Missouri Tree Farm Program 60th Year Celebration

Missouri Tree Farm Program 60th Year Celebration

By the early 20th Century most of the Missouri Ozarks had been cutover, burned and turned into hard-scrabble farms.  Uncontrolled burning had become a rite-of-spring and free-range livestock grazing was the norm.  
In the 1920s Rev. Paul Wobus of the United Church of Christ traveled into the area with the intent of developing rural churches.  He established a church at Shannondale.  When Rev. Vincent Bucher arrived in the early 1930s to serve as Shannondale’s first pastor he also took on the job of serving the community.  The church purchased over four-thousand acres of land.  This area has since become one of the largest demonstrations of private forest management in the Missouri Ozarks.   The hope was through the purchase, good forestry practices could be demonstrated to local landowners.

A formal ceremony was held in a Shannon County stand of virgin shortleaf pine on Highway 19 in October of 1949 to commemorate the initiation of the Tree Farm Program in Missouri.  Tree Farm membership certificates were presented to the first ten landowners entered into the program.  Shannondale Tree Farm was one of those original landowners.

Today, Shannondale Tree Farm is the oldest, continuously owned Tree Farm in Missouri. To celebrate this historic event on its 60th anniversary and to honor Shannondale Tree Farm, the Missouri Tree Farm committee is planning a ceremony at Shannondale Tree Farm in Shannon County October 23 & 24, 2009.  The event will highlight this outstanding 60 year commitment to sustainable forestry, environmental improvement and community outreach effort. 

Proposed schedule for the Missouri Tree Farm Program 60th anniversary:

Friday, October 23
Float trip on the current river-activity is optional and at your own expense

Saturday, October 24
8:00 – 9:00      Registration at Timber Lodge
9:00 – 10:00    Welcome at Timber Lodge
10:00 – 12:00  Tour Session 1*
12:00 – 1:30    Lunch at Timber Lodge & Award Presentation
1:30 – 3:30      Tour Session 2**
3:30 – 4:00      Wrap Up, Unwind to Blue Grass, Depart

*North Route will include movies in the lodge, crafts, charcoal kiln tour, tour Nature Center at Shannondale, tour of Shannondale facilities.   

**South Route will include visit to 30 year old clear cut and an ongoing or recent harvest.  Participants will see examples of Timber Stand Improvement (TSI), wildlife habitat improvement and Best Management Practices (BMP’s).

Click here to print a registration form