MissouriGreen

I visited Johnson's Shut-Ins last week, before it closed for the season on the 24th. I hadn't visited since 2006, and was very pleased to see how much progress has been made.

The water quality is much improved, and most of the small particulate debris is gone. The Shut-Ins aren't completely healed— you don't heal from such a devastating flood in a couple of years— but both the DNR and Ameren have really made a significant inroads in correcting the damage.

The fens look nicely restored, and I could barely recognize the flood path, the green growth has done much to help it blend into the mountainside.

It does look like some of the boulders will be left in the restored park, which I think is a good thing. They won't impact on the area, but will serve as a reminder, as well as historical marking.

I thought about doing a before/after/after slideshow, but I think I'll wait on this until after the park is officially open, hopefully next May.

More photos of the park in the MissouriGreen Image Gallery.

You can tell when the gas prices are lower: the stations are filled with big SUVs and trucks. And today we find out that Missouri has the lowest gas prices in the country. For now, that is.

I used some of the lower gas prices to fuel a trip to see Johnson's Shut-Ins before it closed this year. I'll have pictures in a later posting, but for now, it was good to see the park, and good to see how much it has improved.

I've been critical of both Ameren and DNR (Department of Natural Resources) in the past, but they both did a good job cleaning up the shut-in area, and restoring the Fens. I'm looking forward to the full opening of the park next year, when we'll be able to walk around the entire park. I'm also looking forward to a fully restored Ozark Trail.

The park is still fragile, though, and use is severely restricted. Rightfully so—such devastation won't be cured overnight. Food and drink are strictly forbidden, as are dogs. I was therefore irritated to see a couple of ladies carrying their food hamper and McD's soft drink cups to the shut-ins, and even more at the couple letting their dog piddle on some of the newly growing rare and endangered fens. How quickly people forget how close we came to losing a natural treasure.

I want to save the world, but can we save it for just some of the people?

Earlier this week I made a mid-day visit to the zoo to see our five newest St. Louis citizens: the five new Amur (Siberian) tiger cubs. They're only allowed out a couple of hours a day, but in that time they manage to cover ever inch of their not small habitat at least a dozen times.

The habitat is viewed from above, as the side view is blocked by the zoo train. Needless to say, the numbers of people were many and access to get a clear photo, limited. However, you don't have to have a good photo when you're taking pictures of tiger cubs.