Current River Watershed Freshwater and Sustainable Forestry Program

In the Missouri Ozarks, private landowners play a critical role in keeping woodlands and waters healthy. 

In the Missouri Ozarks, private landowners play a critical role in keeping woodlands and waters healthy. Here, the timber industry is critical to the Ozarks economy, locally providing jobs and globally providing high-quality wood products. However, land conversion, development, decreasing parcel size, pests and diminishing forest health can impact the long-term production of these woodlands.

Through the Current River Watershed Freshwater and Sustainable Forestry Program, funded by the U.S. Forest Service, the Conservancy is working with Ozark landowners on making small changes that can enhance their woodland habitat to benefit nature while achieving their personal land management goals.

Managing Working Forests

Thanks to the U.S. Forest Service grant, the Conservancy is providing technical assistance, planning resources and field demonstrations—including the use of prescribed fire--on Ozark woodland management to interested private landowners in the area. Helping to conserve the area’s “working forests”—which provide economic benefits to the landowner through timber production or other means—through planned forest management improves the health and economic value of privately owned woodlands while benefiting wildlife habitat and water quality thanks to reduced erosion and run-off. Working forests that protect water quality, in turn, support river-based recreation, which is the other major sector of the region’s economy.

Find Out More

The Nature Conservancy occasionally holds workshops for landowners. Contact missouri@tnc.org to learn more.