Thinking Halloween? Look at Critter Rock "Hairy, Not Scary" Music Video About Bats from the Missouri Department of Conservation

Thinking about the halloween spirit? Or just the great fall weather in Missouri, with crisp cool temperatures, a remarkably clear sky with stars, and a few amazing flying mammals, like bats? Here is a cool music video that's "hairy, not scary" about bats from the Missouri Department of Conservation.



You can buy a CD of the music from the Missouri Department of Conservation Nature Shop, your own copy of the video on a DVD, or more music from Wild Heart, which is songwriter Jan Syrigos and her husband George Syrigos.

Bats are definitely hairy, not scary! You can learn more about bats from the Missouri Department of Conservation Web pages.

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.

You Can Make a Difference for Conservation in Missouri by Planting a Tree or Many Trees

In 1992, when my boys were still in elementary school, we planted some trees that we ordered from the Department of Conservation's forest nursery. We planted a variety of trees, but one of my favorites is the bald cypress. One bald cypress that we planted is nearly 40 feet tall today. It started out less than one foot tall and the boys poked it in the ground in the front yard.

It grew quickly. If you would plant one next spring, it could be over 20 feet tall in less than 10 years.

I like the bald cypress. It is found mostly in the bootheel region of southeast Missouri, but it can adapt and grow well even on dryer upland areas, like yards and hillsides, all over the state. Bald cypress trees can live a long time. The tree we planted could still be living in 600 years.

That's a long time to make a statement and make a difference by simply planting a tree.

Missourians think planting trees is important. In a statewide survey in 2003, most Missourians, 82 percent, agreed that the Department of Conservation should help private landowners who want to restore native communities of plants and animals.

You can learn more about the Department of Conservation tree nursery program that offers Missouri residents a variety of seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, erosion control, and wildlife food and cover. Much more information about forests in Missouri is available on the forestry library pages of the Department of Conservation.

Or you can learn more about using native plants for landscaping or other wildlife benefits on the Grow Native! 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.

Insight from Aldo Leopold's "Why and How Research" for Conservation and the Core Concepts of Performance Excellence

Why and how research. In 1948, Aldo Leopold, Professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Wisconsin, wrote a paper titled "Why and How Research" that was read by Robert McCabe at the North American Wildlife Conference. I have returned to the words of this paper again and again since I first saw it in the mid 1980s. The paper is available in the Transactions of the North American Wildlife Conference, Volume 13, pages 44-48.

I read it again this week and realized that his thoughts address many of the core concepts of performance excellence in the quality improvement criteria of the Missouri Quality Award from a wildlife perspective. Leopold's writing from nearly 60 years ago has important insights for how we conduct our learning and research efforts today to improve the fish, forests, and wildlife in Missouri through our conservation efforts.

A systems perspective. I believe Leopold intuitively understood the core concepts of performance excellence as they have been written recently, and they include:

• visionary leadership
• customer-driven excellence
• organizational and personal learning
• valuing employees and partners
• agility
• focus on the future
• managing for innovation
• management by fact
• social responsibility
• focus on results and creating value
• systems perspective

Leopold's words. Leopold wrote "Much of the confusion about wildlife research arises, I think, from a false premise as to its purpose." He continues "the primary purpose of wildlife research is, in my view, to develop and expand this understanding of the biotic drama. It must, of course, contrive also to keep wildlife on the map, in good quantity, and in as much diversity as possible."

Leopold builds his case for both long- and short-term research by stating "Once in a blue moon research will, by accident, hit upon a discovery of practical value without any preliminary work on fundamentals, but when pursued as a policy, such accidental hits are a losing game."

Leopold was concerned in 1948 that funding for a broad-based, long-term research program based on fundamentals, what he called "deep-digging," was not being supported across the 50 states, and that too much emphasis was being placed on short-term "practical" efforts that produced quick answers.

He wrote "This is why research on most American game species is in a blind alley today. The proof that we are in a blind alley is that we are unable to explain, much less to predict, current events." He continues "in fact it could be said that deer and waterfowl are about the only major game groups in which current ups and downs can be explained, with confidence, in terms of visible causes."

A balanced program to reduce fumbling. Leopold admonishes us with his closing words "What I am asking for is a balanced program, which recognizes that some research jobs are short while others are long, and that neglect of either is poor policy." He proposes "To reduce fumbling is our most important job. If we fail to reduce this fumbling today, the well-springs of funds will dry up tomorrow."

Visionary leadership. In writing "Why and How Research," Leopold certainly places an emphasis on resource managers that can think; managers that can design research and take the time to understand all the components of nature and the different expectations of people to benefit from and experience nature. Leopold's admonition to produce information from "deep-digging" is his call to take a broad, "systems perspective" and to make conservation management decisions that are innovative, based on facts, that focus on results and the future, and that meet the expectations and exemplary performance demanded by a broad-based constituency of hunters, anglers, wildlife watchers, and everyone that understands that the natural world is the foundation of our economic success and quality of life.

Increasing organizational learning with valued employees and partners. I believe Leopold would be pleased at where the staff of the Missouri Department of Conservation have been and where they are going with research on wildlife, and with research on fish and forests.

Leopold, had he had the benefit of the current words, would have said it's our "social responsibility" to take a balanced approach to gathering information, as he clearly indicates in "Why and How Research" when he states that in the 1948 time period, the state of Wisconsin might have to proceed with its long-term quail research project without outside funding because "the value of what we find may extend far beyond quail."

Leopold was concerned about performance, including his own, the performance of the relatively new, at that time, profession of wildlife management, and the ultimate performance of improving fish, forests, and wildlife and increasing the level of understanding of the complex biological relationships of animals and their habitats.

When I sit in a meeting, as I did last week, to hear discussion about the methods of a research project and if it should be funded, I think about "Why and How Research." I think Leopold would be pleased with our attempts to reduce "fumbling." He said it best: "To reduce fumbling is our most important job." And to reduce fumbling, and to increase performance, is what the quality performance criteria is also all about.

Recruiting People With Fire in Their Eye for Conservation

At a meeting this week, I heard the statement "how do we find people with fire in their eye for conservation?" The discussion was about finding and selecting the next generation of conservation employees.

When I was an undergraduate student, it seemed like there were few jobs for the many folks who wanted a career in fish, forest, or wildlife management. I worked in a gas station near campus and I put gas into the cars of my fellow students as they also worked at other jobs, teaching, selling cars, other career fields. I was persistent, stayed in school, and found opportunities. Some of the other folks also found jobs in conservation.

On the way to Columbia to another meeting this week I saw a billboard for, I believe the Marines, that said something like "We don't take applications, we take commitment." The Fish and Wildlife Service Web page about careers also has the word commitment in the first sentence of their information, where it says "Working for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is more than a career. It is also a commitment..." A common theme in the personal descriptions of what several Forest Service employees do each day is their opportunity to make a difference and they often comment they enjoy their jobs.

Jim Keefe, in the video "The Spirit of Conservation" comments that Department employees did not feel they were working just a job, "it was a crusade."

I think as we keep telling people, including young people still in school, about our job opportunities, our future vision of what conservation is about, and the values we believe in, that we'll continue to find the right folks with fire in their eyes for conservation.

Here is another helpful hint: future leaders in conservation will need to be excellent managers as well as biologists, and learning about the criteria for performance excellence used in the Missouri Quality Award and the National Malcolm Baldrige Award is a good start.

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.

Fence Lizards, Flying Squirrels, Annual Crops, and Agriculture Data for Conservation in Missouri

Producing sustained annual crops. We have a new "crop" of fence lizards on our stone wall near the garage. And although I have not seen them yet this year, I'm sure we have another "crop" of flying squirrels that are gliding about in the trees near the house. For most of the late summer, I've been watching the growth of two young deer as I see them near the garden or along the driveway.

These are just some of the "annual crops" produced near my home. The fields of corn I pass by on the way home are what many people commonly think of as an annual crop. Wildlife and many other natural resources can be sustainably produced each year and we can think of that production as an annual crop.

Agriculture data and economic information for Missouri. There is a tremendous amount of agricultural data about annual crops and farm production in Missouri which is available from the USDA Agricultural Statistics Service. I routinely use this information to learn more about Missouri crops and the economic impacts of agriculture.

For example, this overview from 2006 shows that there are 105,000 farms in Missouri and the average farm size is 287 acres. Overall in 2006, there were 30.1 million acres in farms in Missouri, which is just over two-thirds of all the acres in Missouri. In the current estimates pages, the overall cash receipts for crop production in 2006 are listed as over $2.5 billion dollars and for livestock production as over $2.8 billion dollars. Agriculture is an important part of the Missouri economy and farmers and landowners are important partners with the Department of Conservation to manage lands for conservation benefits.

Fish, forest, and wildlife results equal agriculture receipts. I can use information from the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation to learn about the economic impacts of fish, forests, and wildlife in Missouri.

The preliminary numbers from the 2006 National Survey show that anglers, hunters, and wildlife viewers spent, in one year, over $3 billion dollars on wildlife-related recreation. These numbers do not include the contributions from forest and wood products that are produced each year. And the dollar amounts do not count the overall natural resource benefits produced in other sustainable "annual crops" like fence lizards, flying squirrels, deer, turkeys, hummingbirds, prairie chickens, fish, and a wide variety of other plants, animals, and habitats on the land and in the waters of the state.

Conservation benefits are important in Missouri. In my thinking, recreation spending, wood products, and fish, forest, and wildlife production are pretty awesome "annual crops" and are obviously on par with the dollar amounts from livestock and agriculture crop production. Conservation results and activities are an important part of the Missouri economy.

Learn more about conservation in Missouri. You can learn more about conservation activities in Missouri on the Department's Web pages, both what you can do to enjoy the outdoors and what the staff of the Missouri Department of Conservation are doing to manage fish, forest, and wildlife resources in Missouri.

Or you can read about interesting aspects of conservation on the Department's blog, Fresh Afield or in the monthly magazine, free to Missouri residents that request it, the Missouri Conservationist.

Surveys are Useful for Fish, Forest, and Wildlife Management in Missouri

All surveys have error and some surveys are useful. A statistician I know that works for the Missouri Department of Conservation frequently reminds me that all surveys have error. And he says in the same sentence, that some surveys are useful. The key for usefulness is proper design, careful attention to details, and appropriate analysis and reporting. Proper design and implementation of a survey reduce the level of error so the survey information is useful.

Managing by facts. The reason surveys need to be useful, and we want to eliminate error, is to have information to guide conservation decisions. The words "using the best scientific information" are used in several of the "Results we want to achieve" statements of the Department of Conservation's strategic plan, in addition to "increased availability and use of conservation-related information."

Over seven decades of best-in-class work. The staff in the Missouri of Department of Conservation started on a journey of best-in-class research and science soon after the Department was established in 1936. That research and information gathering continues today to produce accountable information that can be used for conservation decisions.

The human dimensions of conservation. In the 1970s, Department of Conservation staff began to use surveys and other public input methods very frequently to learn about the expectations, participation levels, and satisfaction of Missourians for fish, forest, and wildlife activities. These "human dimensions" of management are now included in almost every aspect of conservation work.

You can read more about how the human dimensions of conservation has been used in decisions about fish, forests, and wildlife, in the Missouri Conservationist magazine. A recent article, "Your Opinion Counts" was in the January, 2007 issue and another article, "When Missourians Speak" was in the February, 2000 issue.

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.

Increasing Your Conservation "Mileage" in Missouri

"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." In the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones tells the leading lady, Marion, "it's not the years, honey, it's the mileage." One of my vehicles has traveled well over 250 thousand miles and is still meeting my objectives for reliable transportation.

It's not the acres, it's the results. This phrase could be applied to managing land in Missouri for fish, forest, wildlife, and people. About 93 percent of Missouri is privately owned. This means that "it's not the acres, it's the results" is appropriate when thinking about land management in Missouri. And each landowner and Missourian can have different expectations about those results.

In the Department of Conservation strategic plan, The Next Generation of Conservation, there is a goal category for helping private landowners advance conservation. The goal statement is:

"The Conservation Department will expand efforts to help private landowners and address the key factors limiting the ability of some to effectively manage their land— knowledge, time, money and equipment."

These words are used to describe the importance of the goal:

"Improving conservation efforts on the privately owned lands that constitute more than 90 percent of the state is essential to the overall well-being of Missouri’s fish, forests and wildlife. Landowners, whether they have large agricultural tracts or small residential parcels, need access to timely information and professional assistance. This will help farmers and landowners implement practices that benefit natural resources and serve their own needs. In some cases, landowners may require specialized equipment or a helping hand from several sources to achieve their objectives in a manner beneficial to conservation."

A focus on results. The picture of success for this goal is in the "Results we want to achieve" statements:

• Private landowners and farmers actively managing their land for natural resource and financial sustainability.


• Landowners working together to achieve conservation successes on a larger scale.


• Landowners effectively using state, federal and private conservation assistance programs and technical support.

Manage your backyard or learn more. Whether you have a backyard to manage, hundreds of acres, or simply want to know more about how the land can produce natural resource benefits, you can find answers and access to assistance at the Department of Conservation Web pages about private land.

Here is information about improving your backyard for wildlife or how native plants can improve your property;

more information about how the Department of Conservation can help your community;

information about improving a pond, stream, or wetland on your property;

and information about improving the trees and forests on your property or in your community.

Social Significance of Conservation in Missouri

Eighty pounds of sugar. At my home this summer, we've used 80 pounds of sugar so far to keep our four hummingbird feeders filled. Especially just before dark, there have been over 40 hummingbirds at one time flying about the feeders. We enjoy watching them and apparently the feeders have helped keep the hummers productive in the dry weather and close to the house for us to watch.

Is this what Leopold had in mind? In 1933, Aldo Leopold wrote as the first sentence of the first chapter, in his book Game Management, that "Game management is the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use."

Supplying food and cover for hummingbirds has produced an annual "crop" and we've done this for several years. Yet feeding hummingbirds is just the tip of a really large iceberg to what is required to accomplish sustainable land management that supports a variety of native plants and animals.

Leopold had a much bigger vision of conservation management. Leopold continues in his book, through another 15 chapters and 391 pages discussing biology, research, the importance of science, and successful techniques before making this statement on page 392, "But it is not merely a supply of game, in the strictly quantitative sense, that is in question. The conservation movement seeks rather to maintain values in which quality and distribution matter quite as much as quantity."

He continues in the same chapter on page 403, "The objective of the game management program is to retain for the average citizen an opportunity to hunt" and "The objective of a conservation program for non-game wild life should be exactly parallel: to retain for the average citizen the opportunity to see, admire and enjoy, and the challenge to understand, the varied forms of birds and mammals indigenous to his state. It implies not only that these forms be kept in existence, but that the greatest possible variety of them exist in each community."

He states on page 405, "There is, in short, a fundamental unity of purpose and method between bird-lovers and sportsmen. Their common task of teaching the public how to modify economic activities for conservation purposes is of infinitely greater importance, and difficulty, than their current differences of opinion over details of legislative and administrative policy."

Social significance of conservation. Leopold concludes in the last four pages "The game manager manipulates animals and vegetation to produce a game crop. This, however, is only a superficial indication of his social significance. What he really labors for is to bring about a new attitude toward the land" and "Herein lies the social significance of game management. It promulgates no doctrine, it simply asks for land and the chance to show that farm, forest, and wild life products can be grown on it, to the mutual advantage of each other, of the landowner, and of the public."

Seventy five years later in Missouri. Today, most Missourians (93 percent), indicate they are interested in Missouri's fish, forests, and wildlife. Thirty-six percent say they fish, and 27 percent say they hunt. Many Missouri households have one or more participants who watch birds and wildlife (72 percent), feed birds and wildlife (64 percent), and observe wildflowers (61 percent).

Even with this level of support and participation, however, surveys and focus groups also provide hints that Missourians are pressed for time to stay knowledgeable and remain in touch with the natural world. A big task of conservation workers is to do exactly what Leopold wrote nearly 75 years ago, which is to "bring about a new attitude toward the land."

I'm not just feeding hummingbirds, I'm participating in a social movement of conservation.

If you want to know more about conservation, you can read about the Department of Conservation's plan for the future of conservation in Missouri in The Next Generation of Conservation. Leopold would be especially pleased with the approach to define wildlife very broadly in the Department's Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy, or any one of the other state wildlife action plans.

You can see some great photographs of wildlife and read about conservation work in the Department's monthly magazine, the Missouri Conservationist, which is free to Missourians who request it.

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.

Human Dimensions is Servant Leadership in Action for Conservation in Missouri

Human dimensions information for conservation is servant leadership in action. I have to recall the past to show how I believe human dimensions information for conservation is a servant leadership in action.

A decade of teaching and learning leadership skills. In 1996, I was asked to participate on the adult staff of a leadership training course for young men. While at that course, although I certainly enjoyed the experience, I would not have predicted that I would continue volunteering my vacation time for similar leadership training courses for every year since that time. This summer I will be part of the adult staff for my 10th course in Missouri. I'll also be involved in my sixth course at the national level, working with youth for an advanced experience at the Philmont Training Center in New Mexico.

Servant leadership is a concept about helping others. The training syllabus that we use has changed since 1996. In the 90s, it focused more on the rote skills of leadership, including communication, planning, conflict resolution, using resources effectively, and other skills. Today, using some of the best parts of current leadership theory and theories that have stood the test of time, the course is slightly different, with a focus more on broader concepts in addition to skills. One concept is that of servant leadership. Being a servant leader involves many things, and Larry Spears writes that the concept is "one that seeks to involve others in decision making, one strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and one that is attempting to enhance the personal growth of people while improving the caring and quality of our many institutions." At its simplest, servant leadership is about a focus on the needs of others.

The training syllabus describes the concept as: "The concept of servant leadership encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization's values and integrity. Servant leadership emphasizes collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power."

This idea of including others in decision making, using an approach that is both ethical and respectful of others point-of-view, is what using human dimensions and public involvement in conservation decision-making is all about.

Human dimensions information is used to help others. Human dimensions helps resource mangers make informed decisions about fish, forest, and wildlife conservation. In Missouri, human dimensions efforts are some of the ways citizen opinions are included in conservation decisions. Human dimensions information helps managers and decision-makers provide conservation programs and services that meet the needs and expectations of Missourians. That is why I believe that human dimensions is servant leadership in action.

"What We Believe" statements of the Missouri Department of Conservation guide actions. Using human dimensions information helps me and the staff of the Missouri Department of Conservation demonstrate our "What We Believe" statements. The second statement is "All citizens are important; we value their trust and their point of view" and the third is "Missourians are our partners to achieve conservation success." The last statement includes: "Our decisions and behavior will be based on fairness, objectivity and the best scientific information."

Excellent public service is what we will provide. I believe that using human dimensions information for conservation decision-making helps achieve the first "What We Believe" statement "Excellent public service is what we will provide." These words in the "What We Believe" statements are very similar to the words I use each summer when teaching about the concept of servant leadership. Using human dimensions information and public involvement to meet the needs and expectations of Missourians for fish, forest, and wildlife in Missouri looks exactly like servant leadership to me.

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.

Conservation Professionals, Careers, and Human Dimensions

I've given many talks to young people and asked them what they'd like to do for a career.

Regardless of their answer, I tell them there is a place for them in conservation and resource management. Want to be a pilot? Forestry and wildlife management tasks need good pilots. Like to produce films and design interactive computer games? Conservation education needs outstanding videographers and computer experts. Like to work with money, figures, and design a budget? Conservation success depends upon accountable and accurate business practices.

There is a place in conservation for almost every area of expertise that I can think about. Experts in the traditional fields of fish, forest, and wildlife management have long recognized that the success of biologists and managers requires a wide variety of skills. This view continues to expand. I have what would be considered two traditional degrees in wildlife management and one in food animal production. While in school I became very interested in the people and policy aspects of resource management and gained some experience working in that area. I have used both the traditional education and my policy research experiences for almost 20 years in the area of human dimensions of resource management to help other more "traditional" resource managers make decisions.

Michael Hutchins, the Executive Director/CEO of The Wildlife Society, writes in the Spring, 2007, issue of The Wildlifer newsletter (available here):

"So, who are these wildlife professionals? A more traditional view would have us include only those individuals who have a degree in wildlife biology, ecology or management and who are working in a job in which they: (1) conduct scientific studies of wildlife biology or ecology; or (2) actively monitor and manage wildlife populations and/or their habitats."

and

"There are many professionals who play significant roles in wildlife management and conservation today that do not fit into this traditional mold. Among the most significant of these non-traditionalists are those who work on the human dimensions of wildlife management and conservation. Such individuals may have training in psychology, sociology, anthropology or economics. They may study human attitudes toward wildlife or wildlife management and utilization, cultural traditions that impact wildlife, or economic factors that influence our ability to sustain wildlife populations over the long-term. Since most of the challenges facing wildlife managers and conservationists today are anthropogenic in origin, it is critical that we understand the many complex issues that lie at the human-wildlife interface. Human dimensions will undoubtedly play a critical role in our ability to manage and conserve wildlife now and into the future."

I'm pleased to see this super-sized view of how many areas of expertise are needed to achieve conservation success. In the article there is discussion about the need for other types of expertise in addition to human dimensions.

More information about education programs in wildlife management is available here, and information about The American Fisheries Society is available here. Information for students from the Society of American Foresters is available here and information about the Soil and Water Conservation Society is available here.

Career and education information about human dimensions is in many places online. Purdue University has information here, there is a human dimensions research unit at Cornell University, available here, and information about the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri is available here.

Why Human Dimensions Information is Important for a Conservation Legacy

When I was at Purdue University in the late 1980s, Durward Allen was still alive and had an office in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. Durward Allen spent his career in wildlife management and left his own legacy of conservation through his efforts on Isle Royale in Lake Superior to begin a study of wolves and moose. He wrote many books and articles about conservation. Dr. Allen signed my copy of his book Our Wildlife Legacy and left me a legacy of memories and thought-provoking words. He wrote in the 1962 revised edition of Our Wildlife Legacy:

"If it all reduces to any dependable theme, it probably is this: that there is a harmony in the natural world which makes the right thing easy and the wrong thing chaos; that the right thing is revealed in being right, not just for now and for us, but for the earth and all those who will inherit it; that there are natural principles, if we can discover them, to guide everything men may wish to do with land and water and the life they support."

and

"What we have now is largely a matter of chance; but what we are to have cannot be left to chance. It calls for understanding and design."

He suggests:

"To boil it all down, progress in wildlife conservation will require the best research program that can be organized. It is essential, and we cannot afford the time and money wasted in second-rate performance. The era of guesswork management is past."

These words were relevant in 1962. Similar words from Aldo Leopold date to the 1930s, and John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt had similar statements at the turn of the century. Their words are still relevant today.

Today, most businesses rely on a variety of approaches to manage outcomes based on facts; a successful business can rarely afford to waste time and money on second-rate performance. They don't guess about decisions, they aspire to management by fact.

Management by fact for conservation includes the human dimensions of resource management. I believe that understanding more about the human dimensions of fish, forest, and wildlife management is equally important today as it was in 1900, 1933, and 1962. The forward thinking of Roosevelt, Leopold, and Allen included an understanding of the importance of biological, sociological, and economic research to effective resource management. In their own words, they advocated management by fact.

Using the human dimensions of conservation, or in other words, understanding the demands, opinions, participation, and satisfaction of Missourians for fish, forest, and wildlife management, is the way that the Missouri Department of Conservation is using facts to focus on results and to establish a conservation legacy for future Missourians.

More information about the history of conservation in the United States is available in a variety of books and online sources. A timeline of conservation related events from 1850 to 1920 compiled by the Library of Congress is available here.

A timeline of conservation policy successes from 1900 to today is available from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies here.

The Wildlife Society's position statement about the North American model of wildlife conservation is available here.

Information about the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, approved by Congress in 1937, is available here and information about the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act from 1950 is available here.

Additional information about the Federal Assistance Program that assists states in management efforts for fish and wildlife resources is available here. One benefit for states from Federal Aid assistance is the human dimensions information available from the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation that is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Human Dimensions and Decision-Making for Conservation

Human dimensions information for fish, forest, and wildlife decision making is like the information available for a pilot in the instruments of an airplane or the notes on a page for a musician.

Human dimensions information involves the social and economic aspects of fish, forest, and wildlife management. Human dimensions is market information, customer satisfaction information, participation levels, and public involvement efforts. In Missouri, it is about the people of Missouri and their interests and participation related to the fish, forests, wildlife, and conservation efforts in the state.

Simply, human dimensions is about people, and their needs, wants, and demands. In marketing terms, needs are their requirements, wants are their requests, and demands are the items that meet their requests that they are willing to pay for or take action to obtain. Human dimensions is any information about those needs, wants, and demands.

Are there obstacles to using human dimensions information in making decisions? You bet.

Time is the most frequent obstacle since it can be difficult to conduct scientifically sound information gathering in time to help a manager make a decision. In addition, anyone can be overwhelmed with information. Data can become a black hole, leading us away from making decisions rather than taking action. And just because we have information does not guarantee a desirable or expected outcome. Conservation decisions often involve balancing the needs, wants, and demands of many groups and interests. Sometimes, information seems to make decisions more difficult as we become aware of competing requests and demands.

Even the best, most timely, and comprehensive information is only information however; decisions are required to take action.

The instruments for a pilot, the notes on a page for a musician, a recipe for a cook, or human dimensions information for a resource manager are only information; a truly exemplary performance requires decisions and actions.

Human dimensions data do not tell us what decisions to make, but do provide accountability for our decisions and many clues to informed management.

A great reference about the human dimensions of wildlife management is a book entitled Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management in North America and is edited by D.J. Decker, T.L. Brown, and W.F. Siemer. It was published in 2001. The book is available from The Wildlife Society at: http://www.wildlife.org/publications/index.cfm?tname=pubslist

The First Fifty Years of Conservation in Missouri

If we read the signs correctly, we might learn something about what is up ahead.

Human dimensions, the social and economic aspects of fish, forest, and wildlife conservation, is very useful in trying to understand the past and present. The insights about the past and present can then be used like informational highway signs to make informed decisions about the future.

Past events can guide our thinking about change and provide much insight into the future.

Winston Churchill said “The further backward you look, the further forward you can see” and Harry S. Truman said “The only news you haven’t heard is the history you haven’t read.”

I often turn to a book called The First Fifty Years by James F. Keefe to learn about the past events of the Missouri Department of Conservation and to gain insight into what conservation workers were thinking and the decisions they made in the years before I was even born. I like to think that understanding more about the past can help me, and other Department of Conservation staff, interpret and determine how the information we have available today can help us make more accountable and reliable decisions that will certainly affect the future.

I was fortunate to meet and visit many times with Jim Keefe before he died in 1999.

An article in an All Outdoors news release from 1999, available at http://www.mdc.mo.gov/news/out/1999/091799.htm#2 had the following about Jim:

"Starting as an information writer for the Conservation Department in 1951, Keefe served as managing editor of Missouri Conservationist Magazine from 1955 until 1985. During that time the magazine's monthly circulation increased from 20,000 to nearly 400,000. He penned hundreds of articles and monthly editorials in which he articulated the Conservation Department's philosophy and explained its policies to millions of readers. Conservation Commissioner Ron Stites once called Keefe "Missouri's conservation conscience."

In 1958 the Conservation Commission promoted Keefe to head its Information Section. He continued in that capacity for 27 years, building a public information program that won national and international acclaim for its magazine, books and nature films.

In 1985, the Conservation Commission assigned Keefe to write a history of the Conservation Department's first five decades. The First 50 Years, begins with voter approval of a constitutional amendment in 1936 giving the Conservation Department autonomy in administering science-based conservation programs. It continues through full implementation of the state's conservation program with a dedicated conservation sales tax approved by voters through another constitutional amendment in 1976.

Keefe himself was instrumental in convincing voters of the need for stable funding for conservation programs. At the same time, he also was active in national conservation information efforts. He served as president of Association for Conservation Information and the Missouri Outdoor Communicators and was active in the Outdoor Writers Association of America, earning that group's highest conservation honor, The Jade of Chiefs Award, in 1980.

The Conservation Commission named him a Master Conservationist in 1998, and the Conservation Federation of Missouri honored Keefe with its Conservation Communicator of the Year Award in 1970."

The entire text of The First Fifty Years is available at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/about/50_yrs/

Read a bit, look backward, and use the information to think about the future. I do.

The current issue of the Missouri Conservationist magazine, and archives of past issues, is available at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/

The magazine is free to adult Missourians that request it, and more information about how to subscribe is available at: http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/conmag/conmag.aspx

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