Kurt U. Schaefer was named Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in January 2025.
Kurt previously served as General Counsel and Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He oversaw the emergency response, environmental remediation and cleanup of the destruction caused by the Taum Sauk Reservoir failure in December 2005. He was lead counsel in negotiating settlement for Missouri's natural resource damages and park restoration of Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, valued in excess of $170 million. He also served as lead counsel for the department in negotiating state and federally required sewer infrastructure capital improvements with the City of Kansas City and the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, valued in excess of $3 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively.
Kurt earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Missouri, and a Juris Doctor and a Master Studies of Environmental Law from the Vermont Law School. With a legal career spanning nearly three decades, Kurt has worked with governmental entities at every level, including all branches of government, state agencies, numerous boards and citizen commissions and political organizations. Kurt worked as a Special Criminal Prosecutor at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, working closely with local elected prosecutors and law enforcement. He counseled and represented the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Department of Public Safety, Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission, Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and Department of Natural Resources in civil litigation in state and federal courts. From 2009 to 2017, Kurt represented Missouri’s 19th Senate District, serving as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee for six of those years.