News Release No. 390

SEVEN STATE PARKS WILL CLOSE TEMPORARILY FOR DEER HUNTS

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, DEC. 1, 2004 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources will temporarily close seven state parks for public safety reasons for two weekends during December while special hunts are being conducted to alleviate deer overpopulations.

By law, state parks are established as wildlife refuges and hunting is not permitted except under special circumstances. However, these special hunts are being used as a resource management tool because it has been determined that the deer population is too large for the environment of the park and that resources in the park are being damaged.

Special hunts will be conducted at the following parks on the following weekends:

The hunts will be conducted following guidelines established by the Missouri Department of Conservation, which regulates hunting in the state. Hunters who will be participating submitted special applications this summer for the Department of Conservation's special managed hunts, which are held annually. Hunters were selected through a random computer drawing. Only those hunters who already have a special permit will be allowed to participate in the hunts.

The Department of Natural Resources administers state parks and historic sites throughout Missouri. Only those parks and historic sites specifically listed above will be affected by the hunts.

For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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