CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- Native wildlife depends on healthy habitat, and Missouri landowners play an important role in creating and maintaining those spaces. For years, Tom Karl and Christopher Donze, co-owner of Devils Den Falls LLC, have worked with Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) staff to improve habitat on their properties. Recently, those efforts paid off with a sound Karl hadn’t heard in decades.
Karl reached out to MDC staff in the Southeast Region after hearing the distinctive call of a northern bobwhite near his home.
“I was working outside near the house one evening when I heard a bobwhite call for the first time in decades,” Karl said. “Living out in the country, you get used to hearing birds and wildlife all the time, but when that bobwhite singled off. It stopped me in my tracks! I listened for a while, then went inside to get my wife so she could hear it, too. It was a real thrill.”
Over the course of a decade, Karl and Donze have received technical and financial support to assist with the purchase and installation of native plant seeds, chemicals for controlling unwanted plants, and many other habitat management practices that are available through MDC’s Landowner Cost-Share Assistance Program. Those efforts have helped create habitat conditions that northern bobwhite quail and other native species need to thrive.
“I’ve done some planting and edge feathering in spots,” Donze said. “We’re always trying to make some of our plots more bird-friendly and increase the availability of berries and other food sources.”
While Donze wasn’t present when Karl heard the bobwhite, he said he regularly sees and hears other wildlife benefitting from the habitat improvements, including American woodcock.
Meeting with MDC Private Land Conservationists (PLC) and regular follow-ups to evaluate habitat conditions not only keep landowners on track with habitat improvement goals but also establish an educational atmosphere in which landowners and PLCs can work as a team.
Get more information on how to manage land for native wildlife at http://short.mdc.mo.gov/oTy
For more information on improving the health of your land through habitat management and practices, visit http://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZV2
Find upcoming MDC landowner workshops and events at http://short.mdc.mo.gov/4sj
MDC is committed to accessibility at all of its nature centers, regional facilities, conservation areas, and public programs. To request ADA accommodation for participation in an MDC program, visit Accessibility | Missouri Department of Conservation.