“The park staff have completed their review of the 318 page document and have provided comments. These remarks have been compiled and submitted to the Denver Service Center planning team,” says Acting Superintendent Black.

Two Rivers: Jacks Fork on left, Current River on right. Jo Schaper photo.

Besides the park staff reviewing the draft, the National Park Service’s Denver Service Center and the Midwest Regional Office in Omaha, Nebraska have also reviewed the draft document and provided their input.

Comments from all enities will be incorporated into the draft which will be sent to the National Park Service leadership in Washington D. C. for their review. Once this review is completed, the draft General Management Plan will be released for public review and comment. Ozark National Scenic Riverways and the planning team anticipate the public release for review and comment to occur Spring 2012.

The park will inform the public when the review and comment period will occur. We encourage and welcome your input on the draft General Management Plan.

With the National Park Service in the final stages of preparing draft alternatives of the General Management Plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways for expected release sometime in late winter or early spring, Missouri environmental groups turned up the political heat with petition events and signature turn-ins to federal officials this week.

Five thousand petitions were turned at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis on Tuesday, Dec 13, to be forwarded to Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, after spokespeople for 12 environmental groups expressed their views at a press conference held at St. Louis City Hall.

The next day, a similar number of petitions were taken to the offices of Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill in Columbia, following a news conference at a Columbia sporting goods store. Both petition turn-ins follow a 4000 petition signature drive in Springfield a few weeks ago.

The petitions have been gathered online and at in-person events by members of American Rivers; Audubon Missouri; Environment Missouri; Friends of Ozark Riverways; James River Basin Alliance; Missouri Parks Association; Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region; Ozark Greenways; Ozark Mountain Paddlers; Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club; Sierra Club Missouri Chapter and the Saint Louis Adventure Group.

According to John Hickey, director of Sierra Club Missouri and one of the coalition’s spokesmen, not all the petitions are identical. Signatures come from group members, and the general public, and include signers from Arkansas and Oklahoma.

In 2009, National Park Service (NPS) conducted an official call for comments and held a series of public meetings in eastern Missouri. The public submitted 5117 comments at that time. In February of 2010, an NPS-moderated meeting in Rolla brought together invited stakeholders representing diverse viewpoints on Riverways management. In June 2011, American Rivers declared the Current and Jacks Fork system as on of the country’s most endangered rivers.

According to NPS spokeswoman Faye Walmsley, the service remains on track to issue four alternatives for comment, including a preferred alternative, despite the recent retirement of Superintendent Reed Detring this December.

When contacted about the coalition’s call for tighter protections of the environment and more stringent regulations under a new management plan, Hickey replied:

“A well-managed park is good for the economy in the Ozark Scenic Riverways area. For example, many visitors will come to enjoy a park where the water is clean, but not to a park where the water contains E. coli contamination over the legal limit (which is the current case on the lower Jacks Fork, due to excessive horse traffic). Visitors will come to rent canoes from local liveries, but will not keep coming if they have to share gravel bars with ATVs who access the river from illegal roads (there are dozens of illegal and unauthorized roads that did not exist when the Park was created),” Hickey said.

“Visitors will rent cabins and hotel rooms, buy groceries and meals and gasoline – this also supports the local economy. The reason that the Ozark Scenic Riverways draw lots of visitors is because of their unique beauty, clean water, and solitude. If that is lost, then why would folks make that trip? Why not just go to the Bourbeuse or Big River or Courtois?”

The coalition believes that they are being proactive in protecting the park by their efforts. He continued:

“Environmentalists have been meeting with horse trail operators in the Jacks Fork River area to set up a trail system that allows responsible horse access, but that takes the trails out of the rivers and out of the floodplains. This will allow horseriders to enjoy the park without causing dangerous levels of E. Coli in the River.

“Greg Iffrig and Sierra Club leaders have been meeting with the backcountry horse riders group to identify a horse trail route thru the Roger Pryor Wilderness, adjacent to the Current River.

“Of course, fishermen will support our efforts to eliminate E. Coli contamination in the rivers.

“Our goal is not to limit access, but to make sure that there is access for people who enjoy nature, whether for fishing or canoeing or hiking or riding horses – access to a place to go that is protected and preserved. Who wants to go fishing in the river when there are ATVs going through the river next to you? No fisherperson wants that. Which hunter wants to go back to the old days when there were no wild turkeys or deer to hunt in Missouri? None. Who wants to canoe when you have to dodge the horses that are in the river? Nobody.

“The point of the management plan is to both preserve the park and provide the sort of recreation experience that people want in a national park. That is good for the park, and good for the local economy, and good for the conservationist community,” said Hickey.

Eminence resident John Mark Brewer disagrees with the coalition effort. “Anybody can sign a petition. If you have friends, you can get people to jump on a bandwagon. We have beautiful resources, and we have taken care of them. We took care of them before the Park Service and before the state parks. Probably most of the people who have signed these petitions don’t understand the complexity of the issue. People who live here, and who have lived here for generations do.”

Brewer would like more weight given to the opinions of local residents as the GMP is finalized. “We had 5200 people express their opinions a couple of years ago. Most of those people thought about what they wrote or said, they didn’t just sign a pre-written petition. I don’t necessarily agree with the Park Service, but I want to see what they come up with, not people who aren’t from here.”

Other Riverways area residents have expressed similar views privately to Traveler, as well as several who wish to reserve judgement until alternative GMP drafts are presented to the public. None were willing to comment publicly at this time.

Stay tuned.

Gov. Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon will visit Eminence High School tomorrow afternoon (Dec. 8 ) to congratulate the school on achieving the state’s A+ Schools designation, and to encourage students there to take advantage of the program. Under the A+ program, Missouri students can earn a scholarship to cover the cost of tuition and academic fees for two years at any public two-year community college or technical school in the state. To be eligible for the program, students must meet academic achievement, conduct and attendance requirements, and perform 50 hours of tutoring or mentoring service.

In Eminence, and other small town rural schools, this isn’t easy. For all we love to love Shannon County, it’s still one of the poorest counties in the state. It’s a rough life for many– the tourist economy is seasonal, and local opportunities few. When someone makes their mark on the outside world, (for example, astronaut Tom Akers) it’s a big deal. The best most people can hope is somehow get a good education, get away, become a success, and bring that glory back home later in life.

The A+ program gives that chance to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the money to follow their dreams.
I know this personally. One of my nephews is getting his college degree via this route. To have a high school in an area of the country of great natural beauty, but little economic opportunity earn this honor is a big deal. And it means more to those kids than just the Governor dropping by for the afternoon.

Congrats to Eminence High School.

The You Tube translation is by Dr. Dale Haverstick, of Eminence, who has been known for some time to pen a song or two, often sung by fellow Shannon County residents Alvin and Andy Bressler and their clan at the Current River Opry, and the Cross Country Trail Ride music events.

If the tears aren’t running from your eyes by the conclusion of this heartfelt rendition– well you’re taking Christmas way too seriously. Enjoy.

The petition drive is sponsored by environmental organizations including the Eastern Missouri Group- Sierra Club, Friends of Ozark Riverways, LAD Foundation, Ozarks Greenway and Greater Ozarks Audubon.

According to the News-Leader story, NPS spokeswoman Faye Walmsley said four alternatives of the GMP are being prepared for release early next year.

The announcement was made in Springfield, under the auspices of Ozarks Greenway. A similar announcement is expected in St. Louis later this month.

(Compiled from internet sources.)

The Saint Louis Zoo’s Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation and the Missouri Department of Conservation today announced that Ozark hellbenders have been bred in captivity—a first for either of the two subspecies of hellbender. This decade-long collaboration has yielded 63 baby hellbenders.

Baby hellbenders soon after hatching. St. Louis Zoo photo

The first hellbender hatched on Nov. 15, and currently there are approximately 120 additional eggs that should hatch within the next week. The eggs are maintained in climate- and water quality-controlled trays behind the scenes in the Zoo’s Herpetarium. For 45 to 60 days after emerging, the tiny larvae will retain their yolk sack for nutrients and move very little as they continue their development. As the larvae continue to grow, they will develop legs and eventually lose their external gills by the time they reach 1.5 to 2 years of age. At sexual maturity, at 5 to 8 years of age, adult lengths can approach two feet. Both parents are wild bred: the male has been at the Zoo for the past two years and the female arrived this past September.

Baby hellbender at two weeks. St. Louis Zoo photo

Due to these drastic declines, captive propagation became a priority in the long-term recovery of the species. Once the captive-bred larvae are 3 to 8 years old, they can then be released into their natural habitat—the Ozark aquatic ecosystem.

Also known by the colloquial names of “snot otter” and “old lasagna sides,” the adult hellbender is one of the largest species of salamanders in North America, with its closest relatives being the giant salamanders of China and Japan, which can reach five feet in length.

With skin that is brown with black splotches, the Ozark hellbender has a slippery, flattened body that moves easily through water and can squeeze under rocks on the bottom of streams.

Like a Canary in a Coal Mine

Requiring cool, clean running water, the Ozark hellbender is also an important barometer of the overall health of that ecosystem—an aquatic “canary in a coal mine.”

“Capillaries near the surface of the hellbender’s skin absorb oxygen directly from the water – as well as hormones, heavy metals and pesticides,” said Jeff Ettling, Saint Louis Zoo curator of herpetology and aquatics. “If there is something in the water that is causing the hellbender population to decline, it can also be affecting the citizens who call the area home.”

“We have a 15- to 20-year window to reverse this decline,” added Missouri Department of Conservation Herpetologist Jeff Briggler, who cites a number of reasons for that decline from loss of habitat to pollution to disease to illegal capture and overseas sale of the hellbender for pets. “We don’t want the animal disappearing on our watch.”

Reversing A Decline

In 2001, the Ozark Hellbender Working Group of scientists from government agencies, public universities and zoos in Missouri and Arkansas launched a number of projects to staunch that decline. These included egg searches, disease sampling and behavioral studies.

In 2004, funding from private donors, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the United States Fish & Wildlife Services and the Zoo covered the cost of building sophisticated facilities including climate-controlled streams to breed the hellbender.

The hellbender propagation facilities include two outdoor streams that are 40 feet long and six feet deep. The area is landscaped with natural gravel, large rocks for hiding and artificial nest boxes, where the fertilized eggs were discovered. A nearby building houses state-of-the-art life support equipment used to filter the water and maintain the streams at the proper temperature.
In addition, two large climate-controlled rooms in the basement of the Zoo’s Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium are the headquarters for the program. The facilities recreate hellbender habitat with closely monitored temperatures, pumps to move purified water, sprinklers synced to mimic the exact precipitation and lights that flick on or dim to account for brightness and shade. The largest room includes a 32-foot simulated stream, complete with native gravel and large rocks for hiding. It houses a breeding group of adult Ozark hellbenders from the North Fork of the White River in Missouri; offspring from these hellbenders will eventually be released back into the wild.

BACKGROUND:
The Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation is part of the Wildcare Institute. Ranked as America’s #1 Zoo by Zagat Survey and Parenting Magazine, the Saint Louis Zoo is widely recognized for its innovative approaches to animal management, wildlife conservation, research and education. One of the few free zoos in the nation, it attracts about 3,000,000 visitors a year.

Saint Louis Zoo launched its WildCare Institute in 2004 to further numerous wildlife conservation projects around the world. The Zoo partners with other zoos, universities, field biologists and government agencies to develop a holistic approach: wildlife management and recovery, conservation science and support of the human populations that coexist with wildlife.

Indiana bat cluster. Photo by R. Andrew King, Courtesy US FWS

TNC plans to install a temporary trail and hoist to be used to haul equipment and materials to the cave. The property is under a scenic easement owned by the National Park Service (NPS) which restricts these types of activities without authorization in writing. An environmental assessment (EA) for the project has been developed, and will available for public review and comment from November 23, 2011 through December 23, 2011.

In consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy determined that an improved gate should be constructed to further protect hibernating bats. Indiana bats are already federally listed, but their survival is further threatened by white-nose syndrome, a fungal bat infection which has already reduced this species to critically low numbers in the U.S. northeast, and extirpated them from some caves. Specific project questions can be directed to TNC, Missouri Ozarks Office, Current River Project Manager, Preston Mabry at 573-323-8790.

The EA is available electronically for review and comment online by visiting http://parkplanning.nps.gov, the website for the NPS’s Planning Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) system.

Comments may also be sent to:
Bat Cave Temporary Trail and Hoist EA
Ozarks National Scenic Riverways
P. O. Box 490
Van Buren, MO 63965 Fax: 573-323-4140

Commenters should be aware that their remarks, including names and home addresses, are considered public information and may be released to the public. While commenters can request that their personal identifying information be withheld from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee that this will be possible.

For more information, phone (573) 323-4236 or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/ozar. Ozark

Eminence, MO – On Saturday, December 10th beginning at 10:00 am, Ozark National Scenic Riverways is hosting an old fashioned Christmas celebration for the public at the Alley Mill General Store.

Bring the whole family and your friends to view Alley Mill and the store all dressed up in holiday decorations. Feast on cookies, cider and hot chocolate. Try out your creativity by making old-time ornaments that you can take home and hang on your Christmas tree to enjoy.

Alley Spring in Snow by Tony Orchard, courtesy mo.gov photos

Alley Mill General Store is located at Alley Spring six miles west of Eminence, Missouri on State Route 106. For more information, phone (573) 323-8093 during business hours Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/ozar.

Photos and captions courtesy of Shea Bergman, Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

How do you take 33 Urban Ranger Corps inner city youth (and six of their leaders)* on a three-day, 48-hour canoe trip with two nights of camping on the Current River?

Ask Shea Bergman, Steve Jacobsen, Brandon Pope and Pat Whalen of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Kansas City Discovery Center.

The Grand Depart- 44 Urban Rangers prepare for a three-day float trip on the Current River

First, a little background on the Discovery Center and Urban Ranger Corps.

Former Conservation Commissioner Anita Gorman had the vision for the Discovery Center. Unlike most nature centers, the Center is in downtown KC, near Country Club Plaza, on ten acres of land on the banks of Brush Creek. It features learning through hands-on activities, and serves people for whom the “outdoors” means concrete, asphalt, trash and steel, not forests, fish or wildlife.

Enter the Urban Ranger Corps. Fr. John Wandless, then serving an inner city Catholic parish, founded the group in 2003. He saw the need to inject some purpose and plan into the lives of urban boys 14-18 and to get them to understand there was an alternative to street life.

The Urban Ranger Corps, now an independent, nonprofit corporation, mentors these young men in a variety of ways. It funnels exuberant energy into neighborhood cleanup and construction during the summers. It provides a sense of belonging, and responsibility by establishing teams, teaching life skills, providing service and planning for their futures with career development activities. In short, it tries to provide a sense of purpose and hope.

A Ranger proudly displays his first rainbow trout

So, how do you take 33 inner city, thoroughly urban youth on a canoe trip on the Current River, when their idea of wildlife is a gray squirrel, and a waterway consists of trash in a street gutter or the street runoff stew in urban Brush Creek?

Planning ahead is the key.

“First you teach them how to paddle,” said Jacobsen, education specialist at Discovery. “This can be a challenge when all you have are ponds, and you’re headed for the Current River. None of these kids had been on a wilderness trip before, and even though we don’t think of the Current River as wilderness, they do.”

“Next, you have to consider tents. They need tents, but had to be shown how to put them up and take them down. Forget the bags. No one can get a tent back into a bag on the river. We learned that last year the hard way.”

You have to start early, too. The trip was the third week in July, so we started planning and preparing in February,” he said.

“We had 24 first year people this time,” added Pope. “They just got into the Urban Ranger program, and then we had them do this.”

Whalen added, “We want to get more kids involved, but 40 was tough enough. We don’t want to leave anyone behind who wants to go, but I think we’d run into problems with 50 kids or more.”

“The hard thing is: what gear and how to pack it,” added Bergman. “It took several weeks and a bunch of lunches to get the planning done. Packing was three solid days of work.”

The foursome showed AMI a unique way of packing supplies for the trip: five-gallon buckets, some for group gear, and one for personal supplies. Clothes, bedding and personal gear for three days on the river had to fit into one bucket. All buckets were then numbered to match the destination canoe.

In addition, group gear was designated by parts of a house: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, garage, and hospital. “Don’t put the Dutch ovens into a kids’ canoe. Think about the essentials you want with you at the end of the trip,” someone said.

“We had two skills days before the trip,” said Pope. “The boys knew each other for all summer, and that helped.”

“Always have a Plan C,” cautioned Jacobsen. “We paddled from Welch Spring to Round Spring, and when you’re on the river, you’re on the river.”

“This is a ton of work,” said Whalen. “When you’re not on the river, you’re thinking what you’re doing is crazy, but I’ve worked with MDC for 17 years and this is best feeling I’ve ever had after a program.”

We couldn’t have done it without our partners,” he said. “The Conservation Heritage Foundation gave us a $1000 grant for tents and other supplies. Park Service, DNR, Burr Oak Woods and MDC helped us, of course. Park Service and the local agent Justin Emery came out and gave the boys programs.”

Conservation agent Justin Emery speaks to the Rangers about careers in conservation

And what did the boys think? According to their blog at http://urbanrangercorps.wordpress.com:

“Everyone canoed very skillfully. There were maybe 3 or 4 tip-overs, but that’s not bad for three days on the river and close to twenty canoes! The highlights of the trip included canoeing, swimming and fishing. In the 100 degree weather, the cold water felt great, and the clear water was so inviting.”

“The only thing they complained about was sleeping on the rocks,” Jacobsen said. “They had sleeping pads, but we couldn’t do anything about the gravel bars.”

Don’t try this at home- still waters allow a brief opportunity to cast for smallmouth lurking in the deep pools

“They were all amazed at the Current River. They’d seen places like this on TV, but they were actually there. The Current River is the best outdoor classroom in the world,” said Whalen.

Next year, the MDC Discovery Center crew hopes to take on a new challenge: a river trip with urban girls.

(* Jo note: There is a discrepancy in the number of trip participants between the numbers furnished by Urban Rangers and MDC. But when you’re having fun on the Current River, who is counting?)

Over the Back Fence

If you are looking for something to do this evening Sept. 13 Traveler Civil War writer Chris Warren and his wife Twyla will be giving a presentation at the Mine Au Breton Historical Society meeting, Washington County Library, Potosi, at 7 p.m. This is a costumed first person portrayal called “Washington County Unknown Civil War Couple,” followed by a question and answer session about life during the time.

Want to chat with Emery or Jo, buy a book, renew or give a subscription? Traveler will be at Valleypalooza on Sept. 17 in Brignoles Park, off St. Louis Street in Valley Park from noon until early evening (definitely 6 p.m. , maybe later depending up on the crowd). Jo will be doing free rock ID, so bring any unusual rock specimens you are curious about. There is a good possibility we may have a special guest (Don Corrigan) drop by to sign his books and chat sometime during the afternoon. Other surprises and special deals are very possible. Come see us and bring some sweet corn, grapes and treats for Trav!

Have you been to Eminence lately? The city is installing sidewalks from the bridge south into the main part of downtown, using a “Safe Routes to School” grant of $200,000. In addition to students, it is hoped that this will encourage walking by patrons of the businesses north of the bridge, who will now be able to walk to and from their accommodations. –News from The Current Wave.

Don’t forget the campgrounds at Round and Alley Spring are now closed for repaving until Nov. 18. Alley Campground will be partly open the week prior and the weekend of the Haunting of the Hills, held Oct. 8-9.

Saturday September 17 will be the Carter County Fall Festival, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Courthouse Square in Van Buren. Live music and entertainment stats at 9 a.m. Also train rides for kids, a beauty pageant at 2 p.m., demonstrations at the log cabin and other craft and food vendors.

Congrats to Marty Koch, who won the Traveler Photo Contest with a poignant image of a collapsing Ozark barn. Marty will receive a 500 GB portable hard drive, a year’s free subscription to Traveler, and publication of his winning image.

Saturday Sept. 24, Dr. James E. Price will present a workshop, “Plane Facts: Old Woodworking Planes”at the National Park Service Heritage Workshop, NPS Headquarters in Van Buren. The workshop runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free, but reservations are requested to 573-323-4236. Tom Sater, Terry Wyatt, Joe Kelly and Chuck Bornhauser will assist during the event, which will display over 100 old wood planes, and provide advice about restoration and adjustment for actual use.