The Conservation Department will open the new century with a new regional water-shed conservation effort focused on priority watersheds. Less pristine and impacted parts of the region, though, are not lost forever-they offer opportunities for restoration and reclamation at the neighborhood, municipal and regional level. The human dimension of the region clearly poses significant challenges to these valuable fish, forest and wildlife resources. Projections indicate that the population of the St. Louis Region will continue to rise over the next several decades. St. Charles and Jefferson counties, already rapidly growing, are anticipated to increase by 80 and 48 percent, respectively.
Public surveys indicate a concern for the region's forest, fish and wildlife resources.
As urbanization widens this disconnect between people and nature, Conservation Department staff and programs will be increasingly challenged to bring the two closer together. It is the St. Louis Region's belief that as people begin to feel a connection to the land and the water, they begin to have more concern for its condition. It will take many innovative, energized efforts from Conservation Department staff and our many partners to forge this new alliance between the urbanite and the natural world. This publication is a brief outline summarizing new management priorities for the next decade in the St. Louis Region. Urban fishing programs providefamily fun.