Middle Meramec COA

Middle Meramec Conservation Opportunity Area includes land within a roughly seven mile perimeter of the middle reaches of the Meramec River and its major tributaries The topography is hilly, rugged and largely forested, with embedded glades, fens, caves, springs and other interesting natural features.

The Middle Meramec landscape supports a variety of plants and animals, from the aquatic spectacle case mussel to the cave dwel1ing grotto salamander Sixty five species and natural communities of conservation concern are recorded from this area, including the federally endangered Indiana bat, gray bat and Hines emerald dragonfly.

Prior to Euro-American settlement, the Middle Meramec was blanketed with oak and oak-pine forests and woodlands with bottomland forests occurring along rivers and streams, Today, decades of fire suppression have eliminated the woodland ground flora.. Much of the forest is now relatively even-aged second growth as a result of wide spread logging in the early 1900s. Bottomland forests have been fragmented by pastures and development. The Meramec River health is threatened by invasive species, some gravel mining practices and a reduction of wooded corridors along the river.

Volunteer opportunities include:

        - Planting trees in areas where they can't get a tractor
        - Sampling water and invertebrates with the Stream Team.

Contact: Adam Boman, Fisheries Biologist, MDC, at 573-468-3335 ext 229 or e-mail