Learning about Saline Valley Conservation Area

Anyone hiking, hunting or fishing along the Osage River may find some basketballs or something like this trophy buck skeleton. However, if it is on public land like this one is, it is illegal to take any antler still attached to the skull plate from public land without contacting a conservation agent withing 24 hours to receive possession authorization.

With the summer vacation season in full swing, many choose to visit the large lakes of the state. Lake of the Ozarks is one of the most popular destinations, but it is privately owned, so it is not a good subject for this column. However, there is a lot of public land around or near the lake, and one of those parcels is the choice for this week's profile.

The Saline Valley Conservation Area is in Miller County and is very easy to locate. All but the final three miles or so of the 125 miles to this area is on U.S. 54 Highway. Just follow it all the way across the lake, and a few miles after crossing the Osage River just below Bagnell Dam, keep an eye peeled for the exit to the small town of Eldon, Mo. Eldon is to the north of U.S. 54 on Route M and Saline Valley is about three miles to the south right on Route M.

Saline Valley is a large area. The original tract of 292 acres was purchased by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1979, but subsequent purchases have increased the area to a total of 4,783 acres. This area has as broad a diversity of habitat types as any yet profiled.

By far the majority of the area is forested. But even the forests are diverse. There are expansive tracts of oak hickory forests and large areas of bottomland forest where sycamore, ash and elm are the dominant species.

More than 100 acres of the area are classified as glade and that type of habitat has a unique plant community. Glades are rocky openings facing south and or west, and a visitor can expect to find little bluestem, side oats, grama and Indian grass growing there. Coneflowers also thrive in this habitat.

Another unusual kind of habitat on this area is a fen. The fen, or swamp, on this area is only about six acres in size and it is characterized by its water supply. Once thought to be a form of successive habitat, fens are now recognized as persistent habitats that will remain constant as long as the water supply is unchanged. A cold water spring with a flow rate of at least 1,000 gallons a day keeps the area fed and encourages plant species unique to a cold water marsh.

King's Bluff is also an interesting feature of Saline Valley. It is actually a series of three 30 foot high dolomite bluffs that offer an excellent view of the Osage River. A species somewhat rare in Missouri, the western wallflower, can be found flashing its bright yellow flowers on the bluffs.

There are many opportunities on this area for the outdoor enthusiast. As might be expected, the diverse landscape will yield many chances for the birder to use his or her binoculars. The fen would be a good place to find something unusual as would the several areas of glades, and bluffs often provide a view of birds one can't get on the ground.

The fisherman visiting Saline Valley will find three small ponds on the area that provide limited fishing. Five permanent creeks totaling almost 11 miles of stream are on the area and offer fishing for several species including suckers and white bass. The Osage River bounds the area on the southeast side and has most of the state's species available for fishermen. The only access to the river along the area is from the Tuscumbia and Kings Bluff Public Access areas.

The Osage in that area produces some very good catfishing. There is also a good population of spoonbill that come up out of the Missouri River each spring. The paddlefish I have caught there tend to be smaller than the average fish taken from the waters of Truman Lake or the Lake of the Ozarks, but they aren't nearly as concentrated in numbers, and it's much harder for them to make a living in the old Missouri. That's big water down there, snagging can be tough, but it is nice to see new areas.

My records show that the average paddlefish coming into the Osage out of the Missouri River will run about 24 pounds. I never have caught a spoonbill over 50 pounds from that water. That data is taken from a fairly small sample collected over several years. My data from Truman Lake was taken from a sampling of more than 400 fish caught in my boat during a five-year period, and it shows the average fish to weigh 30 pounds. One in five fish taken from Truman on through the upper end of the Osage River will weigh more than 50 pounds. Those figures mesh with the Department of Conservation's management goal for the fishery.

I was snagging near Saline Valley with one of my cousins several years ago and oddly enough, I found three basketballs in and along the river. It was kind of strange, but my cousin and I laughed it off and put them in the boat to take home to my kids. It was even more strange that when I got home there wasn't a ball left in the boat, hmm!

Many different species of game animals call this area home. The MDC Web site lists fair populations for both the dove and quail. Hunters should concentrate their efforts around the openings and crop fields. Those openings also attract other species too. That is where the rabbits will be and the red or fox squirrels will be found there more often than they will in the extensive forests. The gray squirrels will be found well back from the openings in the bigger timber.

An area this large and diverse is certainly home to good populations of deer and turkey. Hunters should expect to find some pressure during the opening days of the November firearms season. For that reason, if I were going to hunt this area, it would be with a bow and arrow. And yes, I would probably hunt by canoe. With all that water, I would never have to get out of the boat. I like just slipping along in the canoe and this would be an ideal place to do that. Accessing the area from the river and a motorized boat would be a good way to hunt, but remember that you can't legally shoot from any vessel with a motor attached to it.

For all there is to do on this area, there are very few amenities. The area has several good gravel roads to get around on. Along them visitors will find 13 parking lots, 11 of them accessible, and one designated camping area. The camping area has 7 individual sites and each of those has a fire ring. There is a handicap accessible privy at the designated camping area. Regardless of why a visitor goes to Saline Valley Conservation Area, they should enjoy the time spent there.

For local information contact: Missouri Department of Conservation, 783 Thunder Mountain Road, Camdenton, MO 65020-2811 or call (573) 346-2210, or check out the area online on the Department's Web site at www.mdc.mo.gov. All of the areas profiled in this column can be found in the online version of the Conservation Atlas and in the original "Missouri Conservation Atlas" if one is available. The online version will provide links to a map and brochure, give the area rules and regulations and provide some basic information pertaining to the Saline Valley Conservation Area.