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WASHBURN, Mo. – Timber harvest work underway at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Flag Spring Conservation Area in Barry County will cause a temporary closure of the unstaffed shooting range at this area.
Beginning Monday, June 20, the range will be closed Monday-Friday of each week and will be open Saturday and Sunday. Plans are for the timber harvest to be concluded by mid-August, at which time the range will resume regular hours.
The MDC timber harvest currently underway at Flag Spring encompasses 387 acres, 80 acres of which are in the shooting range’s safety zone. The primary goal of this timber harvest is to improve habitat at Flag Spring for various species of wildlife. A lack of management leads to overcrowded forests with insufficient sunlight that reaches the forest floor. Thinning the timber will promote adequate cover and forage for wildlife, regenerate new trees, and create more sustainable forest structures, all while contributing to the local economy. MDC had a goal of harvesting 14 million board feet of timber this past fiscal year and this harvest at Flag Spring Conservation Area helped achieve that goal.
MDC operates a number of unstaffed shooting ranges across the state that offer firearms and/or archery opportunities. (Some of these unstaffed ranges are archery-only sites.) MDC unstaffed ranges in southwest Missouri that have firearms opportunities can be found at Fort Crowder Conservation Area (Newton County), Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area (Christian County), and Lead Mine Conservation Area (Dallas County)
Information about MDC’s staffed and unstaffed shooting ranges in the state can be found at:
