The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page C5

EWS -L EADER 5C 2935 West Chestnut Exp Spring? eld, MO List of Recycling Items: CompleteElectronicsRecycling.org Hours: Monday Saturday 10 am 6 pm COMPLETE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING But your electronics should! Untrammeled by man are the three keys words in the Wilderness Act that was passed Congress 50 years ago his September. hose words still protect the last wild places in A merica. While the act focused on federal lands, a hike into any of the 11desig- nated in nine Missouri state parks goes through a pristine landscape preserved as a irect result of the law passed a half century ago. At age 66, John Karel is about to retire after more than 25 years as director of Tower Grove Park in St. Louis.

In the 1960s and he was a young man at the forefront of the environmental movement that swept through the country. There was a reawakening of environmental consciousness that led to awhole series of laws the Clean Water Act, the lean Air Act, the Wilderness Karel said. he Wilderness Act hallenged states to find emnants of landscape still worthy of being called wild. Karel co- founded the Missouri ilderness Coalition, hich joined the forces of xisting environmental groups in the state to suggest lands, most already in federal hands, hat could be designated a wilderness. We had 40 different organizations with plus Karel said.

searched all corners of the state for remnants land that retained vestiges of wilderness that eople could experience and Mingo Swamp in southeast Missouri was the irst chosen, and approved by Congress as a ational wilderness area in 1972. It was followed by Bell Mountain, Rockpile Mountain, Paddy Creek, Backbone on the North Fork River, Hercul es Glade, Piney Creek and the Irish Wilderness. he wilderness areas were spread over the state, with several in the Ozarks of southern Miss ouri, and totaled some 70,000 acres. Irish Wildern ess was the largest at 16,000 acres and the last designated in 1984. are all very, very wonderful places and they reflect this national need and philosophy to protect wilder- Karel said.

area passed Congress with the bipartisan support of the Missouri delegation. We were very roud of that. those areas that we can is a very spir- i tually satisfying experience. It offers people of this state more diversity a nd opportunity in the out of doors. It makes us a richer place and no reason not to do Genuine wildness in state parks But the work was half done.

Karel had taken a job with the Missouri Depart- ent of Natural Resources, and later would erve as director of state arks from 1979 to 1985. issouri State Parks was considering following the federal wilderness example by designating wild with the tate park system, and set a program in 1978. knew there was some genuine wildness in the backcountry areas of ome of these arel said. set the hreshold at 1,000 acres; we thought that would be adequate to provide some sense of wildness, some sense of oday, Missouri State Parks has nearly 23,000 a cres of wild areas in nine parks. They all are by and offer outstanding oppor- unities for hiking, backpacking and thinking.

The Wild Area program is a conservation offering that is uniquely Missouri State aid Ken McCarty, chief of the natural resource anagement section for the park system. is one only a few state wilderness programs nationwide, and that makes the 50th anniversary of the ilderness Act particularly important miles tone for wild areas Today, Missouri State wild areas serve as alocation for visitors to enjoy the most utstanding natural resources in their most untamed form. nearly 40 years, our parks still preserve ild naturalness in some of the most beautiful landscapes that Missouri as to said McCarty. my experience, of all the programs and eans by which we try to preserve nature in state parks, our Wild Area program is the one that resonates most widely with the Big Sugar Creek and Northwoods in Cuivre River State Park These two areas are rare wild remnants amid the agric ultural landscape of northern Missouri. Trails a long the bluffs offer iews of the river valley.

Coonville Creek in St. Francois State Park The area includes the forested ridges and hol- ows of the Pike Run ills. Hollow a nd Pike Run trails provide access to this wild area covered with woodlands of white oak, black ak, shagbark hickory a nd dogwood. East Fork and Goggins Mountain in Shut-Ins State Park Horseshoe Glade Trail in the East Fork eads to a rocky glade with views across the a ncient St. Francois Mountains.

The rugged Goggins Mountain is the largest wild area at 5,000 a cres. Creek in Rock ridge Memorial State Park The solitude and scenic vistas allow visitors to forget the bustling ity only a few miles away. Small streams dis- ect the hills and flow into Gans Creek, which is urrounded by high bluffs. Creek in Trail of Tears State Park Loc ated in one of the most rugged areas of the Miss issippi River hills, the area includes majestic hardwood forests of white oak, tulip poplar and hickory cover the hills. Mountain in Sam A.

Baker State Park The woodland lands cape and glades are open and free of brushy undergrowth, and visitors can explore the old-growth forests and pen woodlands, deep canyon gorges, igneous cliffs, gravel washes and lades. Hollow in Lake of the Ozarks State ark Chert woodlands, small springs and streams highlight the hills of the area. River Hills at Roaring River State ark The wild area offers Ozark terrain, dense hardwood forests, open dolomite glades and deep hollows. Whispering Pine at Hawn State Park Trails ollow Pickle Creek and i ts exposed granite shut- i ns into the backcountry along the sandstone bluffs that hang over the River Aux Vases, which eanders through the un-dappled woods. Exploring a wild area provides guests the opportunity to capture the wildness, natural beauty a nd unmarred solitude hat these offer the ssence of wilderness in modern said McCarty.

Hawn is among the loveliest of state parks, a nd the Whispering Pines Trail is one of the most opular with hikers who want a longer, backcoun- try experience. The park is nearly 5,000 acres, with ore than half in the designated wild area. he two loops of the rail total about 10 miles a nd hikers are advised to carry a trail guide and fill out the register at the trail head. If you hike olo, tell someone where ou are going. count cellphones or other electronic gadgets to work in the backcountry.

Superintendent Ed Schott said managing an a rea for wilderness, while maintaining a trail for ecreational use, is a challenge. are restrictions for using mechanized quipment, not just chain saws but even wheelbar- ows chott said. want the atural processes to take place where a tree falling down is left to decay, and wild animals are able to ove freely in and out. Wild areas can be ifficult to manage, but with the population expanding, and subdivisions closing in, there are fewer and fewer places like his. You have those key words untrammeled by an.

We want to give people a place to go where they are few signs of humans, where they an find a little For more information, isit mostateparks.com. State parks offer wild space By Tom Uhlenbrock Missouri State Parks TOM STATE PARKS The River Aux Vases flows beneath sandstone bluffs though the Whispering Pine Wild Area at awn State Park. TOM STATE PARKS Mudlick Mountain Wild Area at Sam A. Baker State Park looks ut over the Big Creek valley. TOM STATE PARKS Gregg and Sheila Buswell of St.

Louis and their dog, Luke, hike through the Whispering Pine Wild Area at Hawn State Park..