Memorandum of September 8, 1976

From: Jerry Stokes, Outdoor Recreation Planner, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation

To:  Fred Lafser-DNR, Deborah Schnack-DNR, Leo Drey-Pioneer Forest, Dick Cameron-Corps of Engineers, Marcel Crudele-Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Ed Glaser-MDC, Leon Credlebaugh-USFS

This is to confirm telephone conversations regarding the meeting sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Bureau to discuss an Ozark Trail concept.  The meeting is scheduled for October 5, at 10:00 a.m., at the Corps of Engineers’ Meramec Dam site visitor center, Sullivan, Missouri.

The purpose of the meeting will be to hold an informal discussion of the Ozark Trail proposal among those who might be involved in implementation of a portion of the concept described below.  Hopefully, this discussion will address the following points:

1. Is the Ozark Trail Proposal a valid concept – is it needed and is it feasible?
2. Who can and will support it?
3. What should it include, i.e., Eleven Point River, or terminate at Loggers Lake in the National Forest or Owls Bend on the Current River, or swing east?
4. How should action be initiated and by whom?

The proposed Ozark Trail could extend from Meramec State Park near Sullivan to the lower Current River area below Van Buren, east to Mingo Wildlife Refuge and northwest to return to the Forest Service’s Salem-Potosi Unit- a distance of 200+ miles.  With the exception of a possible crossing of Pioneer Forest, a Sullivan to Doniphan leg could be implemented almost entirely on public lands.  It is assumed the Forest Service could provide access across private inholdings within the forest boundaries.  This segment would involve the Corps of Engineers, Missouri Department of Conservation, U. S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Leo A. Drey.  The remaining portion of the trail might cross from the National Forest’s Fristoe Unit to the Poplar Bluff Unit via a route near Grandin which is mostly in Pioneer Forest ownership.  It could then extend northward along Wappapello Reservoir, cross Sam Baker State Park, the National Forest’s Fredricktown Unit, east across Johnson Shut-Ins State Park and reenter the National Forest’s Salem-Potosi Unit.  This later portion would include Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Fish and Wildlife (spur trail to Mingo Wildlife Refuge), Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, Pioneer Forest, and other private holdings.  The largest gaps over private lands are:

1. Eight miles across the Pioneer Forest Middle Current Unit between the National Forest’s Salem-Potosi Unit and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
2. Six miles between the National Forest’s Fristoe and Poplar Bluff Units most of which is the Lower Current Unit of Pioneer Forest.
3. Six miles between Sam Baker State Park and the National Forest’s Fredricktown Unit.
4. Nine miles between the Fredricktown Unit and Johnson Shut-Ins State Park.
5. Six miles between Johnson Shut-Ins State Park and the National Forest’s Salem-Potosi Unit.

The route could include three state parks – Meramec, Sam Baker, and Johnson Shut-Ins; the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Huzzah, Powder Mill, and Bloom Creek State Forests; Peck Ranch Wildlife Management Area and Ketcherside Mountain holdings; U. S. Fish and Wildlife’s Mingo Wildlife Refuge; four National Forest Units and one National Park Service unit including the Eleven Point and Ozark National scenic rivers, respectively; the Corps of Engineers’ Wappapello and Meramec Reservoir holdings; and Pioneer Forest.  This proposal incorporates and integrates recommendations of Missouri DNR’s Missouri State Trails Plan , and the Missouri Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP), the Bureau’s A Recreation Plan for Pioneer Forest, the Coalition for the Environment’s Pioneer Forest Study, Forest Recreation Plan: National Forests in Missouri, and preliminary proposals of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways staff.

You will receive maps graphically depicting the concept either by mail in advance of the meeting or I will bring such maps with me to the meeting.

[signed]

Gerald L. Stokes