with an interest in Missouri’s public and private forests. These guidelines are strictly voluntary but are designed to assist private land owners in managing their forest resources.

“We want these guidelines to be understandable and practical for anyone to use,” says MDC Resource Forester Mike Bill. “To achieve that, we want everyone with an interest in management of Missouri’s forest to be able to read the guidelines and tell us what they think about them.”

A draft version of the Missouri Forest Management Guidelines is online for public comment at mdc.mo.gov/node/23881from Sept. 15 through Nov. 15.

Bill helped coordinate development of the guidelines, a process that took approximately 18 months. Contributors included public and private foresters, fish and wildlife biologists, botanists, landowners and representatives of Missouri’s forest products industry. This group was made-up of 30 representatives from 16 organizations.

The guidelines provide advice on how to carefully manage forest resources to protect and enhance soil and water quality, visual quality, wildlife habitat, rare plants and animals, historical and cultural resources, and forest health.  The document also outlines why a well-managed forest is important to all these resource elements.

“It’s our job to do everything we can to ensure that future generations of Missourians have the same or better forests than we have today,” says Bill. “You can’t do that without science-based management, and you can’t do it without active citizen support and landowner participation.  More than 80 percent of Missouri’s forest acreage is privately owned. It is absolutely critical that we engage landowners and the people who work and play on private forest land.”

More information about Missouri forests and forest management is available at mdc.mo.gov/your-property.

Mark Twain National Forest Welcomes New Forest Supervisor

ROLLA, Missouri-- Bill Nightingale is Mark Twain National Forest’s new forest supervisor.

Before moving to Missouri, Nightingale worked in USDA Forest Service’s Eastern Regional Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was a program manager for the region.

In 1978 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Forestry.  He worked for several years as a seasonal employee before starting his career as a Forest Technician on the White River National Forest.  He then worked on the Black Hills, Bighorn, Tongass and Superior National Forests in a variety of positions focusing on silviculture, sale prep, sale administration, and planning. He served as a District Ranger on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia before joining the Forest Management staff in Milwaukee.  He has also served as the Acting Forest Supervisor for the Chippewa and the Allegheny National Forests, along with being the Acting Regional Director for Public and Government Relations for the Eastern Region.

“I’m enjoying working with Mark Twain employees and the communities that surround the forest” said Nightingale. He is married with two children attending college.  He enjoys hunting, fishing, golfing and spending time with his family.

Nightingale’s reporting date was November 5, 2012. He followed Dave Whittekiend, who accepted a position as the Forest Supervisor for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah.

Mark Twain National Forest is the largest public land manager in Missouri with 1.5 million acres in 29 counties in southern and central Missouri. Mark Twain National Forest’s mission is to continue to restore Missouri’s great outdoors and maintain a healthy, working forest.

Missouri Tree Farm Day, May 21, will highlight untapped potential of state’s forests

Image via WikipediaCOLUMBIA, Mo. – On May 21, named National Walk in the Woods Day by the American Forest Foundation, people will be walking in the woods of Dave and Gunilla Murphy, hosts of the 2011 Missouri Tree Farm Day.

“The Murphys’ farm is a great example of the value of actively managing private forestland, whether the goal is profit, conservation, outdoor recreation or scenic enjoyment,” said Hank Stelzer, University of Missouri Extension state forester.

At the event, the Missouri Tree Farm Committee will honor Dave Murphy as its 2010 Tree Farmer of the Year for his practice and advocacy of good woodland stewardship.

After just a few years of woodland management, the Murphys significantly increased the value of their 376-acre farm in southern Clark County, boosting the productivity of its timber stands by about $100 per acre per year and increasing the amount and variety of wildlife, including deer and turkey.

Attendees will be able to go on mule-drawn wagon tours to see the Murphys’ forest management practices at work.

Dave Murphy said the key to their success was careful planning with the help
of professional foresters.

When Dave and Gunilla became sole owners of the Murphy family farm, they hired consulting foresters to inventory and map their woodland, then worked with the foresters and the Missouri Department of Conservation to develop a sound management plan. They fenced off the farm’s pastures to keep livestock from grazing on saplings and seedlings, and thinned overcrowded timber stands to promote robust growth and get rid of unwanted species.

Murphy says the long-term payoff is well worth the short-term costs for consulting, labor and herbicides.
There are millions of acres of woodland in Missouri with similar potential, he said. "The estimates of the positive benefits of bringing more of Missouri’s forest under management are staggering. Billions in revenue every year. Thousands of additional jobs statewide.”

Stelzer hopes the event will help other woodland owners realize more of that potential.
“Only about 5 percent of Missouri’s 14 million acres of privately owned woodland is under planned management,” Stelzer said.

In 21st-century Missouri, unmanaged woodlands are under threat from invasive tree and plant species; disease and pest problems; overgrazing by livestock from nearby pastures; “logging the best and leaving the rest” timber harvests; damaging wildfires; and problems with erosion and water quality, he said.

In addition to showcasing forest management practices, presenters will discuss selling timber and developing habitats for quail and turkey. Live demonstrations will show the use of a portable sawmill and provide an opportunity to learn about beekeeping and air-drying lumber.

A number of organizations will have informational booths, including the MU Center for Agroforestry, Missouri Consulting Foresters, the National Turkey Federation, the Missouri Walnut Council, beekeepers Dadant & Sons, and the Missouri Forest and Woodland Association.


The event begins at 8:30 a.m. with coffee and donuts, followed by opening remarks. Two concurrent wagon tours begin at 10 a.m. and will be repeated at 2 p.m. The event concludes at 4 p.m.
Registration is $20 per person. Online registration and directions are available at http://www.moforest.org/education/treefarmconference.html.

Conference sponsors include the National Tree Farm System, Missouri Tree Farm Committee, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Forest Products Association and MU Forestry Extension.
For more information about National Walk in the Woods Day, see the American Forest Foundation website at http://www.affoundation.org/.