Missouri’s trees and forests have always been important to us. Once covering 70 percent of our state, trees continue to provide us with countless public and private benefits.

Speak for the Trees

Help monitor the health of Missouri forests! Activity and Tree Observation reports are collected by June 15 each Spring and by November 30 each Fall.

To request a copy of the field guide, please email information@forestkeepers.org or call 314-533-5323. 

For supplying this data, you can choose from a variety of Forestkeepers gifts as a thank you! 

NEW CITIZEN SCIENCE INITIATIVE: WITCH HAZEL HUNT

Vernal, or Ozark, witch hazel is among the earliest blooming native plants of Missouri. Its blooms, small flowers often hidden by persistent old foliage, provide sustenance and shelter to over wintering pollinators. While typically vernal witch hazel starts blooming midwinter, warm temperatures started an early bloom!  

Help support our effort to create a record of Vernal Witch Hazel growth across different regions of Missouri.

Whether they provide you means of living, lend beauty to your place of recreation or forge the Character of your neighborhood, trees cannot be taken for granted.

Like us, they are susceptible to disease, pollution and age. The Missouri Forestkeepers Network is an opportunity for all Missourians–urban and rural–to get involved in monitoring and improving the health of Missouri’s forests.Our mission is to develop a network of informed citizens working to conserve, sustain and enhance Missouri’s urban and rural forest resources through volunteerism, advocacy and management. Through volunteer and community science efforts, we can track the health of our forest and rise to the challenge of caring for the trees that shelter and shape us. By joining the network, you play an essential role in fostering the state of forest health for generations to come.
 
Here’s how:
  • Forestkeepers is open to any interested individual, family or group. Your choice alone to determines your level of involvement
  • Choose the site you or your group would like to study- if you don’t know where to start, we can assist with site selection
  • Complete and return the application form to receive a start-up kit that will help you begin
  • Follow along with the Leaflet publication and join us for workshops throughout the year
 
This free program is offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation in partnership with Forest ReLeaf of Missouri and The Forest And Woodland Association of Missouri. It is designed to volunteer support in monitoring forest health and provide sound scientific information on tree care and management to Missourians.
 

The Missouri Forestkeepers Netword provides free lesson plans for teachers wishing to incorporate tree education in their curriculum. The program provides straightforward opportunities for students at all grade levels to become involved in data collection, identifying Missouri trees, data analysis, and report writing.

Course subjects include:

  • Correlations For The Missouri Forestkeepers Network & The Missouri Show-Me Standards & Science Grade Level Expectations

For Educators

Workshops

The Leaflet

Virtual Training

Forestkeepers Conference

2022 Conference

The event featured a workshop on the identification of Quercus alba, common health issues, and the role they play in wildlife and forest dynamics. A guest lecture from the White Oak Initiative will talk about the economic and social benefits of white oak.

2021 Conference

On October 8th, 2021, the Forestkeepers met at Klondike Park in St. Charles County. The group toured Klondike Park and a recent reforestation project along the Katy Trail. A planting workshop was hosted to plant more trees in the area.

2020 Conference

The 2020 Conference was held on October 14 at Pioneer Forest in the Missouri Ozarks. Pioneer Forest is dominated by oak, hickory and pine. Their conservative uneven-aged forest management method, known as single-tree selection harvesting, has been used for more than half a century. The long use and research of this method strongly indicates it as a sustainable forest management practice.

2019 Conference

Forestkeepers will have a chance to tour Naeger Forest Products, a logging company and wood mill. Come learn about timber sales, see the equipment in action, and talk to Professional Timber Harvester trained loggers.

2018 Conference

Forestkeepers toured the Giving Grove, a nonprofit in Kansas City dedicated to improving local food security and strengthening communities by bringing together the resources to develop edible tree gardens.