REPORT LISTS THREATS TO MISSOURI'S PARKS

The closing of the Burfordville covered bridge at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site is one of more than 1,500 threats to Missouri state parks and historical sites, a study says.

Tracy Mehan, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, last week announced results of the four-year study. The study identifies 1,552 threats to 76 state parks and historical sites, said the department, which conducted the study.

"This report is extremely important because it will serve as a basis for making decisions in the future management of our park system, said Mehan. "We cannot sit idly by and watch as our precious and fragile state parks and historic sites slowly deteriorate due to a lack of understanding and a failure to act decisively."

Superintendents, naturalists, and other professional resource managers throughout the state park system were surveyed in the report. After the information was gathered it was reviewed by water and air-quality experts from the Division of Environmental Quality and geologists from the Division of Geology and Land Survey. Both divisions are part of the department.

Flooding caused by upstream development has shifted the Burfordville covered bridge from its foundation, causing an unsafe condition. Site Administrator Jack Smoot, who provided information on the site for the report, said flooding is of primary concern.

He said: "The prime reason for our existence here is the two structures we maintain: the covered bridge and the mill. Any threats to those structures are the highest priority to deal with."

The report is an important, major effort, said Smoot.

"It's the alternative to managing by crisis. I'm glad to see the department director is following through and making it a priority to use this study and not let it sit somewhere and gather dust."

Smoot said the department's report dealt with the bridge being closed to vehicle traffic. But since then, he said, the bridge has been closed to foot traffic because of insect damage to its structure. It's believed the pest is the powder post beetle.

"We're in the process of working on the funding to get extermination done on that," Smoot said. The St. Louis engineering firm of Theiss Engineers Inc. is also putting together a plan to restore the bridge. One of the firm's recommendations, Smoot said, is that the bridge be raised to protect it from flood water, but whether the recommendation will be followed is yet to be determined.

Other park system threats identified by the study include:

The loss of naturally occurring water flows that has caused native trees to die at Big Oak Tree State Park in Mississippi County and the loss of native forests due to flooding and sedimentation at Pershing State Park in Linn County.

Overuse of trails at Hawn State Park in Ste. Genevieve County that has resulted in severe erosion and the complete removal of native vegetation at popular spots along the trail.

Invasion of exotic plant species that are displacing native plant species at parks such as Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial and Cuivre River state parks near St. Louis.

Severe erosion that has caused gravel to fill popular trout fishing holes at Montauk, Roaring River, and Bennett Spring state parks.

Mehan said the addition of 90,000 acres to the existing parks and historical sites to protect them is the single-most important recommendation from this first-ever study.

"No park is an island," Mehan said. "It may not be poetry, but it is a fact. These unique resources cannot be managed in a vacuum without consideration for the air, land and water which sustain them."

The study defined a threat as "any activity or process that is or could possibly diminish biological, geological, hydrological, scenic, archaeological, or cultural values," the department reported.

Each of the parks and historical sites reported at least one threat. The average number reported per park or site was 21, said the department. Lake of the Ozarks State Park led the list with 73.

The department said the report outlines eight recommendations to help preserve the parks and historical sites and reduce damages by the threats. They include land acquisitions to protect the parks from uncontrolled or improper development; establishment of resource management goals for each park system "unit;" and a dependable and adequate funding source so the protection of park and site resources can continue for future generations.