Census Atlas of the United States Has Insights for Conservation in Missouri

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently published the Census Atlas of the United States, which is a collection of maps and information about population and housing.

The individual chapters are large files to download, but contain useful insights for fish, forest, and wildlife management in Missouri.

In Chapter 2, the population distribution chapter, I was interested to see the trend for Missouri of increasing population in the major cities and southern part of the state. This is also confirmed in Chapter 14, about housing, in that the dates of housing construction are most recent in the same areas. The northern part of the state has a trend of declining population.

Increasing areas of construction in the past has generally indicated more impacts on habitat and water quality, which can alter the health of fish, forests, and wildlife.

You can read more about what you can do in your neighborhood and community to support fish, forests, and wildlife on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation and in the community conservation items in the strategic plan of the Department.