Dugout canoe helps us all dig into conservation

It's crazy to spend countless hours and personal calories chopping on a huge log to make a canoe, but it sure is irresistible to watch. People of all ages seem enchanted by canoe building activity, but what they may not realize is that they're learning something about natural resource history and conservation in the process.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is building dugout canoes in honor of the Lewis and Clark expedition bicentennial. Known as the Corps of Discovery, many men were assigned duty making dugout canoes while camped near St. Louis.

Crafting a dugout today isn't a useful in the age of fiberglass canoes, but as an interpretive tool it's the hottest ticket in town. MDC harnesses the excitement associated with Lewis and Clark to teach people about Missouri's natural resources and how they have changed in 200 years.

Particular qualities

MDC learned something while looking for just the right log. A canoe log must be at least 34 inches in diameter on the smallest end. It also needs to be straight, limbless and without defect. Several tree species can supply this: pine, oak, poplar, cottonwood, ash, hickory, walnut and cypress. A 20-foot log like this could range from 2,500 to 4,000 pounds. Now, drop one of these monsters and consider how someone would move it into the water.

Obviously, trees living in the river bottoms were best for the construction of dugouts. Upland trees might make an excellent canoe, but who would want to move it to water? Dropping the tree and working on it near water was essential in the days of Lewis and Clark.

Once the tree is down, another lesson is waiting. To make a dugout, builders preferred a strong but easily worked wood. Tough wood will take longer to work because it is so hard to chip the wood away. This helps explain why oak trees were seldom used for dugouts.

Here in Southeast Missouri, cottonwood, pumpkin ash and cypress trees were typical canoe material. Easy to work and growth near water made these trees high on the canoe builder's list. Corps of Discovery men made their first canoes near St. Louis. There, cypress and pumpkin ash were absent, so cottonwood was their pick.

Regardless of wood type, serious chopping is required before anyone takes a trip with these types of logs. Two men from the expedition would need up to two full days to carve out a canoe. Native Americans, the ultimate teachers of this process, needed 300 to 500 hours of work because they uses stone tools and fire. Stone tools shatter unless fire is used to burn the wood into submission. Streamside mud was used to ensure fires burned where they were needed.

Dugouts, like these MDC replicas, were critical for Lewis and Clark's expedition. Along with a keelboat and two pirogues, dugouts were the river version of covered wagons. They were towed by rope and pushed by pole up the river. This tiresome task took the Corps slowly past sights and sounds that were recorded by team members in campfire light.

Connecting past, present

Replica dugout canoes serve as a spell weaving link to the past. They illustrate in a tangible way the historical use of a forest product, examine a tree's habitat, and provide a window to the world Lewis and Clark witnessed. The dugout replica is a tangible connection

MDC takes these dugouts to schools to discuss resource use past and present. The average third grader will tell you it is wrong to cut a tree but a dugout canoe is really cool. That discrepancy in attitude is perfect to begin a discussion of how we get the forest products we use today. Once students discover that we have to cut trees to use them, they then find that those trees can be used wisely through smart harvest and management. Renewable resources like trees can be used wisely and in a sustainable way. This is called conservation.

If you want to examine this process for yourself, visit Westfield Shoppingtown West Park during the day between Sunday and Dec. 4. Meanwhile, MDC continues chopping away at a log to spread the word about conservation and commemorate the Lewis and Clark bicentennial.

A. J. Hendershott is the outreach and education regional supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation.