FINS, FEATHERS AND FUR

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Conservation Commission will meet today at Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) headquarters here, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Commissioners are Jerry P. Combs, Kennett, chairman; Andy Dalton, Springfield, vice chairman; John Powell, Rolla, secretary; and Anita B. Gorman, Kansas City, member.

Illinois hunting and fishing licenses expire March 31, along with state waterfowl, salmon and habitat stamps.

New licenses are available at sporting goods stores, many city and county government offices and Illinois Department of Conservation regional offices.

License fees, including vendor fees: Fishing license, $13, senior (65-over) fishing license, $6.75; resident hunting, $7.50, senior hunting, $4; state waterfowl stamp, $10.50; Michigan salmon stamp, $6.50; inland trout stamp, $6.50; combination sportsmen's licenses, $19.25.

"Free Fishing Days" will be held in Missouri June 11-12.

During the weekend observance, residents and non-residents alike can fish free. On those two days, permits, daily trout tags and trout stamps are unnecessary at any Missouri Department of Conservation area and most other places. Requirements for special permits may still be in effect in some county, city or private waters, however.

National Fishing Week for 1994 has been proclaimed for June 6 through 12.

The 1994 Illinois "Fishing Information" booklet is now available.

The 40-page publication includes information on licensing requirements, fishing regulations, fishing prospects, and Illinois Big Fish and Record Fish recognition programs.

Single copies of the publications are available from most fishing license vendors and recreational sites, or by writing Illinois Department of Conservation, Division of Fisheries, 524 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill., 62701-1787.

CAMDENTON -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has named a retired MDC employee, Elizabeth R. Schwartz, and a soil conservation activist, the late Donald C. Pharis, "master conservationists," the agency's highest honor.

Awards were accepted for Schwartz and Pharis recently at the 1994 Forest, Fish and Wildlife Conference banquet at Tan-Tar-A Resort on Lake of the Ozarks.

Schwartz taught zoology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her 30-year career with MDC included wildlife research and numerous creative projects on her own and in collaboration with her husband, the late Charles Schwartz. She is the author of several children's nature books.

Pharis' association with soil and water conservation began in the 1920s and continued until the time of his death in 1992. He began as a vocational agriculture teacher. He quit teaching in 1934 to devote full time to turning an abused Missouri farm into a showcase for soil and water conservation practices.

Pharis was one of the first farmers in Missouri to terrace his land.