Photo courtesy of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks
Welcome to OzarksEnvironmentNews.com! This is your virtual bulletin board – a place to share information and celebrate your events, your accomplishments, your projects as well as a place to find info about organizations of like-minded folks, cool places to go to experience the outdoors at its best, and resources offering data, information, expertise. You are invited to share your news and enjoy the news of others! Got news? Report it to info@ozarksenvironmentnews.com Please note: we make every effort to ensure accuracy in our website; however, we cannot be responsible for info garnered from sites other than ours.
The mission of OzarksEnvironmentNews.com is to facilitate communication and to celebrate efforts and accomplishments among the environmental community of the Southwest Missouri Ozarks and to provide useful information to those who live in or visit the Region. Learn more...
Breaking News
Kristen Pattinson selected as November 2025 Missouri Department of Natural Resources Team Member of the Month
​
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 19, 2025 – Kristen Pattinson, an environmental program manager with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Environmental Quality, is the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Team Member of the Month for November 2025. She was selected for her service to the department and her efforts to restore regular coordination meetings between the department and public health agencies.
As part of her usual duties, Pattinson manages the department’s Southwest Regional Office drinking water section. This includes supervision of teams dedicated to public drinking water inspections and compliance in the region. In addition to her usual duties, she has also led trainings for department team members centered around tools and techniques for de-escalating tense situations and maintaining situational awareness.
Recently, Pattinson proposed a return to regular organized meetings between MoDNR, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and local public health agencies in her region. After obtaining approval, she built agendas and acquired speakers for the meeting, collaborated on scheduling and led discussion during the sessions. Feedback after the meeting indicated it was a success, and all parties felt it was beneficial.
Active collaboration between public health agencies and the department helps reduce confusion about regulations and jurisdiction, and it improves trust and communication. Because of the success of this meeting, the department is considering holding similar meetings in other regions on an annual basis.
“Kirsten is consistently a great team member with great ideas,” said Tanya Turner, the manager of the department’s Southwest Regional Office who nominated Pattinson for the award. “She has shown time and again to be a dependable and trustworthy team member who reflects the department’s values of respect, integrity, innovation, collaboration and stewardship while serving the citizens of Missouri.”
Pattinson joined the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in November 2003 and resides in Springfield.
​
Our new OCFC website is up and running at: https://www.ozarkscleanfuels.com/
​
​Survey for those living in GreeneCounty
If you live in Greene County, please make your voice heard!
Greene County has kicked off a comprehensive plan update—this is a once in a blue-moon opportunity to participate in charting our collective path forward.
Your can fill out the survey, and stay tuned for other involvement opportunities.
Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/greenecountycompplansurvey
Watershed Committe of the Ozarks​
​
Solid Waste Management District O is now accepting applications for 2026 District Grant Projects designed to provide or enhance recycling and/or waste reduction services and programs. click HERE for more details.
Applications must be received by the
District O Administrative Office
NO LATER than 3pm, Friday, December 12, 2025.
​
​
EPA ​
​Please visit and bookmark the EPA Grants Webinars page where you will find tips for preparing for EPA webinars, presentation materials, helpful resources, and webinar recordings. We also invite you to visit and bookmark the Community Library of Frequently Asked Questions to find answers to questions about EPA grants that were asked by previous webinar participants.
​
Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA)
​
​Extreme Bark Sloughing on White Oak
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​James River Basin Partnership
​2024 Annual Report​
L-A-D Foundation
Incorporated in 1962, the L-A-D Foundation is a Missouri private operating foundation dedicated to the responsible management of Pioneer Forest as a working demonstration of renewable resource use compatible with the long-term carrying capacity and health of the land and water. The Foundation also acquires and preserves in the public interest outstanding areas of natural, geologic, cultural or historic interest. In addition, the Foundation provides support to various projects consistent with its conservation goals, with a particular focus on the Missouri Ozark region.
2024 Annual Report
​Missouri Department of Natural Resources
​
Missouri Prairie Foundation
​
Ozark Society
(see flyer, click here)
The Ozark Society is a non-profit organization established in Arkansas in 1962 to protect the Buffalo
River and its surrounding wilderness area from development, thus allowing it to remain a free-flowing
and scenic river. Today, the Ozark Society continues to advocate for conservation of natural resources,
preservation of scenic places, and environmental education.​
​​​
SW Missouri Local Government Briefings​​​
Missouri Butterflies, host plants and Caterpillars
Go here to see a great poster of common butterflies and their caterpillars!
Watershed Center of the Ozarks
​​
Children and Nature Network
Springfield Community Resource Guide​
​
Read to find out how to subscribe and see what events are coming up. Learn about composting, free workshops and more! Click HERE.
The Ozarks Clean Air Alliance (OCAA) Go HERE to find out more. and the Clean Air Action Plan
The Schoolcraft Ozarks Society
Dark Sky Missouri (Click here for more information)
​​ Check out what can be recycled at Staples. https://www.staples.com/stores/recycling
​
Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Product Stewardship Council (MP PSC)
Check out their informational flyer HERE
​​​​​​
Meet your webmaster, Shae Johnson. She is a Springfield Plateau Master Naturalist, a Greene County Master Gardener, a docent at the Dr. Bill Roston Native Butterfly House, and she wears many other hats. She is also an artist.
Meet the owner of this website. Barbara Lucks has developed it as a central place
for patrons to find all sorts of environment related news and opportunities.
