Give Nature-Themed Holiday Gifts from MDC

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Have nature lovers on your holiday gift list? The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) online Nature Shop makes holiday shopping a breeze for anyone interested in nature-themed gifts. Offerings include the ever-popular Natural Events Calendar, plus a variety of books and more for all ages.

Holiday shoppers can also skip retail stores and visit one of the MDC nature centers around the state in Kirkwood, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Kansas City, Blue Springs, and Jefferson City for an array of reasonably priced, nature-themed holiday gifts.

Offerings include:

• 2022 Natural Events Calendar ($9) has amazing images of native animals, plants, and places, along with phases of the moon, holidays and days of recognition, daily notes about natural events, and more.
• Cooking Wild in Missouri cookbook ($16) features more than 100 recipes for native game, fish, fruits, nuts, and mushrooms.
• Trees of Missouri ($8) field guide can help identify more than 170 tree species by leaf arrangement and shape, with easy-to-understand descriptions, range maps, and full-color illustrations.
• A Paddlers Guide to Missouri ($8) makes a great gift for canoeists, kayakers, and floaters with color photos and maps and descriptions of 58 rivers and streams.
• Missouri’s Wild Mushrooms book ($16) is a great guide for hunting, identifying, and cooking the state's most common mushrooms.
• Discover Missouri Natural Areas, Second Edition ($19.95) helps nature lovers experience 50 great examples of our state’s natural heritage. The new edition features updated maps, text, references, and scientific names.
• A Key to Missouri Trees in Winter ($5) is back in print with clear black-and-white illustrations, descriptions, and maps for each of the 123 different species featured.
• The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri, Third Edition ($29) has been updated and expanded to a 522-page illustrated guide that provides descriptions, distribution, habitats, habits, breeding, and other information on nearly 130 species of native salamanders, toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes.

Buy these and other items at MDC nature centers, through the MDC online Nature Shop at mdcnatureshop.com or by calling 877-521-8632. Order early in anticipation of slower shipping deliveries. Applicable tax, shipping, and handling costs will apply.

Give the gift of hunting and fishing permits for hunters and anglers on your list. Buy permits from vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits or through the MDC free  mobile apps, Mo Hunting and Mo Fishing, available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.