Outdoors

Late April is a peak season for morel mushrooms in western Missouri, to the delight of people who like to cook them and find them in the freshly greening outdoors. Where they appear, though, is a challenge for those new to seeking the sponge-like fungi. Or for those veterans who cannot find them. Morels appear

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) encourages drivers to be cautious on the roads this spring and give turtles a brake! These reptiles are often hit by cars during the warmer months, but are at special risk this time of year because they are more active. Common turtles spotted crossing Missouri roads include three-toed box

Prairies and flowery woodlands once covered most of western Missouri. A living piece of the past can be grown at home, and the easiest way is to take a small and simple approach to gardening with native wildflowers and grasses. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) can connect people with prairie plants that work in

The virus hasn’t made life much different for me because how I live now is not much different than I have always lived. Up here on this isolated ridgetop I call Lightnin’ Ridge, the highest point in this county, I have to spend a lot of time watching the birds that come to Gloria Jean’s

Apply May 1 – 31 at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through a permit vendor. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces it will offer Missourians the state’s first elk-hunting season in modern history starting this fall. Four general permits will be for the public and one permit will be reserved for qualifying area landowners. Missouri’s first pending

by Tyler Green- Cedar County Conservation Agent The Missouri Department of Conservation, in cooperation with the US Army Corps of Engineers, recently added fish habitat to Stockton Lake. Stockton Lake Fisheries Biologist Ben Parnell said, “This year we are adding more cedar trees to older existing brush piles, as well as creating some new piles

White bass caught on ultra-lite equipment, will outfight about anything in a stream… except smallmouth. And when there is a good current in a tributary to any Ozark lake, if you find a bunch of those big female white bass, you can wear yourself out just trying to get a dozen or so in the

With so many Missourians stuck at home, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering teachers, parents, students, and others its free Discover Nature Schools (DNS) nature-based curriculum for pre-kindergarten through high school online. Find DNS information and curriculum for pre-kindergarten through high school online at nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/teacher-portal/discover-nature-schools. MDC also offers other nature-based learning resources at

I headed for Lake of the Ozarks that morning last week under sunny skies.  When I got there it was raining.  Of course it was! Every time I have been fishing the past month it has been raining, or was about to.  That day it didn’t matter.  I was there to meet Bill Goldinger and