The Monsanto Fund recently provided a $50,000 grant to be used towards two prominent Ducks Unlimited youth programs, Puddler magazine and Wetlands for Kids Day in St. Charles, MO. The Monsanto Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company. (more…)

Curt Dzuba and sons, Jesse and Mathew

stand on the deck of a finished fire/rescue

built at Miracle Marine.

By Emery Styron
In a long, rusty, metal chicken shed northeast of Potosi, a Canadian aeronautics engineer and crew build custom all-welded aluminum-hulled fire and rescue boats that save lives on the Ohio River and fishing boats that provide safe, pleasurable transportation on Ozarks lakes and rivers. (more…)

  The Twin Pines Conservation Education Center will host an anniversary event on April 18 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  One year will have passed since the grand opening celebration in April 2008. The event will feature a fish fry, archery, fishing, music and traditional Ozarks skills demonstrations. (more…)

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced this week that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved more than $26 million in grants to protect and restore more than 200,000 acres of wetland areas and wildlife habitat in the United States and Mexico. (more…)

According to projections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for 2005 to 2010, the projected number of ag-related job openings for new graduates is 52,000, which is 2,700 more than the projected number of qualified graduates. (more…)

If hooking into a big river catfish, and feeling the whiskered power try to pull your boat upstream is your idea of fishing, take note: The Twisted Cat Tournament Series for 2009 is underway.

The first event, March 7 at Columbia Bottoms/Confluence, has already passed, but six events remain:

• April 4 – Hermann MO, Missouri River
• May 2 – Eire, IL , Rock River
• July 4 – Louisiana, MO, Mississippi River
• Aug. 22 – Fishing for the Cure @ Eire, IL, Rock River*
• Sept. 12 – Taylor’s Landing Columbia MO, Missouri River
• Oct. 10 – Quincy, IL, Mississippi River. (more…)

In today’s email from Missouri DNR, Lorisa Smith provides a number of “green-friendly” ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Missouri. Whether or not you celebrate on this Saturday, on March 17, or not at all, this idea caught Traveler’s eye:

…”And for those who aren’t able to travel to the Emerald Isle to visit the legendary Blarney Stone, Missouri offers plenty of interesting rocks and geologic formations as well. Tower Rock, located just outside of Wittenberg in Perry County, is an erosional remnant from shifts of the Mississippi River channel, and like the Blarney Stone, it is composed of limestone. In fact, though Missouri limestone may not give the gift of gab, it contributes more than $1 billion to Missouri’s economy.” (more…)

Bill Cooper, feature writer for the River Hills Traveler, State Forester Lisa Allen and Bass Pro Shops of Springfield are among the winners of the Conservation Federation of Missouri’s 2008 Conservationist of the Year Awards.

This year’s awards were presented Feb. 27 at The Lodge of Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks.

Cooper, of St. James, is the Conservation Federation’s Conservation Communicator of the Year. His accomplishments include work as an outdoor author, newspaper, Internet and magazine writer and radio and television producer and host. His special emphasis is on youth, as evidenced by his many articles about young hunters and anglers and his personal involvement in youth mentorship programs. (more…)

by Gary Sales

I really enjoy your paper.
About the crossbows — I don’t kill any more deer shooting a crossbow than I did when I shot a compound bow. You still have to have patience and also know where your bow is shooting and you still have to have a shooting lane. (more…)

For the first time since 1997, walleye fishing is open on the St. Francis River and its tributaries above Wappapello Dam. The Missouri Conservation Commission closed walleye fishing on the river above the dam after the fishery declined through the 1970s and 1980s. (more…)