Conservation

The Jackson County Legislature wants to find out how much it could get for a beloved, undeveloped piece of land south of Swope Park. Environmentalists, rock climbers and hikers are furious because its geology and ecology are very rare in the area.

Eastern whip-poor-wills are nocturnal birds and can be spotted throughout Missouri between April and September. But the beloved species, a mainstay of Midwest folklore, has been declining steadily for decades.

A study found a Wisconsin program that pays producers for measured reductions in phosphorus runoff was more cost-effective than a popular federal conservation program.

Missouri's bear hunting season started Oct. 17. Even though the bear population is coming back in Missouri, habitat destruction and overhunting have threatened their numbers.

In August, the U.S. Forest Service started repealing the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a law that prevents road construction and timber harvesting within millions of acres of national forest land across the country.

A decade ago, a federal task force announced a plan to help monarch butterflies along their great migration. The six-state effort along Interstate 35 didn’t take off as expected, but some roadsides are blooming anyway.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service lost nearly a quarter of its staff nationwide in 2025 after the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government. Many were local experts that help farmers with soil and water conservation efforts.

A sting from an Asian needle ant can cause anaphylaxis. The ant tends to prefer forests and wood-rich areas, has a distinctive stinger, and has a lighter reddish-brown color on the legs.

On the August 4 ballot, Amendment 1 reauthorizes a sales tax of 0.1% that provides money for soil and water conservation projects and Missouri's state parks system.

These ranchers tried to protect grassland from trees and shrubs in all the traditional ways. It didn’t work. So they brought in hungry goats that turned woody plants into a cash stream.

Officials with the Department of Conservation said the pandemic helped many Missourians reconnect with the outdoors. But that has led to significantly more problems with campers at conservation areas since 2020.

The "farmer-led movement" aims to shape the agricultural landscape by strengthening soils and building community.