In 2022, USDA Forest Service launched Missouri Outdoor Connections to inventory, analyze, and map organizations caring for the lands, waters, and people of Missouri. Missouri Outdoor Connections focused on Missouri’s southern and central regions, home of Mark Twain National Forest and USDA Forest Service St. Louis Urban Connections Office. 

The project aimed to:

Identify, connect & leverage existing and potential partners.

• Find out who else is doing this work
• Create opportunities for collaboration
• Share information, ideas, and resources

Make collaboration more effective

• Grow your network with place-based maps
• Join together to address common challenges
• Build cross-boundary networks across urban, suburban and rural communities

Connect everyone to nature’s benefits

• Support communities that enjoy and depend upon public lands
• Identify ways to make lands more accessible for stewardship and recreation
• Create a sense of community around stewarding forests, parks and other natural areas.

Over 170 organizations were identified including federal, state and local governments, volunteer groups, recreational and trail clubs, civic and environmental organizations, community-based groups, and nonprofit organizations. 

Click here to explore the Missouri Outdoor Connections dashboard. 

What did we find?

Across the State of Missouri, Communities are Working Hard to Care for their Public Lands

Groups work across the State of Missouri, spanning rural to urban environments, from the Mark Twain National Forest to the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. Stewardship work occurs across public and private lands.  Organizations in metropolitan areas support city parks and gardens, land trusts and forest patches while rural groups are engaged in work within stream valleys and large forested areas.  Although the type of public space may differ in size and features, the act of stewardship is abiding across the state of Missouri.  

Collaboration is Key to Success

Groups do not work alone while participating in this important work of taking care of Missouri’s natural resources and people. They connect in networks that span across the urban-to-rural gradient. The USDA Forest Service and Missouri Department of Conservation act as key brokers, with strong non-profit partnerships across the state. Groups with a large service footprint, like Ozark Vitality and Missouri River Relief Inc., also have important roles as connectors, working with other partners across Missouri. 

Outdoor Recreation in Missouri Inspires Stewardship and Care

Most groups are primarily involved in management (26% of all organizations), education (22%) and conservation (15%) with most activities focused on the environment. On top of those efforts, many groups are supporting nature recreation opportunities. These groups include urban parks and recreation programs, as well as hunter and angler groups, trail associations, and backcountry horsemen  groups in rural areas.

Groups stewarding Missouri aim to engage with members of the public through efforts to:

• Create new programmatic opportunities or events, 
• Restore habitats including forests, prairies, and watersheds,
• Clean-up and beautify lands and waters, as well as 
• Maintain and manage parks, gardens, and other urban and rural natural areas.

Stewardship Groups Serve All Residents of Missouri

Groups have expressed a clear desire to serve and welcome all people in stewarding across Missouri. Groups have set outreach and programming goals to ensure all are able to join, participate in, and benefit from their efforts. Additionally, groups have stated that they want to grow their capacity to internally reflect the communities they serve, to inclusively steward Missouri lands and waters. 

Points of Contact: Alison Koopman, Kim Houf, Cody Norris, Sonja Lin