This Conversation is moving!

This is sort of "farewell and hello" at the same time. Conservation Conversation is barely two months old, but it’s time to move, for a couple of good reasons. For one thing, over the next several months we want to make the Conservation Department’s website more user-friendly. One step in that direction is combining our blogging efforts.

Another reason for the move is to give you a more consistent stream of posts. I have averaged one a week. That's all I can manage with my other writing duties, but it isn’t enough to hold followers’ interest. So I am combining my blogging efforts in with those of Ombudsman Tim Smith and our boss, Lorna Domke under the Fresh Afield blog. Three contributors with wide-ranging interests and contacts will ensure a steady flow of interesting, timely items.

Please follow me to http://blogs.mdc.mo.gov/blog/, where I just posted my first entry. It is about suppliers for the metal pans we have been discussing as tools for Dutch oven cooking. It turns out they are easier to find than we thought … if you know their correct name!

Wet fun on the Big Muddy

I got out on the Missouri River Saturday with 130 other guests of the Missouri River Communities Network (MRCN). The 9.5-mile float from Katfish Katy's boat ramp to Cooper's Landing took us past two sandbars adjacent to Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area.

I'd say we lucked out, when you consider what Missouri's weather can be like in July. The price we paid for an afternoon of cloudy, breezy weather was a few showers. The rain dampened clothing without really dampening spirits. Floaters ranging from youths to senior citizens were too enchanted by live programs provided along the way to mind the warm drizzle.


One of the most interesting programs was a talk by historian Angela da Silva, of Lindenwood University. She talked about the Civil War in Missouri. Floaters also got to see a live shovelnose sturgeon, various species of river turtles and the biggest attraction -- the majestic Big Muddy itself.

The reaction of first-time floaters to the Missouri River is universal -- wonder at its wild beauty and surprise at how dirty and dangerous the river is not. After an introductory float under controlled conditions, many vow to return on their own.

Judging by the increase in river use I have seen over the past 10 years, I'd say many are following through. Sunny weekends find lots of people paddling, camping, picnicking and fishing from sandbars that dot the river during low summer flows.

MRCN is talking about another Big River Canoe Float in the fall, when the weather is cooler and tree-lined bluffs are painted every shade of red, yellow and orange. Watch their website for details.

Where to get metal pans for Dutch oven cooking

My Dutch-oven cooking article in the June issue of the Conservationist continues to generate questions. A gentleman from the Kansas City area said he called dozens of farm-supply stores trying to find a place to buy the metal watering pans I recommended to hold charcoal ... no luck.

I haven't bought one in several years, but I told my caller where I used to get them. He said he had gone all the way to that retailer's corporate headquarters and learned that they no longer stock the metal pans.

I racked my brain for a way to find them. In desperation, I called Luann Waters, who taught the Dutch-oven instructor class I took years ago. She came through. Yay, Luann!

K&K Vet Supply, out of Tontitown, Ark., carries 12-quart metal hog pans made by Miller Manufacturing Co. The photo on their website looks exactly like the ones I use. When you visit their website, go to the alphabetical listing and type "watering pan" in the search box. The metal pans are on page 2 of the resulting list.

Bon appetit!

Jim

Recipe, by popular demand!

Quite a few people have contacted me about my Dutch oven cooking article, published in the June Missouri Conservationist. Most of them have asked for my late mom's Swiss steak recipe, which I mentioned only in passing.

I can't believe I didn't see this coming. The Contributor's Profile inside the back cover said, "his mother’s Swiss steak recipe, using venison instead of beef, is enough to make even a crusty outdoorsman weep." What did I expect?!

With apologies to all those left wondering about Mom's legendary Swiss steak recipe, here it is:

Elizabeth Low’s Swiss Steak
2 lbs 1/2-inch thick round steak, quartered
2 Tbsp catsup
1 cup flour
2 tsp paprika
3 tbsp shortening
8-oz can of mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 oz cooking sherry
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans tomato soup
1 tsp MSG salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle MSG evenly over steak and press into meat. Mix flour, paprika, salt and pepper and coat meat well with this mixture. Pound flour into steak with tenderizing mallet or the edge of a heavy plate. Melt shortening in 12-inch Dutch oven and brown steaks in shortening. Add remaining ingredients and cook at 300 degrees for 1 to 2 hours. You can shorten the cooking time to 30 minutes at 375 degrees, but slower cooking tenderizes better. Serves 4. Serve with baked, mashed or scalloped potatoes.

P.S.: All this begs the questions, "Is it okay to cook Swiss steak in a Dutch oven?" and, "Would it be even worse to serve it with French bread?

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