Nature lovers needed for conservation service

People who enjoy the outdoors and want to help make a difference in the area with conservation service will have a chance to experience nature and the environment through the Hi Lonesome Chapter of Missouri Master Naturalists.

The Missouri Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Missouri Department of Conservation and the University of Missouri Extension.

Korey Wolfe, director of grassland restoration for Audubon Missouri, said this is the third year for the Hi Lonesome Chapter.

“I would say that the only prerequisite would be that you have to have a love for nature,” Wolfe said.

In the first two years of the program, Wolfe has had 46 people participate.

“We’ve accomplished much,” Wolfe said.

Missouri Master Naturalists attend classes, take field trips and participate in activities throughout the area.

Participants helped with the 110th National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, the Cole Camp Prairie Days, and prairie chicken relocation.

“They do a lot of citizen science monitoring,” Wolfe said.

Gene Schmitz, livestock specialist with the University of Missouri Extension, said the main goal of the program is to provide people with training and education about the environment.

“I think it’s just an opportunity for them to learn a little bit more about the space that they live in,” Schmitz said.

Weekly classes include guest speakers and field trips to learn how to inventory a forest, helping with a prairie and looking at the fish hatchery in Warsaw.

“You’re going to learn something in the class,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe said it also is a great way to meet new people. Schmitz added that people will have a chance to work on community service projects and community improvement projects.

“The Cole Camp prairie project would not be where it’s at without the Hi Lonesome Chapter of Master Naturalists,” Wolfe said.

An orientation session will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at the Cole Camp Municipal Building, 401 W. Main St.
People can sign up for the spring classes which run from Feb. 22 through May 3 during the orientation session.

The class can only accommodate 30 people so Wolfe encourages people to sign up during the orientation.

“What you do as a master naturalist is going to have some impact on the environment,” Wolfe said.

The class costs $75 per person.

For more information contact Schmitz at 660-438-5012 or Wolfe at 660-668-3810.