MDC Lebanon office to be reclassified as a field office

LEBANON, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) office in Lebanon is being reclassified from a public contact office to a field office. Though this change is taking the word “public” out of the office’s administrative classification, members of the public need not worry – people will still be able to connect with staff who oversee MDC’s operations in the Lebanon area.

Effective Nov. 2, the office located at 2350 S. Jefferson Ave. in Lebanon will become an MDC field office. Callers to the office will be immediately routed to the MDC Southwest Regional Office in Springfield and, from there, will be connected with the appropriate MDC field staff. This will allow for better public service opportunities. There is no administrative staff at the office to handle walk-in customers, all MDC employees based at the Lebanon office spend more time in the field than at the office.

Walk-in customers at the Lebanon office has been a moot issue for most of this year. The facility has been closed to the public since March due to health concerns surrounding COVID-19. Prior to its COVID-related closure, the office had been receiving little visitation from the public. A survey conducted by MDC staff between January, 2019 through March of 2020 – a period that included the busy times of spring turkey and fall deer hunting seasons – showed the Lebanon office averaged three walk-in customers per day for the 15-month period.

“It’s important to point out that reclassifying the Lebanon office is more of an internal alteration than a change that will affect how we will continue to serve people in the Lebanon community and the surrounding area,” said MDC Southwest Regional Administrator Max Alleger. “All calls to the Lebanon office will be seamlessly connected to our Southwest Regional Office in Springfield and, from there, callers are connected with appropriate staff. Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the Lebanon field office reopens, people can either call the Lebanon office in advance to confirm that staff are in the office that day or, they can call our Southwest Regional Office in Springfield and be connected with MDC staff that can help them. These changes we’re making to how MDC’s Lebanon office is operated will not have any effect on how we serve the public.”

For the present, people in the Lebanon area can call MDC’s Southwest Regional Office in Springfield at 417-895-6880 or can get information at https://mdc.mo.gov/contact-engage. People are also reminded that MDC has free apps for Android or IPhone devices including MO Fishing, MO Hunting, MO Outdoors, and MO Conservationist that can also provide information about outdoor opportunities across the state.