Local News – Monday, October 26, 2020
The Salem Memorial District Hospital Family Medicine on Highway 72 North will continue to offer drive-up flu shots through this Friday from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon for current SMDH Family Medicine patients. You are asked to please park in the marked areas on the side of Physicians Office Building #3. Once you arrive, please call 739-19354 and give the nurse your name and phone number.
The Dent County Health Center will be offering a drive-thru flu shot clinic this Thursday at the Dent County Fire Station at #2 South Main Street for those six months of age and older. They will bill most insurance companies so have your insurance card available. They can also bill Medicare and Children’s Medicaid. The Dent County Health Center will provide FREE flu shots for uninsured children and adults. High dose flu shots will be available for those 65 and older. The clinic will be held from 11:00 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon. If you have any questions about the flu vaccine or the drive-thru clinic, please call the Dent County Health Center at 729-3106. No appointments are needed.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is accepting applications through November 13th for the Missouri Outdoor Recreational Access Program (MRAP). The MRAP program provides incentive payments and habitat improvement help to private landowners who open their properties to the public for walk-in hunting, fishing, or wildlife viewing. The recreation allowed on each property varies according to the public access option selected by the participating landowner. MRAP access types include all access hunting and fishing, small game and turkey hunting, youth only hunting and fishing, archery hunting, fishing only, or wildlife viewing. Offered lands must meet eligibility requirements such as being at least 40 contiguous acres or at least a one-acre pond for fishing access. Wildlife viewing properties must be at least five contiguous acres and located within highly-populated counties. Land must also contain minimum amounts of quality wildlife habitat such as native grass fields, crop-field buffers, restored wetlands, or managed woodlands. There are currently more than 50 properties enrolled in the program, representing over 13,000 acres of wildlife habitat available to the public. Expansion of MRAP is possible through a new grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. MDC has received $2.2 million in funding this year, double the previous grant that allowed current MRAP properties to enroll. The standard commitment period to participate in the program is three years. The annual payment rates are determined by factors such as the access type selected by the landowner and the amount of quality habitat available. Most landowners can typically expect to earn $15-$25 an acre, per year. Landowners interested in boosting their annual payment can implement habitat improvements on their land. To find out more on how to apply to the MRAP program, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Zcs.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is reporting that our area is in it’s peak color right now. The landscape is stunning and beautiful. The Ozark hillsides are now awash in almost every color imaginable. All the colors of the spectrum are represented: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Reds have been most notable in black gum, sumacs, and Virginia creeper. Orange has been the dominant color of sassafras and some maples recently. (If you are fortunate enough to have a maple in your yard you may have noticed that the side exposed to the sun is a little more vibrant.) Yellow is common on black walnut, mulberry, pawpaw, and hickories. Greens, of course, dominated throughout the growing season. Now, however, and through the winter months until leaves emerge in spring, the green tops of shortleaf pine and eastern red cedar will decorate hillsides and valleys. Dogwood leaves are also a special treat, spanning the entire width of cyan, blue, and violet color all on the same tree! Taken together, and with the recent cool nighttime temperatures and a little rainfall, this next week should be the peak viewing time. Get out and enjoy nature!