CENTER WILL OFFER MANY SERVICES

A Missouri Department of Conservation regional service center will provide people in Southeast Missouri easy access to information about Department services and programs. In addition, the center will also have interpretive displays and be adjacent to the start of a nature trail which will focus on natural areas in this part of the state.

Initially, the center will be open during regular business hours on Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m. It will be closed from noon til 1. Eventually, the hours may be extended to weekends, depending on the kinds of visitor programs that are developed and the amount of public interest.

"From not having had this type of facility before, we just don't know exactly what to expect," said Steve Wilson, a hunter skills specialist in the protection division. "I think a lot of people will be interested in what is going on. We expect the interest level to be high."

In the public display area, only temporary displays will be in place for a while, but Wilson says permanent displays are being constructed and will be in place soon that focus on nature in this part of the state.

The trail will start at the nature center and run through a 30 acre area of the park which has not been developed, but offers a good view of a natural area for this part of Missouri.

The conservation department will begin working on the trail later this fall. A rough drawing of the trail route will be on display in the center.

All of the literature available from the conservation department will be available at the center. Eventually larger items like books, nature calendars and tapes that are available for sale can be purchased here, rather than having to order them through the Jefferson City office without a chance to look at them first.

"I'm sure there are a lot of things available that people are interested in but not aware of," noted Wilson.

There center has an auditorium/meeting room where the department can conduct many of its public programs. The largest statewide program the conservation department has is its hunter education program, and several sessions of that have already been scheduled. Other programs will also be planned.

The $1.3 million facility is located on five acres of land in the Cape County North Park, provided by the Cape Girardeau County Commission as a site. The county is providing the land to the state on a 99-year lease for $1.

The building has approximately 11,000 square feet and a 4,000 square foot storage and maintenance building is attached.

Four divisions of the Missouri Department of Conservation will have offices in the facility.

The largest number of staff will be in the fisheries division with six. Wilson explained that the fisheries division is responsible for all streams and impoundments in the region and also assists private landowners with farm ponds.

There is a fisheries lab in the new facility which is used for such things as testing the age of fish, sampling water quality, and trying to monitor the progress of Missouri's fishing resources. There are a lot of rivers in this part of the state, noted Wilson, as well as community lakes, which keeps the staff quite busy.

"They are trying to constantly improve the fish resources in this region," said Wilson.

The protection division has four staff members in Cape Girardeau, which includes Wilson and Dennis Steward, who is regional supervisor of the division and manager of this office.

This division includes the law enforcement arm of the conservation department and has the conservation agents to seek compliance with state hunting and fishing regulations. It also is involved with the hunter education program, and is required to investigate all hunting accidents.

There is one fulltime staff member in the wildlife division, who is responsible for all state-owned properties in the region to see that it is properly managed. In addition, this division can provide assistance to private landowners who want management plans to improve wildlife habitat.

Working closely with the wildlife division is the forestry division, which is responsible for state forests in the area. This division also assists private landowners with information on planting and harvesting trees.

Wilson noted that good forests are essential to providing wildlife habitat, so the two divisions work closely together.

Overall, Wilson added, all divisions of the Department of Conservation must work closely together in order to meet the goals of the big picture, as outlined in its constitutional charge. That charge is to improve forestry, fish, and wildlife resources in the state of Missouri.

In all, the Cape office will have about 15 fulltime employees, including secretaries and a person in charge of maintenance. Other employees will work out of this office occasionally.

The Department of Conservation has in recent years been moving toward the concept of regional offices that includes some type of nature/visitor center. A center much like the one here will be constructed soon in St. Joseph.

The Cape Girardeau office is one of 13 regional service centers around the state and serves 13 counties in Southeast Missouri. Those counties are Cape Girardeau, Scott, Perry, Bollinger, Madison, Iron, Butler, Wayne, Stoddard, Dunklin, Pemiscot, New Madrid, and Mississippi.

The telephone number of the office is 290-5730.