The story of Woods Prairie and OLT’s conservation efforts By Andy Thomas, Longtime Board Member, and former President When I learned that what is now called Woods Prairie was for sale and at great risk for subdivision and development way back about 1998, I had only been on the Ozark Land Trust board for a […]

A sign of clean, cold spring water and the Ozarks’ natural heritage By Michelle Scherer, OLT Conservation Project Manager When I’m walking a property for a prospective conservation easement, to complete our inventory of its important natural attributes, I’m never certain what I might find. On one Ozark property in the Huzzah Creek tributary of […]

From fishing and horseback rides to exploring Huzzah Creek By Melissa Early Ruwitch, Longtime friend of OLT Catching hellgrammites and crawdads and tadpoles with my brothers and cousins while our parents had cocktails on the back of the antique truck buried in the gravel bar. Inner-tubing, kayaking, and riding horses in the river. Walking upstream […]

Childhood adventures to conserving the Ozarks By Alexis Robles, OLT Administrative Associate Growing up in Crestwood, MO, I spent my childhood outside from dawn to dusk—mud pies and stick forts were far more exciting than any toy. In the early 2000s, without the pull of screens, my imagination ran wild. Daily walks with my mom […]

Transforming historic farmland into a public park By Scott Woodbury, Horticulturalist and Owner of Cacilia Garden Design Woodland wildflowers and tall grass prairie don’t just happen on their own. Especially nowadays, with bush honeysuckle aggressively taking over our woodlands and a lack of intentional fire. The late Bill and Nancy Knowles (who gave Spring Bend […]

Protecting sandstone glades and woodlands By Abigail Lambert, OLT River Stewardship Manager Not far from Onondaga Cave State Park in Crawford County, MO, the Edith Miller Conservation Easement protects 120 acres in the Meramec River watershed. Edith’s donation in 2011 enabled the protection of this beautiful and important sandstone glade and woodlands that contribute to […]

Protecting the Ozark ecosystems that sustain life below the surface By Loring Bullard, member of OLT Board of Directors Two OLT sites protect habitat for rare and endangered aquatic species: Moore Cave and Sarcoxie Cave. In 1888, Ruth Hoppin, a school teacher from Michigan, crawled into Sarcoxie Cave. There, she found tiny, ghostly white fish. […]