Page 1, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

Your Key to Discovering The Natural Missouri

A partnership of the Missouri Department of Conservation and University of Missouri ExtensionTo engage Missourians in the stewardship of our state’s natural resources

through science-based education and volunteer community service.

This new "water trail," accessible bykayak or canoe, covers 13.3 miles at thelower end of the river with 20 points ofinterest marked by signs along the riverbank. A brochure with descriptions ofthe points, along with a map to help findthem is available at Ha Ha Tonka StatePark, and some of the businesses alongthe trail.

The project was a three-year effort, andwas largely accomplished through dona-tions from local businesses and organi-zations. It was jointly sponsored by theLake of the Ozarks Chapter of theMissouri Master Naturalist program,Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance(LOWA), with advisors from the MissouriDepartment of Conservation, andAmeren Missouri; in partnership withMissouri State Parks, a division of theMissouri Department of NaturalResources.

Ameren Missouri and the Departmentof Natural Resources donated the signblanks, and the Lake of the OzarksChapter of the Missouri Master Natural-ist program covered the $788 cost ofhaving the signs made. The chapter hasalso committed to monitoring and cov-ering the cost of replacing lost ordamaged signs in the future.

Mother Nature's Riverfront Retreat,Casa do Loco Winery, and SugarloafVineyard donated free kayak access forvolunteers working on the project, and

are covering the cost of creating andinstalling permanent trail head signs.

Thanks to the work of LOWA to securethe generous donation of Lake Printing,the first printing of 2500 high-glossfull-color 11x17 brochures was free.

Ameren Missouri created the map usedin the brochure and that will be on thesigns at the trail heads.

Local members of Missouri State Parksand Missouri Department of Conserva-tion were instrumental in the site selec-tion, brochure development, and theinstallation of the signs along the river.

Much of the work in accomplishing thisproject was done by volunteers that aremembers of our chapter. Chaptermember Kathy Fayant led the effort andcoordinated all of the tasks. Otherchapter members provided volunteertime to: select the sites, identify landowners, get land owner permissions forplacing signs, design the signs, place

the signs, write the descriptions of thepoints of interest, create the brochure,and all of the other behind-the-sceneswork. This project would not have hap-pened without the dedication of all ofthese volunteers.

Lauri Peterson

Big Niangua River Trail

Photo gallery:www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1014441228599931.1073741832.153968454647217&type=3&uploaded=23

For a home printable version of the brochure and more information:www.lakeozarkmasternaturalist.com/bnrt/bnrt.php

Read Beti Pearson’s account of the dedication on her blog: intuitivevalue-elizabeth.blogspot.com/2015/08/big-niangua-river-trail-dedication-day.html

In This Issue…2 - Thank you!, Milestones &

Certifications, All Stars3 - Farmers Market booth3 - SOTO Nature Trail4 - Prairie BioBlitz4 - Seed collecting5 - Milkweed updates5 - Conservation Kids Club6 - Rock Bridge field trip7 - Summer social7 - Bagnell Dam tour8 - photos!!!!

Third Quarter, August 2015

Page 2, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

� Jean Knoll, Jodi Moulder, andNanci Morris for planning and orga-nizing the summer social.

� Bonnie White for organizing theRock Bridge field trip.

� Bill Moulder for presenting our JulyAT.

� Gail Conavay for presenting ourAugust AT.

� Bill Moulder for organizing theJohnson Shut-Ins camping/fieldtrip.

All StarsThe communications committee awards All Star certifi-cates to chapter members that have contributed in extraways to make our chapter a success. If you have someoneyou would like to have recognized, please send yournomination to Lauri Peterson (lauripub@swbell.net).

July certifications: back - Georganne Bowman, Amie Ivey, Jo Anne Gitchell, GregIvey, Sally Bauder, John Kester, Sandy Nelson, Kathy Fayant, Ted Windels (500hours), Beti Pearson. Front - Jennee Hunter, Kay Ahrens, Lauri Peterson, CarolineToole, Jean Knoll.

Left- Georganne Bowman: Bagnell Dam Tour, Linda Burns: CertificationsCoordinator. Right- Sally Bauder: Highway Trash Coordinator.

� President - Don Koeninger� Vice President - Bill Moulder� Secretary - Georganne Bowman� Treasurer - Dave Fosnough� Past President- Joann Billington� Projects & Volunteer Services -

Bonnie Kester� Hospitality - Susan Neal� Fund Raising - Al Kitta� Advanced Training - Bonnie White� Communications and Outreach -

Lauri Peterson� Web Site - Lauri Peterson� Calendar - Georganne Bowman� Photographer - Glenn Commons &

David Dilks� Certifications - Amie Ivey� MDC Advisor - Jodi Moulder� MU Advisor - Jackie Rasmussen

Our

LeadershipAugust certifications: Kim Thompson, Al Kitta, Mark Thompson,Kathryn Casteel, Bonnie White, Terri Thompson, Glenn Commons.

Recent Achievements andCertifications

Kathy Fayant hands out All Starawards to key Big Niangua RiverTrail contributors. Pictured areKathy, Caroline Toole, GeorganneBowman, and Lauri Peterson.Several recipients were not pres-ent & will be recognized at a futuremeeting.

Caroline Toole receives a 500 hour pin fromKim Thompson at the August meeting.

Save the Date! The Christmassocial will be December 3 (1stThursday instead of the 2nd) atthe Camdenton Fire Station.

Page 3, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

The forecast for July 18 was 97; but, as is often thecase in Missouri, it did not turn out that way. It wasovercast and lovely for mid-July! Although there wasnot a huge crowd, Sandy Nelson commented that shethought we had a better than average number ofpeople stopping to visit at our booth. Bonnie Whiteand Kathryn Casteel smiled sweetly at the kids as theyapproached, hoping to entice them to try a quiz (withprizes for winners!) or make a bookmark on the crafttable. In a few instances that approach failed, soShirley Koch would yell, “Hey kids, we need to talkto you!” Between the two approaches, we got a lotof kids to stop at the booth to learn about conservation.We sent even more material home for kids and theirparents to read at a later time.

This is a very fun volunteer project if you enjoyinteracting with the public, especially kids. Eachmonth Bonnie has a different topic and you learn fromthe experience. All three of us learned from each otherwhile teaching kids about things to help them appreci-ate the outdoors.

~As told by Shirley Koch

Camdenton Farmers MarketInformation Booth

July 11, 2015, a small but energetic group met to work on theSchool of the Osage Nature Trail in Osage Beach. Wecleared downed trees and branches, broke and removedrocks, cut vegetation and measured the exact length of thetrail. A fringe benefit of trail work has always been the coolstuff you encounter in nature, including the variety of mush-rooms we found after so much rain. A new one for all of uswas a white gelatinous fungus called the pale jelly roll(pictured below). Any mycologists among the readers isencouraged to verify, or not, the identification.

The trail length, measured by tape, is 2,669 feet, just a fewyards shy of a half mile. Our trail expert Jodi had estimatedthe length at a half mile the first work day we had in April.

Any chapter member is welcome to walk the trail behind theupper elementary building on the Kaiser campus. The trailhead is adjacent to the playground and there is also a serviceaccess below the back parking lot. You do not have to checkin at the office, but please wear something that identifies youas a Missouri Master Naturalist. Hiking boots and insectrepellent are recommended.

School of the Osage Upper Elementary Nature Trail Project

photos and story by Ted Windels

Page 4, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

SEED

COLLECTING

It was a lovely evening on the prairie, Hite Prairie in Versailles,June 17. It had rained several times earlier in the day, butthe rain quit early in the afternoon and the evening wasbeautiful. Chris Newbold, Natural History Biologist, and AdamJones, Wildlife Management Biologist, taught the group aboutprairie plants. We waded through waist high vegetationsearching for and collecting spiderwort, shooting star, June-grass, wood betony, Coreopsis grandiflora, sedges, andcream wild indigo.

The bonus was a lovely caterpillar!

The seed collected by   Kathryn Casteel, Joann Billington,Jennee Hunter, Joan Michaelree, Dave Hemminger, ShirleyKoch, and Jodi Moulder will be treated and then used to seedother areas to restore prairie vegetation. It is a very interest-ing, educational and rewarding volunteer service! If you wantto help later in the season, contact Jodi to be added to thenotification list.

Story and photos by Shirley Koch

The event was sponsored by Missouri Prairie Founda-tion on June 6 and 7. The spot is located just south ofBolivar on Frisco Highland Trail. In addition to prairie fieldwork to tag plants for identifica-tion for later seed collection, there was a soil presentation, stargazing, nocturnal insect observa-tions, and several classes. I came for the butterflies. There were several interesting andknowledgeable people with nets to follow around…and that's what I did!

Photos and information from Beti Pearson. Read more about the day on Beti’s blog:http://intuitivevalue-elizabeth.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunday-morning-at-la-petite-gemme.html

Above left- I rode my bicycle to it from Bolivar. Above right - prairie flowers and butterflies!Right, chapter member Kathryn Casteel examines a painted lady butterfly with instructor, PhilKoenig.

A book review from Shirley Koch:

What Good Are Bugs?

Insects in the Web of Life

Gilbert Waldbauer 2003 Harvard University Press(Camdenton Library)

The first section “Macrocosm” is the essence of conservation. It explains the webof life in non-technical but accurate and interesting terms. Even the Table ofContents is fascinating!

This amazing book is available at the Camdenton Library (595.717 WAL).However you may want to consider buying it instead. It is a great reference andhas lots more information than you can absorb in the time you can borrow it fromthe library.

Page 5, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

On July 30th, Kathy Fayant, KathrynCasteel and Glenn Commons went to theWah’-Kon-Tah seed collection facilitywith the purpose of learning how toidentify and collect various varieties ofmilk weed seed. Unfortunately, therewere not many milkweed plants found,but there were a few common milkweedand marsh milkweed plants, and a couplehad seed pods. We learned that whenthe seed pod splits open with a lightsqueeze of the fingers, it is ready toharvest. We also identified one very badinsect that sucks the life out of milkweedplants. It is very a pretty orange andblack (pictured at right), but if you findthese on your plants, it should beremoved, permanently.

Milkweed Update

Conservation Kids Club

All meetings are at the Thunder Mountain Road MDC OfficeCamdenton. Originally a September meeting was alsoplanned, but had to be scratched due to numerous schedulingconflicts. Here is what is planned so far.

Nocturnal Nightlife -Party like an animal after dark!Sunday November 8th 1:30-4:30 PMMDC Agent to come talk (tentative)Habits and survival techniques of nocturnal native inhabitants

Wild in a Winter WonderlandSunday February 28 1:30- 4:30 PMBundle up for an outside winter adven-ture. Insulating techniques, winter survival, how to build acampfire, s'mores.

Awesome Aquatics on Earth Day!Sunday April 24th 1:30- 4:30 PMStream Table, Stream team techniques, aquatic invertebrates,Water Quality issues, Water balloons.

We currently have over 150 milkweed and nectar bearing plantsbeing tended by our Chapter’s volunteer plant babysitters. TedWindels and Glenn Commons went to the high school on August13th to survey likely planting locations for the Monarch WayStation(s) and have several under consideration. What is reallygreat is that the principal and athletic director, along with theEcology Class instructor are enthusiastically supporting ourproposed effort. Planting at the high school will likely takeplace sometime during late September or early October. Wewill need lots of volunteers, so keep the time frame in mind.

At the August chapter meeting,Kathryn Casteel and Joann Bil-lington spoke about their milk-weed seed collection activity thatis being headed up by MDC inJefferson City known as Milk-weed for Monarchs - this projectis separate from the Missouriansfor Monarchs project that Glennis coordinating for our chapter.Joann handed out a small flyer onhow to collect and properly mailany collected seeds to the MDCproject. Of course, you mightcollect, stratify and plant seedsnext spring for use in your owngarden or in one of our Chapterplots.

Photo and information contributedby Glenn Commons

Glenn Commons delivers plants fromthe Missourians for Monarchs projectto chapter members (photo from BetiPearson)

Page 6, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

Rock Bridge Field TripIt was lovely weather for a duck - or a flock of enthusiasticMissouri Master Naturalists - on June seventeen when PatMcDonald (Boone’s Lick Chapter member and Park volun-teer) gave a great tour of the Devil’s Icebox area at RockBridge State Park. It was the second day of flood warningsand the water rushed past at the top of the banks and it wasstill raining! Pat said we got the “special” tour, because mostpeople never see it under those conditions. We saw thepower of the rushing water and gained an increased appre-ciation of the functioning of karst geology, especially therelationship between surface water and the effects below thesurface.

Pat has been a tour guide for years and contributed a wealthof information on a wide variety of topics. Although the focuswas karst geology, there were interesting tidbits about fossils,the different species of bats in the cave, and local history.The water made possible a grist mill, a tannery and even adistillery. During the Civil War it was the second largestdistillery in the state. At one point during the war, Confederatetroops commandeered the distillery. Not wanting suchvaluable contraband to fall into enemy hands, they drank allthe whiskey before leaving the area.

The rain dampened the ponchos, but not the spirits of: SandyNelson, Sally Bauder, Lauri Peterson, Bonnie White, KathrynCasteel, Dave Hemminger, Barbara Fredholm, Shirley Kochand our fantastic tour guide, Pat McDonald.

The cave is over three miles long and there are more thanseven miles of cave that have been charted, and many moreoffshoots still to be charted. (Cave map pictured above)

Due to the volatile flooding conditions, it was not safe to enterthe cave. However the tour of the outside was magnificent,especially ROCK BRIDGE with the waters raging past andcrashing againstthe boards of theoverlook platform(pictured at right).

Thank you to ev-eryone who helpedmake this wonder-ful tour possible!It will be fascinatingto see it againwhen the watersubsides!

The stairs leadingdown to the caveentrance were flooded

Fall is on its way and festivals are a favorite way to enjoy thecooler weather and celebrate our heritage. Two eventsfeaturing prairies are on the calendar this September andOctober.

On September 20th Shaw Nature Reserve at Gray Summitwill have a Prairie Day portraying prairie heritage throughdemonstrations and activities. Hike with a naturalist througha 250-acre re-created tall grass prairie and purchase wild-flower seeds. Family fun includes music, craft demonstra-tions, pioneer games and live animals. The event issponsored by Missouri Department of Conservation. ( $6adults/$2 children)

On October 10th Missouri Prairie Foundation will hold itsannual meeting and an Evening on the Prairie at WayneMorton’s prairie near Cole Camp. Learn about prairie grassesand forbs along a wagon tour of the prairie. See unusualplants like ladies tresses orchids, which are tiny spiral shapedwhite flowers. Enjoy booths with crafts, artwork, wildflowerinformation, etc. Sign up for David Dilks photographyworkshop. Music, wine and snacks and star watching finishout a fun evening. (Free)

Protecting our native prairies and learning about them givesnaturalists opportunities to enjoy and share these complexecological habitats.

FALL PRAIRIE FESTIVALS Updates from Bonnie White

Story andphotos fromShirley Koch

Page 7, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

Bagnell Dam Tour

Summer Social

Summer social June 11. Photos from Beti Pearsonand David Dilks (Lake Shots Photo) full photogallery is on line here:www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1018805791496808.1073741834.153968454647217&type=3

Bagnell Dam Tour June 9. Photos courtesy ofLake Shots Photo. Full photo gallery here:www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1018802328163821.1073741833.153968454647217&type=3&uploaded=18

Page 8, Missouri Master Naturalist - Lake of the Ozarks Chapter Third Quarter, August 2015

Organized in the spring of 2009, the Lake of the Ozarks Chapter of the Missouri Master Naturalist programserves the residents of Camden, Miller & Morgan counties. The Missouri Master Naturalist programis an adult, community-based, natural resource education and volunteer service program.Visit us at: http://www.lakeozarkmasternaturalist.com for calendars and volunteer opportunities.

Like us on Facebook for up-to-the-minute postings on the chapter and what its members are doing:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-of-the-Ozarks-Master-Naturalist/153968454647217?ref=ts&fref=ts

Newsletter Staffand Contributors:

� Editor: Lauri Peterson� Contributors: Beti Pearson,

Ted Windels, Glenn Com-mons, Shirley Koch, DavidDilks (Lake Shots Photogra-phy), Carolyn Solomon, JodiMoulder, Bonnie White

� Proofreaders: JoAnne Gitch-ell, Mary Delacy, CarolineToole, Kay Ahrens, GlennCommons

Copyright 2015 Lake of theOzarks Chapter of MissouriMaster Naturalist. All rightsreserved.

The communications committee always welcomes information from chaptermembers on what they have been doing under the Missouri Master Naturalistflag. It is very important that we keep submitting articles to the paper, andpromote our organization’s good works! The Lake area needs to know thatwe are out there doing good stuff! Please submit your who, what, where, when,and why to Lauri Peterson- lauripub@swbell.net in order to get out the goodword! A photo always helps!

Please send updates for the web calendar to Georganne Bowman atjorjan39@gmail.com.

Send contributions for the newsletter or website about past or up-coming chapter activities to Lauri Peterson at lauripub@swbell.net

More photos of chapter members at work (yep, we do a LOT!)

OSS (fund raising)left Kay Ahrens,below, Joan Mi-chaelree, rightJoann Billington.

Above and left - bulletinboards at the Laurie Fair-grounds (updated monthly)

Left - Lauri Petersonand Kathryn Casteelhelp at the Camden-ton Farmers Marketinformation booth