Mark Twain range and open lands

Mark Twain National Forest

The agency files it as “Range and Open Lands Proposal”

Timing

The agency stopped taking comments on September 14. What you find still counts: it backs the formal objections from people who did comment, it goes to the lawyers on the fight, and it is the story.

What to go and check

On the Ava, Cassville or Willow Springs district, walk a grazed pasture, hay field or wildlife opening. Photograph how tall the grass stands, bare or muddy patches, cow paths, and any chewed-down creek bank where stock drink.

The decision

The Mark Twain National Forest is proposing changes to grazing allotments, hay production areas, wildlife areas, and wildlife openings across the Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs Ranger District. The project aims to improve cool and warm season grass pasture conditions and enhance native plant communities. It also covers forest products, road management, and other vegetation management.

Read the whole thing, and write to the agency about it

How to record it so it counts

01Photograph the stream banks where stock reach them: trampling, bare soil, slumping.
02Photograph the grass height with a pole or a tape beside it. If there is a fence with cattle on one side and none on the other, photograph both sides from the same spot.
03Photograph any water source stock use, and its condition.
04Note the date. How short the grass is means nothing without knowing the time of year.
05Write one paragraph on how this ground has looked over the years, if you have known it that long.

What would count

Inside versus outside a fence, same day, same scale.
Bank condition on a dated photo.

All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide

Are you going?

Say yes or no. It tells the next person whether anyone has this ground covered, and it is the only way we know a request was answered rather than just read. You can change your mind any time, and nobody follows up.

Join, then say you’re going

Nobody has answered yet

Before you go

Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.