As conservation agents, people often ask, “I guess it’s slow this time of year?” My response is usually, no, it never really gets slow for us; our duties and responsibilities just change like the seasons of the year (not necessarily hunting seasons).
One of our responsibilities we spend a lot more time on this time of year is patrolling our Missouri Department of Conservation managed areas and river accesses. With the warmer temperatures comes increased activities on these areas, particularly those that access water.
We highly encourage people to use these areas for their intended purpose. Sometimes, these public areas are abused and discourage legitimate use.
Fortunately, it works both ways. The more legitimate use there is, the less abuse we see on our public areas. So, we encourage people to use MDC public areas in and out of your home counties. They can be located by county on our MDC Atlas, or simply search for the name of the area and type in MDC behind it. This will bring up “Discover MDC” and will show a map and list of regulations for the area.
Some people wonder why there are different regulations on different areas, but these are unfortunately based on abuse of the areas in the past, or else these laws would not exist.
Let’s focus specifically on what hours these areas are open for use. Some of you may not even realize MDC areas are closed at times. Well, they are and they are not - it depends what you are doing on the area.
Our boating accesses are never closed for launching boats or fishing, for example. Another good example is a state forest is always open for legal hunting activity.
All parts of waterfowl areas are not always open. Specific areas have specific regulations to manage wildlife and people. These rules are easily found on the internet or in person on a bulletin board when you first enter the area at major parking areas.
After reviewing area regulations, if you have any questions, call the local conservation agent.
As a general rule, they are all closed from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. Then, allowed exceptions are listed which are basically what I already mentioned, “legitimate legal hunting and fishing opportunities.” Camping is regulated differently based on the area.
Now, let us look at some examples of illegal and undesired activities on some of our MDC public use areas - littering/dumping, destroying state property (doing “donuts” in the parking lots - yes this is illegal), removal or destroying area signs or privies, swimming, use of fireworks, and target shooting. Yes, target shooting is strictly illegal on all areas unless there is a designated firing range. Other examples of illegal behaviors on MDC areas include other statewide violations that are obvious and well known such use of illegal substances/drugs or use of alcohol by minors.
We as Conservation Agents spend a great deal of time patrolling public areas to provide Missouri citizens quality outdoor opportunities they may otherwise not have. These areas are there for you and your family to enjoy. And, please be safe out there!