The Conservationist
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- V "M MISSOURI 111? Qon^E^ialtJloiDiM FEBRUARY 19741 \ v Ah Offer You Canh Refuse THE CONSERVATIONIST his offer is made to the non-hunting public, and we T sincerely hope it is an offer "you can't refuse." Missouri Department of Conservation It's all a matter of money, as most things usually are. If you want wildlife looked after — and believe it or not, Wildlife does need lookirig after — then somehow that has to be paid February 1974 Volume 35 Number 2 for. Those chaps in green we call conservation agents all have families to support.and rent to pay. And the administrations Contents which direct them and see to it that both game and non-game species, quail and blue bird alike, have a fair chance to glad Research Behind The Barbs / : den your heart. They don't run on good wishes, either. They The Rise And Fall Of A Red Oak Acorn . 4 need money too — in large chunks. Wildlife In A Folder . 6 Even bigger chunks are needed for the purchase of wild A Imanac . 8 lands, of marshes not only for ducks but for red-winged blackbirds as well, for Upland areas where gunners may seek How To Use A Wildlife Area 9 pheasants in the fall but picnickers and hikers have the land Tallyhog 12 all the rest of the year. The trained biologists who know pre Hunters And Preservationists 14 cisely what diseases affect the deer or what farmers can plant to best support a healthy population of either rabbits or finch Bobwhite Saga 16 es — they cost money too. Fireplace Fodder 20 And where does it all comb from? Well, until now it has come from sportsmen, largely frorn hunters. They've anted up some $2.3' billion in the past generation and a half for just Front and back covers: Don Wooldridge such conservation purposes. They also pay self-imposed taxes on their arms and ammunition thus adding over $40 million more per year, which by law must be used in conservation. CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Governor The total tax money will soon hit the half billion mark. Their hunting licenses, over $110 million a year, fun our state fish and game departments. On the record, they're the bankers for conservation. THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION JIM TOM BLAIR HARRY MILLS Now about that offer. ROBERT G. DeLANEY G. ANDY RUNGE You go down to the nearest sporting goods store or the county clerk's office and buy yourself a hunting license — or THE STAFF even a fishing license because fishermen help in the conserva CARL R. NOREN, Director tion effort too. Put it in your pocket, or tack it to the wall — LARRY R. GALE, Assoc. Director you don't have to use it if hunting or fishing is not your cup of ALLEN BROHN, Asst. P. G. BARNICKOL. Asst. tea. But be sure you can see it occasionally. Director (Line) Director (Staff) Why see it? Because then you'll know you put your money Field Activities, PAUL BROOKS Engineering. CHARLES HOOKER Education. CLARENCE BILLINGS Fiscal. VERN SIEVERT where your thoughts are. You didn't just talk about conserva Field Services. KENNETH HICKS Information. JAMES F. KEEFE Protection. JAMES L. BAILEY Legal. JULIAN O'MALLEY tion, you did something about it, something you can do again Operations. ROBERT WELLS next year and the year after that. You made conservation Fisheries. CHARLES PURKETT Personnel. RAY WELLS Asst. Chief. JAMES FRY Planning. EDWIN GLASER work. Hatcheries. CHARLES E. HICKS Research. JOE DILLARD National Shooting Sports Foundation Game. MIKE MILONSKI Asst. Chief. DEAN MURPHY Forestry. OSAL B. CAPPS Management. Admin. JERRY PRESLEY GEORGE DELLINGER Management. JOHN E. WYLIE Research. BILL CRAWFORD Protection. KERWIN HAFNER THE CONSERVATIONIST JAMES F. KEEFE, Editor MAC JOHNSON, Managing Editor JIM KELLER, Staff Artist DON WOOLDRIDGE, Photographer RUSS REAGAN, Asst. Photographer JIM AUCKLEY, Staff Writer MARK SULLIVAN, Staff Writer JOEL M. VANCE, Staff Writer MRS. MAY SHIKLES, Circulation Manager The Conservationist is an official monthly publication of the Missouri Depart ABOUT THE COVERS: The coyote on the front cover ment of Conservation. 2901 N. 10 Mile Dr.. Jefferson City. Mo. 65101. Subscrip tion free to adult Missouri residents; outside Missouri $1 per year. Notification isn't telling anybody, but his numbers are way up and fur of address change must include both old and new address and ZIP code with buyers are paying record' prices for prime hides. The 30-day notice. No subscription requests honored without ZIP code. Second Class postage paid at Jefferson City. Mo. Printed by Henry Wurst. Inc.. North snow scene on the back cover is of a country road in Kansas City. Mo. U.S.A. Permission given to reprint with credit to The Mis souri Conservationist. Moniteau County. by Jim Auckley he office of Dick Coles contains the pleasant T clutter of a naturalist—box turtle shells bleached from the woods, animal skulls, an aquarium, an aged, stuffed owl. Coles is the director of one of the mysteries of my childhood; a large, rugged hunk of land west of St. Louis called Tyson Research Center. In its more mysterious days, the land belonged to Uncle Sam. Secreted in the limestone and oak hills were earth-covered munitions vaults. The whole tract was surrounded by a seven-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Army Ordnance signs decorated the gates and guards rode the perimeter on horseback. Seen from the back window of a passing car, the place put a fear ful itch in the pit of a kid's stomach. The man-made mystery ingredients have been gone for about a decade now, although the high fence re mains. Gone the guards and powder handlers, now re placed by students and scientists probing the mysteries' of mother nature. Tyson was declared surplus by the U.S. government in 1962 and conveyed to St. Louis' Wash ington University. And unlike some frazzled piece of web gear collecting dust in a surplus shop, Tyson is growing in value. Tyson has gone from ammunition storage to training grounds for a portion of the country's future supply of biologists and ecologists. Aside from a few buildings, roads and the powder vaults, the Army left the tract largely untouched. Vegetation and wildlife that went its own way is now supplying University students with the grist of outdoor studies. "Our role," says Coles, "is to encourage education and research. Tyson is quite unique, and it's very useful for the University to have a tract like this." The Univer sity may be the only one in the country which is located in a large city, yet has 2,000 acres of woodland at the disposal of its students within a half-hour drive of the campus. Tyson's closeness to the campus is a big plus. "A stu dent can come out here in the morning, do his work, go to a lab, do his analysis of whatever it happens to be, and sleep in his own cozy bed back in town that night," Research Coles says. Though not open the the general public, over 15,000 trips are made through the gates of Tyson in a year by students, teachers and researchers. The development of St. Louis County seems to stride westward at the daily pace of the old wagon trains that the rutted a now leaf-strewn track on the edge of Tyson. But the big fence stabilizes things inside; biology stu dents that come to Tyson find a relatively rich flora and fauna to work with. Barbs at Tyson Wood ducks drop through the oak trees into a small, WE NEED YOUR HELP to cull unwanted subscrip tions from the mailing list. Your magazine will stop if your ZIP code lies within the numbers listed be low and you don't return the mailing label (cor rected if need be) immediately. Send to: Circula tion, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101. ZIP codes this month are: 63377 through 63501, inclu sive. Please wait until your number comes up! Page 1 '.UP' • ." ..1?J» © hilltop pond laden with duckweed. Students come to "The grounds crew has been instructed not to kill this pond on spring evenings with flashlights to search copperheads or rattlesnakes," Coles says, "and not to for spotted salamanders. Groundhogs watch in bear-like mow fields just for the heck of it." His concern reflects repose over fields that, at night, are trod by foxes, coy his work of coordinating activities on the Research Cen otes and hustling raccoons. Deer come down off of Ty ter grounds and making sure those activities are compat son's hills late in the afternoon to browse, and Coles has ible with the environment there. seen a few wild turkeys on the ridges. Birds, amphibians One student worked with a newly created pond at and snakes are plentiful. Tyson to test the hypothesis that a younger ecosystem, Students conduct a variety of studies on the tract. such as a new pond, produces more energy than an old Coles pointed out some "snake boards" to me, boards er ecosystem. Once an ecosystem is established, the idea lying in a field and up into the edge of the woods. "In goes, the available nutrients have been tied up in the March, students start looking for snakes to appear un form of trees, plants and surplus material. der the boards," he said. The boards are warmed by the She tested the idea by fencing off the pond from old sun, warmth that attracts cold-blooded snakes shaking er, surrounding woods.