The Huzzah Creek watershed is within one of nine Missouri Department of Conservation designated Priority Geographies in the State of Missouri due to its biodiversity and biologically intact and functioning landscape within the Meramec River Basin. Priority geographies are key landscapes in Missouri that hold high potential for conserving the state’s diverse habitats and the plants and animals that depend on them. The focus area is 70 miles southwest of St. Louis, MO and is an outdoor destination for tens of thousands of people.
Three canoe liveries service the Huzzah/Courtois creeks offering canoeing, kayaking, and rafting opportunities for their customers (many of whom fish). Floating these Ozark streams is a multi-million dollars business supporting hundreds of jobs. Additional outdoor activities include hunting, camping, backpacking, bike riding, and hiking on over 60,000 acres of public land. Is this a retrospective project (Y/N)? No Purpose of the project: Between September 2017 and October 2019, Ozark Land Trust, Missouri Department of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy-MO Chapter, Crawford County Soil and Water District, Gateway Chapter of Trout Unlimited, AND most importantly, private landowners completed eleven best management practices projects under a Fishers and Farmers grant. Funds were used to implement practices that improve and protect aquatic and riparian (forested) habitat and water quality of the Huzzah Creek and the Meramec River watersheds in Missouri, as well as improve the landowner’s agricultural operation. These projects have inspired more landowners to install conservation practices on their property and, in some cases, obtain information about permanent protection options such as conservation easements. Three conservation easements are currently under negotiation in this focus area. The partners’ match was more than four times the Fishers and Farmers grant which enabled the completion of even more projects.
More funding and partners have been coming into the project than ever before. Fishers and Farmers Partnership looks forward to working with these great partners again soon. The Meramec River is a globally significant river that supports 31 aquatic species of global significance, including several species found nowhere else on earth. It is also an outdoor destination for tens of thousands of people, a source of drinking water for the St. Louis Metropolitan region and the watershed is home to many farms and farmers. Human Interest/Community Benefit: The innovative approach being used in this geography to engage landowners willing to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs) is conservation marketing. Conservation marketing is planning, communication, and implementation process designed to deliver value for targeted customers through conservation products and services they desire and trust that benefits the biological, habitat, and socio-economic need of a community.
In 2012, a landowner committee was formed and guided through a facilitated conservation marketing planning process to identify products, price, placement, and promotion of BMP offerings. These BMPs will improve the health of woodlands, grasslands, and streams, which support a rich diversity of aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal life. In 2014, a conservation marketing action plan was completed, which continues to guide our strategies and tasks needed to reach our shared mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Having representative landowners on the committee has proven to be effective at identifying natural resources issues and potential solutions, including identifying local/qualified contractors who can implement practices and help spread the word in the community. Perhaps just as important is these landowners help identify important target audiences, communication channels, and messages that resonate with other local landowners.
In our opinion, the best and most credible promotional strategy to get more landowners to consider and adopt BMPs is for them to see and hear from other landowners who are using those BMPs. We usually have a host farm family share their experiences of implementing BMPs on their property by inviting other local landowners to a farm tour. The landowner committee and host farm family will send invitation letters to other watershed landowners. Ozark Land Trust OLT, Missouri Department of Conservation MDC, and The Nature Conservancy TNC will work together on nearly every project under this grant and would be involved with outreach and educational events. Each organization also has its own publication and periodically includes articles about projects completed in the watershed.
Project Timeline:
The Project was completed in 2019. Another project was proposed for FY23, accepted by Fishers & Farmers, and ranked as Fishers & Farmers top priority project.
Partners:
Ozark Land Trust, Missouri Department of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, Missouri Soil and Water Conservation Districts – Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fishers & Farmers Partnership, Farmers/Landowners.