Ash tree devastation

In spite of sauna-like conditions yesterday, I spent an hour or so cruising the woods around my house looking for a nice, straight ash tree. I want to cut one down so I can split it into staves to make longbows.

Some of the several dozen ash trees I examined were dead. Not a single one was in good health. Most had lots of dead branches, and the live branches had only a fraction of their normal foliage.

I first noticed our ash trees dying three or four years ago. I was afraid they might have emerald ash borer, a forest pest that is devastating all species of ash trees in the Eastern U.S. But there were no signs of borers. It turned out the problem was "ash yellows."

This disease is caused by a microbe and spread by insects. Together with the emerald ash borer, this disease seems likely to cause the same sort of devastatoin wrought by chestnut blight, which wiped out the American chestnut early in the 20th century.

Apparently the problem isn't confined to my wood lot near Jefferson City. A St. Louis-area tree service I talked to today said they are removing lots of ash trees killed by yellows. I hate that. Besides being great shade trees, ash trees' straight grain makes them a dream to split for firewood. Baseball fans will mourn the loss because most wooden baseball bats are made of northern white ash. Ash also is a favorite for making guitars and other musical instruments.

Healthy ash trees can survive five or 10 years after contracting yellows. Watering during dry periods and fertilizing helps, but there is no cure.

I wish there was something more cheerful to say about this. The only good news I can see is that I have a few years to lay in a supply of ash logs for friends who carve duck decoys. But what a pity for our grandchildren, who might never know the pleasure shaving curls of wood from a smooth ash plank as they shape a canoe paddle or a longbow.

June a "bear" of a month for Missouri bruins

June is the month when Missourians are most likely to see a black bear. The critters are hungry after a long winter of short rations, and they get footloose, looking for anything that smells like food.

Show-Me State residents are getting accustomed to seeing wild black bears, but the sighting of a female with three yearlings near Forsyth in mid-May still created a stir. Conservation Department Wildlife Photographer Noppadol Paothong hotfooted it down to Taney County, where he captured this image.

It's a little hard to make out all three yearlings in this photo. Looks like one's head is visible in front of the mother's chest and the backside of the third is peeking out behind her.

I look forward to seeing my first Missouri bear. When that happens, I suppose I will experience the same mixed emotions that most people do--excitement mixed apprehension at being in the presence of a powerful animal that embodies wildness.

Maybe my first sighting will be of a track. Or, it might come on a camping trip, when a bear investigates the smell of leftovers from last night's meal. A few Missourians get their first exposure to bears when a particularly bold bruin knocks over a trash can or learns it can get a free lunch from a backyard bird feeder

Missouri's bear population is growing slowly, building on a trickle of individuals that continue to make their way north from Arkansas. Most black bears are extremely shy of humans and keep to themselves. Still, it's a good idea to know what to do if you happen on a black bear unexpectedly. It's also good to know what to do if a bear becomes a nuisance.

On a different topic, I originally intended for this blog to be interactive, as its name implies. However, it turns out that current software limitations make this impossible. Our IT folks say that I should be able to post comments and reply to yours starting late this summer or early in the fall. Until then, please don't think I'm ignoring you. If you want to chat about a post, send me an e-mail at Jim.Low@mdc.mo.gov.

Jim

Give Wild Babies a Chance--Delay Mowing As Long As Possible

Like most outdoors people, I know right now is white-tailed deer fawning season. But it took a recent incident to make it seem real.

My wife, Diane, and I were camping with Brad and Suzanne Wright along Mussel Fork in Chariton County. The Wrights came back from a hike brimming with excitement. Their bouncy 4-year-old Labrador retriever, Jole Blon, had been bounding ahead of them when she stopped at the edge of the trail and nuzzled something. It looked as if she was trying to get another dog to play with her. As they got closer, they realized she was nose to nose with a newborn fawn.

With an 80-pound dog in its face and two humans approaching, the fawn got nervous and started to rise from its bed. Brad and Suzanne stopped and stood still as statues. The tiny deer calmed down and curled back up where it lay. They corralled Jole and hurried back to share the once-in-a-lifetime experience. Naturally, they didn't have a camera with them, but the image of Jole and the fawn nose to nose is etched in their memories.

We all gave the deer's bedroom wide berth for the rest of the weekend. Fawns face enough hazards--including coyotes, free-ranging dogs and mowers--without our adding to their problems.

If you have been planning to mowing part of your land, consider putting it off a few weeks to improve fawns' survival chances. It will help bobwhite quail, wild turkeys and other ground-nesting wildlife, too.

Jim

Mulberries, Bushytails & Catfish

A friend just dropped by to let me know that mulberries are beginning to ripen in central Missouri. That means squirrel hunters in southern Missouri already are focusing their attention on these squirrel magnets.

Devoted summer bushytail hunters have detailed mental maps with the locations of mulberry, hickory and other trees that produce favorite squirrel foods before acorns mature. If you don't know where mulberries can be found in your area, start looking around the margins of streams. If you hear rustling in stream-side trees chances are good that you've found mulberries and squirrels.

Incidentally, Missouri River catfish Guide Ed Schneider has noticed that catfish will move up big-river tributaries to gorge on falling mulberries this time of year. Play your cards right, and you could be frying up squirrel and catfish at the same time!

Jim

Summit on the Future of Missouri Outdoors

We have all heard the saying that "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." For the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the prospect of failing to preserve Missouri’s outdoor heritage is unacceptable. That’s why the state’s biggest citizen conservation group (representing 80,000 individuals at last count) has called a Summit on the Future of Missouri Outdoors.

Over the next two days, the state’s leading citizen and government conservation leaders will discuss challenges and opportunities facing the state’s wild and natural resources and the myriad recreational activities that depend on them. Summit participants will develop a prioritized list of actions necessary to ensure the future of everything from camping, hiking and nature photography to hunting, fishing and trapping.

Gov. Jay Nixon will kick off the gathering with an address about the importance of Missouri outdoors. Dr. Stephen R. Kellert, professor of social ecology at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, will deliver the keynote address on the subject “What need is there for outdoor experience in the lives of 21st century Americans.”

The Conservation Federation hopes the summit will provide a strategic vision to guide its long-term efforts.

If you are not familiar with the Conservation Federation, it is the organization that secured voter approval in 1936 for establishing the Missouri Department of Conservation. Show-Me State programs that have become international conservation models all trace back to the Federation’s enduring vision.

For more information about the summit and the Conservation Federation's Web site.

Find a Trails Day event online

June 6 is National Trails Day, but what, exactly, does that mean? It's not as if there really is someplace you can go for a formal celebration, right?

Wrong! I just learned that you can take part one of several organized events the weekend of June 6. The American Hiking Society is using its Web page as a clearinghouse for events in Missouri and nationwide.

Visit AmericanHiking.org and click on Missouri's part of the national map to get a listing of Trails Day events in the Show-Me State. Missouri has at least seven such events June 6 and 7. Locations include Columbia, Lebanon, Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, Wildwood and Winona.

More events could show up on the Web site, between now and June 6, because the American Hiking Society encourages anyone who is planning an event to post it on their page.

How cool is that?

If solitude is more your thing, use the Missouri Department of Conservation's online Conservation Atlas Database to locate dozens of conservation areas with trails ranging from short paved, wheelchair-accessible paths to sections of the 300-mile-plus Ozark Trail, traversing rugged wilderness.

Jim Low is an MDC news specialist and Missouri Conservationist staff writer

Squirrel regs stand until ‘10; outlook good this year

Following the Conservation Commission meeting March 12, I sent out a “Conservation Action “report that included information about several regulation changes. Among those changes was an increase in the bag limit for squirrels. Unfortunately, I failed to note that THE CHANGE DOES NOT GO INTO EFFECT UNTIL 2010.

I sent out a correction after someone pointed out the omission, and I changed the information posted on the Conservation Department’s website to include the effective date. However, there was no way to retract the previous e-mail, creating the potential for a few hunters to be confused about the bag limit.

Squirrel season opens May 23 this year and runs through Feb. 15, 2010. THE BAG LIMIT REMAINS UNCHANGED FROM LAST YEAR -- 6 DAILY AND 12 IN POSSESSION.

Lonnie Hansen, the Conservation Department’s resource scientist in charge of squirrel management, notes that last year was a down year for squirrel numbers in the Ozarks. That was because of a reduced acorn crop in 2007. White oaks in the Ozarks produced a good crop of acorns last year, so squirrel numbers should rebound in that part of the state this year, making for better hunting.

Squirrels have a more diverse and dependable food base in northern Missouri, thanks to corn and other agricultural crops. As a result, squirrel populations are more stable there, and hunting is uniformly good from year to year.

Speaking of squirrels in northern and southern Missouri, you are more likely to encounter fox squirrels in northern and western Missouri because they are associated with open land. Gray squirrels are creatures of the deep forest, so the larger the tract of woods you hunt, the more gray squirrels you are likely to find. If you notice a shift in the number of fox vs. gray squirrels in your area, it might be related to changes in the amount of forest.

Hansen prefers to pan-fry young squirrels. He also fries older squirrels, but afterwards he puts them in a crock-pot with a can of cream of mushroom soup. He renders tough old squirrels tender and delicious by wrapping them in aluminum foil with seasonings and a few apple slices and slow-cooking them with indirect heat on the barbecue grill.

Hmmmm … time to go to the range and tune up my .22!

Jim Low is a news specialist and staff writer for the Missouri Conservationist.

New Geocaching Regulation On Conservation Trails

If you’re a geocacher or letterboxing enthusiast, you know these digital-age scavenger hunts are a blast. Beginning April 30, 2009, MDC welcomes geocachers and letterboxers who acquire a Special Use Permit to enjoy these activities on most conservation areas. It’s easy to get a Special Use Permit--just check with the manager of the area you’re interested in visiting.

Stay in touch with Missouri’s geocachers at MoCache.net—and thanks for using your Missouri conservation areas!

Want to Expand Your Contracting Business? Learn to Specialize in Habitat

Many landowners want to implement habitat projects, but they don’t have the time, equipment or expertise to do it. Learn how to serve this growing conservation market by specializing in habitat development and restoration.

To help you do this, the Department of Conservation, in partnership with the Missouri Agribusiness Association, is offering Conservation Contractor Training workshops now through December 2009. The workshops, offered at various locations throughout the state, include a wide range of topics, such as small business administration, conducting prescribed burns and satisfying federal conservation cost-share contracts.

Once you complete training, you become eligible to be included in the Department’s Conservation Contractor database, an online resource for landowners seeking qualified habitat helpers. You can also view the full schedule of workshops on the Conservation Contractor Web page.

The small fee of $15 for each workshop includes lunch. Each daylong class starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Instructional approaches include classroom activities and hands-on fieldwork. To register for the workshops, call the MO-AG office at 573-636-6130 or the Department’s Private Land Services Division at 573-751-4115. Please note that pre-registration is required; no registrations will be accepted at the sessions.

Agents in Action

From conducting education programs to enforcing fish and wildlife regulations, Missouri conservation agents serve nature and you in many ways. A new MDC blog, Frontline Conservation, lets you follow conservation agent activities, including apprehending poachers, helping feed Missouri’s hungry and training new recruits. Interested in becoming an agent? This blog will inspire you to take the first steps.