Permit Changes Follow Public Comments by a Citizen-Led and Citizen-Driven Missouri Conservation Department

The Missouri Conservation Commission met December 18 and 19 at the Department of Conservation headquarters in Jefferson City.

The Commission received an update on communications received during the public comment period regarding proposed permit changes and then approved the following recommendations made by Director John Hoskins:

• End advancement of proposed increase in resident landowner acreage requirement for no-cost deer and turkey permits from 5 to 80 acres.


• End advancement of proposed elimination of land-lessee no-cost deer and turkey permits privileges.


• End advancement of proposed resident permit price increases.


• End advancement of proposed senior “forever” permit.


• Delay implementation from Fall 2009 to Spring 2010 of proposed recommendation regarding verification of land ownership when seeking no-cost deer and turkey permits.


• Continue support for consistent Hunter Education and age requirements for all mentors.


• Continue support of standard minimum age of six years for deer and turkey permits.


• Continue support of recommendations to simplify youth permits and discount costs of youth deer, turkey and trout permits by 50%.

An additional news release is available on the Department's Web page.

The news release includes:

"Public input, according to the Commission, has again proven to be an essential component of regulation development. Following the recent public comment period on proposed permit changes, several recommendations included in the original package have been sidelined or modified. 'We have a rich history of being a citizen-led and citizen-driven Conservation Department,' said Commission Chairman Chip McGeehan. 'Citizen involvement and trust are essential parts of conservation success in our state, and we thank the many Missourians who have shared their opinions on the proposed permit changes. We will continue to seek points of view from all of our stakeholders, listen, and respond in ways that best protect Missouri’s resources and serve all Missourians.'"

Need more information on hunting or outdoor activities in Missouri? You can find lots more about hunting in Missouri on the Department of Conservation Web pages.

Deer Harvest Map for 2008 from the Missouri Department of Conservation

An online map for the fall deer harvest in Missouri is available from the Missouri Department of Conservation. A widget is also available. The map is updated several times an hour from the automated telecheck system.

More information about deer hunting in Missouri is also available.

Your Opinion Counts for Deer Management in Missouri

Your opinion certainly counts for the staff of the Missouri Department of Conservation. The Department of Conservation wants to hear from Missouri hunters about their opinions for deer management in Missouri. A series of 16 public meetings are being conducted to allow anyone the opportunity to provide comments. There will be two meetings in each of the Department's eight regions throughout the state.

You can read about the meetings on the Department's Web pages.

You can provide comments online if you can't attend a meeting.

You can hear about deer management efforts and why the Department wants to hear from hunters from online videos posted by Department staff on YouTube and MySpaceTV.

You can read about the meetings and efforts on the Department's blog, Fresh Afield.

You can read about the effort from an online fact sheet that includes a mailing address and comment card.

You can contact a regional office at the locations described on the Department's Web pages.

The video on YouTube:




And on MySpaceTV:

Deer Management Public Forums - 2008

Add to My Profile More Videos

Deer Harvest Map and Totals for Missouri on Department of Conservation Web Pages

A post in the Fresh Afield blog yesterday on the Missouri Department of Conservation Web pages showed a link to a map that has the overall total deer harvest in Missouri and the harvest for each county.

The state and county totals are updated from the Department's Deer and Turkey Telecheck system, which is an online and telephone checking system to report harvest.

In checking the map page again while writing this, I've watched the deer harvest numbers go up, both for the statewide total and for Callaway County where I live.

I'll use a phrase another Department of Conservation biologist frequently uses when describing really interesting things, "How cool is that?"

You can learn more about deer hunting in Missouri and the other kinds of fall hunting opportunities on the Department of Conservation Web pages.

Hunters Have Supported Conservation and Wildlife Management in Missouri and the United States Since 1937

The November National Geographic magazine came in the mail to my home today.

There is an article on page 112 about "Hunters for love of the land."

Hunters in the United States, and also in Missouri, have been strong supporters of conservation and fish, forest, and wildlife management since 1937.

In the article on page 126 is a chart that indicates that 75 percent of the revenue for state wildlife agencies comes from license sales and federal excise taxes. The excise taxes are from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration programs. The federal wildlife program began in 1937 to help states manage wildlife and to implement conservation management activities.

Many people talk about conservation or what should be done. Hunters have put their money on the table for over 70 years for fish, wildlife, and habitat management. In many states, hunters and anglers have been and continue to be the folks that pay for conservation.

Only Missouri and Arkansas have state sales taxes dedicated to conservation. Several other states have a variety of other methods to help fund conservation, including income tax check-off opportunities and other methods. In Missouri, no other general revenue from the state is used for the Department of Conservation.

Missouri was the first state, in 1976, to have a majority of the residents recognize the need to have long-term and stable funding for conservation activities. Healthy fish, forests, and wildlife benefit all Missourians with increased quality of life and economic benefits.

You can read the article online, or if you're like my family, we often look at the pictures first and the online article has a picture gallery.

National Hunting and Fishing Day Highlights Conservation Success

National Hunting and Fishing Day was September 22. The day designates the importance of the support from anglers and hunters to conserve fish, wildlife, and habitat and the personal benefits of being involved in the activities of fishing and hunting. Individuals and families can create a lifetime of memories by going fishing and hunting.

The Web pages have a wide variety of information about events held in most states, information about the history of the day, and facts about the participation and economic impacts of fishing and hunting.

Even if you don't fish or hunt, or if you missed the events on September 22 this year, the fall weather is a great time to be outdoors. Go outside!

You can learn more about a wide variety of outdoor activities and how you can be involved in conservation efforts on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Impress Your Family and Friends by Identifying Birds, Wildlife, and Plants in Missouri

There goes an "lbb," what?. When I enrolled in a class on ornithology (the study of birds) as an undergraduate, I had three obstacles to overcome. First, my brain was not quite functional at 5:30 a.m. when the lab began. Second, at that time, binoculars that would work well with my glasses were fairly expensive and I could not afford them (the ones with fold-down eye cups to get the binocular closer to my glasses). Third, somehow I seemed to always be in the middle of the group, or towards the back, and the comments and the birds were gone by the time I heard them or got close enough to see. I was left with "there went a little brown bird" or "lbb" identification which was not useful on the tests.

An encouraging example. The teaching assistant was Dave Murphy, now Executive Director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri. Dave was full of energy and his enthusiasm helped me to stay interested and I actually did learn to identify many more birds than I thought possible.

It's easy to learn about birds and other wildlife in Missouri. It actually is really easy to identify birds, the different kinds of wildlife, and the plants of Missouri. You simply learn about one at a time.

Impress your family and friends. You may find that learning more about the natural world has a social benefit in that you can impress your family and friends with your knowledge of cool birds, animals, and plants. Besides that, it's fun. Learning about natural resources helps us understand how the natural world is the foundation of our economy and how we fit into the world.

Learn more. You can learn more about the birds, all wildlife that lives in Missouri, and the many kinds of native plants in the state on the Web pages of the Missouri Department of Conservation or read the many articles in the Department's monthly magazine, the Missouri Conservationist, also available online.

Find an encouraging person to help. Dave Murphy still encourages me through his efforts to support conservation in Missouri. You can learn more about the efforts of Dave and the Conservation Federation of Missouri on their Web pages. If you need someone to help identify birds, wildlife, or plants, then look up some of the programs on outdoor skills at the Conservation Nature Centers located throughout the state or check out the many educational opportunities for Missourians of all ages.

You can join one of the over 3,400 Stream Teams that have knowledgeable individuals. Or you could join one of the many fishing, hunting, or conservation groups in the state. Look at this list on the Federation pages or look for a group in the online conservation directory of the National Wildlife Federation.

You can also contact your local office of the Missouri Department of Conservation or use the online comment form to ask a question of the Department's Ombudsman.

Preliminary Results for Missouri Released for Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Viewing from the National Survey

Preliminary report available. A preliminary report has been released with the state numbers from the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

New participation numbers for Missouri. For Missouri, on page 9 of the report, it appears that compared with the 2001 survey:

• fishing participants declined slightly to 1,075,000;
• hunting participants increased to 613,000;
• and wildlife watching participants increased for both around the home, 1,976,000, and away from home, at 825,000.

We'll have to wait until November when the individual state reports begin to be released to see if any of these levels are statistically different from the 2001 and 1996 levels.

Expenditures look way up from 2001. This is great news, since the economic impacts in Missouri from fish and wildlife recreation, that is, business impacts, jobs supported, sales tax generated, and income tax revenue generated, will all be increased compared to 2001.

Conservation continues to pay its way in Missouri. This is certainly the result of the continued outdoor interests of Missourians, the efforts of conservation-minded individuals and organizations, and the work of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The Midwest in general continues to have higher levels of participation in fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing than the rest of the nation.

Missouri is in the top 10 list of states for numbers of participants for fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing.

More reports from the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation are available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

National Overview Report Released for 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation

The preliminary findings from the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation have been released and the overview report is available here.

A previously released report that examines retention and recruitment trends from previous years and includes data from the recent survey is also available.

From the overview report:

"Results are based on data collected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The Census Bureau began by interviewing 85,000 households in April 2006. Samples of 31,500 potential anglers and hunters and 24,300 potential wildlife watchers were selected from those households to be interviewed in detail about their participation and expenditures. The Census Bureau conducted detailed interviews in three different waves, which began in April and September of 2006 and January of 2007. Interviews were completed in April 2007. The survey methodology used in 2006 was similar to that used for the 2001,1996, and 1991 Surveys, so the estimates are comparable."

and

"In 2006 over 87 million Americans 16 years old and older, 38% of the U.S. population, enjoyed some recreational activity relating to fish and wildlife. Expenditures by this group pursuant to wildlife-related recreation were $120.1 billion. This spending equates to about 1% of gross domestic product, which means that one out of every one hundred dollars of all goods and services produced in the U.S. is associated with wildlife recreation. Almost 34 million people fished and hunted in 2006. They spent $75.4 billion on their activities, including $40.3 billion on equipment, nearly $25 billion on trip expenses, and $10.6 billion on licenses and fees, magazines, membership dues and contributions, and land leasing and ownership. On average, each sportsperson spent $2,225 in 2006."

For wildlife viewing:

"Wildlife watching is a popular outdoor recreation activity. More than 71 million people 16 years old and older (31% of all Americans) fed, photographed, and observed wildlife in 2006 and spent nearly $45 billion on their activities. The Survey uses a strict definition of wildlife watching. Participants must either take a “special interest” in wildlife around their homes or take a trip for the “primary purpose” of wildlife watching. Secondary wildlife-watching activities such as incidentally observing wildlife while pleasure driving are not included."

Information about the survey and a variety of other reports are available here. A press release from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is also available about the recently released results.

Reports for state results will be released as an overall preliminary report later in the summer and state-specific reports with detailed tables will be released beginning in November, 2007.

Participation in Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation in Missouri

Every five years. The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation has been conducted about every five years since 1955. The survey is conducted for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Single best source. The survey is the single best source of information about participation and spending patterns related to fishing, hunting, and wildlife-watching. There is no other nationwide survey conducted in a similar statistically valid way. There is no better source of information. Results in recent surveys have been reported for each state. More information about the survey and how it is conducted is available here.


No statistical change between 1991 and 2001 for Missouri. The report for Missouri from the National Survey, available here, indicates there was not a statistically significant change in fishing, hunting, or wildlife-viewing participation away from home between 1991 and 2001 in Missouri. You can see in the chart here that there was a slight numerical decline in the estimates of participation for all but viewing around the home, which did have a statistically significant decline.

New data available soon from 2006. Preliminary results from the 2006 survey are being released now and the final reports will be available soon. I am very interested in seeing the results, especially to compare with previous years.

Why the survey is better than license sales to understand participation. In Missouri, a variety of fishing and hunting participation does not require a permit. For example, individuals under the age of 16 and those 65 and older do not need a permit for most fishing and hunting opportunities. Landowners of parcels five acres and larger do not need a permit for many fishing and hunting activities on their own property, except for needing transportation tags for deer and turkey and for appropriate waterfowl permits. More information about fishing and hunting licenses in Missouri is available here and a library of information about who needs a permit and who is exempted is available here. License sales are certainly useful to monitor trends, but don't show the entire range of participation.

The National Survey uses a statistically valid random sample of Missourians to estimate the levels of participation and expenditures for fishing, hunting, and wildlife-related recreation. The survey provides the best overall estimate of fishing and hunting available in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation does conduct its own surveys and studies of permit numbers to gain additional information that is not collected in the National Survey.

In general, for the activities of fishing, hunting, and wildlife-watching that do have results reported in the National Survey, the survey numbers provide the best picture of participation.

How I See the Vision of The Next Generation of Conservation in Missouri

Martin Luther King said "I have a dream..." and had a vision of change.

Lance Armstrong could see himself as a winner of a bicycle race. And not just one time; he could see winning again and again.

Steve Fossett wanted to go around the world in a balloon. And he did after several attempts.

A young man I know wants to go to Mars and is planning to study as a Doctor to get there. I won't be surprised when he arrives.

I imagined myself standing again on top of the Tooth of Time at Philmont Scout Ranch as I recovered from being treated for prostate cancer.

These people, and myself, put ideas and dreams into a vision, a picture of success, and then took action to get there.

The Next Generation of Conservation is a vision of success for a team. The team of the people of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Take a look at the Results we want to achieve in the document (http://mdc.mo.gov/about/next_gen/) for the picture of success in Missouri for fish, forests, and wildlife.

When I look at the Results we want to achieve items, that's where I see the vision, in the focus on results; the actions are simply some examples of the vision of success and some of the ways the vision will be achieved. The desired results can include many more pictures of success than are listed in the actions. I think it's important to focus on the desired results to see the picture of success.

In the opening letter, on page 1, is this sentence from the Director of the Missouri Department of Conservation:

"The coordinated efforts of all who care about Missouri's natural resources will be vital to ensuring our quality of life and healthy fish, forests, and wildlife for the future."


Anyone who lives in or visits Missouri is part of the conservation team and everyone can help and will benefit from the results.

I've worked with many teams in Missouri and in the United States. The people of Missouri and my colleagues in the Department of Conservation are some of the finest folks anywhere. We make a great team to tackle conservation issues. The people of Missouri have demonstrated their concern for conservation and their willingness to take action for decades.

In a 2003 survey where 6,352 Missourians responded, after being selected at random from all across Missouri, 93 percent indicated they were interested in Missouri's fish, forests, and wildlife; 56 percent said they were "Very interested."

In the same survey, 86 percent indicated they were familiar with the Missouri Department of Conservation. However, only 21 percent indicated they were "Very familiar" and a few, at 13 percent, said they were "Not at all familiar." Only a very few, 1 percent, said they "Don't know" when asked if they were familiar with the Department.

It is clear to me that Missourians are interested in fish, forests, and wildlife in Missouri and yet there are still many opportunities to make all Missourians more aware of conservation efforts and how they do benefit from conservation success.

The Next Generation of Conservation from the Missouri Department of Conservation addresses my observations about the interests and awareness of Missourians in many of the Results we want to achieve, for example:

more Missourians participating in fish-, forest-, and wildlife-related recreation;
hunting, fishing, and trapping valued as important recreational activities and population management tools;
and increased benefits of outdoor recreation to Missouri's economy, in the Preserving Missouri's Outdoor Recreation Heritage goal category;

increased availability and use of conservation-related information;
Missourians understand present and future threats to fish, forest, and wildlife resources and participate in the protection of these resources;
and Missourians appreciate the natural world and the numerous benefits that derive from healthy fish, forest, and wildlife resources, in the Teaching Missourians About Fish, Forest, and Wildlife Resources goal category;

private landowners and farmers actively managing their land for natural resource and financial sustainability, in the Helping Private Landowners Advance Conservation category;

diverse and balanced recreation opportunities on public land that are consistent with resource management goals, in the Serving Nature and You on Conservation Areas category;

and Missouri citizens providing frequent input into Conservation Department decisions and programs;
and fair and ethical business methods that enable Missourians to see how public funds are spent on conservation priorities, in the Accounting for Department Operations category.

There are four other goals listed, with equally compelling desired results, and the immediate actions planned are also listed.

As a team, I'm sure achieving a shared picture of success is possible for conservation in Missouri, just like I made it to the top of the Tooth with a group, and the vision of success was achieved for Martin Luther King, Lance Armstrong, and Steve Fossett. I'm still waiting for the arrival on Mars of the young man I know.

You can read more about the nine goal categories, the Results we want to achieve, and the What we will do actions in The Next Generation of Conservation available at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2006/09/ and at: http://mdc.mo.gov/about/next_gen/

In case you are interested, the Tooth of Time is described at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth_of_Time and a satellite image is available at: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=cimarron,+nm&ie=UTF8&ll=36.445866,-104.999771&spn=0.071529,0.21698&t=h&om=1/

A topographical view of the Tooth Ridge is available at: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lon=-105.007&lat=36.4483

Economic Activity Generated by Missouri Hunters

Hunting is really "cooking" in the Missouri economy.

Using data from the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, all hunting in Missouri by hunters 16 years and older generates $437,194,608 in retail sales each year.

The expenditures have an economic impact of $853,390,343, support 8,007 jobs with $191,169,148 in earnings, and generate $18,074,340 in state sales taxes.

Deer hunting has the largest economic influence at over $445 million ($445,403,674) in overall economic impact, followed by turkey hunting with $248,146,380, then small game hunting with $89,966,991, and migratory bird hunting with $66,044,839.

Nonresident hunters contribute $72,982,053 to the overall hunting expenditures, and their expenditures generate $148,267,468 in overall economic impact. The expenditures of nonresident hunters support 1,360 jobs and $3,471,380 in state sales taxes.

On the average, each hunter in Missouri spends $894.77 each year. Resident hunters spend slightly more each year per person, at $900.33, than for nonresidents, who spend $868.01 per person.

More information about the economic impacts of hunting, fishing, and wildlife-related recreation, in addition to participation and demographics information, is in a report entitled "The 2001 Economic Benefits of Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife Watching in Missouri" available at: http://www.southwickassociates.com/freereports/default.aspx

Missouri: Hunting and Fishing

In Missouri, there are about 489,000 hunters each year, that are of age 16 years and older. There are an additional 92,000 hunters that are of age 6 to 15 years.

Of the total hunters 16 years and older, 405,000 are state residents and 84,000 are nonresidents. Deer hunting is the most popular in terms of hunter numbers and days spent hunting. There are over twice as many deer hunters as turkey hunters and deer hunters spend over twice as many total days hunting as turkey hunters.

Each year, hunters spend an average of about 15 days hunting. Migratory bird hunters spend the most days on average, at about 13 days. Rabbit hunters spend the fewest days hunting, at about 9 days.

Overall, hunters spend over 6.6 million days hunting each year.

In Missouri, there are about 1.2 million anglers each year, of age 16 years or older. There are an additional 321,000 that participate that are of age 6 to 15 years old. Of the total freshwater anglers in Missouri, age 16 years and older, 942,000 are state residents and 272,000 are nonresidents. Most fishing activity, in numbers of anglers and days spent fishing, is for black bass.

Each year, anglers spend an average of about 11 days fishing. Catfish anglers spend the most days, at about 11 days, and trout anglers the fewest, at about 6 days.

Overall, anglers fish a total of over 13.2 million days each year.

Hunters and anglers in Missouri spend over $1.2 billion each year in retail sales, support 21,877 jobs, and generate $57 million in state sales tax. The total sales and income taxes generated is $77 million. The total economic impact each year from the retail sales is over $2.4 billion. That is $2.4 billion of economic impact.

Put into other terms, more Missourians hunt or fish than the number who attend St. Louis Rams or Kansas City Chiefs games.

One of every four Missouri residents hunts or fishes.

Annual spending by hunters and anglers is more than the cash receipts for cattle production in Missouri.

The amount of sales tax generated from fish and wildlife recreation and the forest products industry is well over the amount of sales tax received by the Missouri Department of Conservation from the Conservation Sales Tax; in other words, conservation pays its way in Missouri.

More information is available from the 2001 National Survey report for Missouri which is available at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/01fhw/fhw01-mo.pdf and the economics report for Missouri is available at: http://www.southwickassociates.com/freereports/default.aspx

A fact sheet on Missouri hunting and fishing is on page 13 of the 2005-2006 Annual Report of the Missouri Department of Conservation available at: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/13141.pdf