The Department has harvested a lot of timber on conservation areas in the Ozarks. Was the cutting done to improve habitat for elk?
The Department recognizes the importance of timber harvest as a management tool to improve forest health, improve wildlife habitat and restore natural communities such as glades and woodlands. Timber harvests on Department lands in the Ozarks were conducted to address oak decline and to restore natural communities such as glades and woodlands. A large number of northern red, southern red, black and scarlet oaks were declining and dying in southern Missouri as the trees reached maturity. The long-term solution, in partnership with Missouri’s forest industry, was to remove the declining timber through selective harvests to reduce fire hazards, promote plant diversity, improve wildlife habitat and encourage the growth of younger oak and pine trees.
