Understanding Missouri's Public Lands

Public lands in Missouri fall into three categories – lands owned by the federal government, lands owned by the state government and lands owned by local governments. These lands serve numerous purposes, but play especially important roles in providing outdoor recreation for the public and in protecting natural habitats. There is a constant tension between those who seek to use these lands for financial gain and those who want to enjoy their natural values.

As more of the Missouri landscape gives way to urban sprawl, it is also raising the question whether Missouri has enough land in public ownership, and whether the current public lands are adequately distributed around the state. Ninety-three percent of the state's 44.5 million acres are privately held, meaning that roughly three million acres are owned by some form of public entity. Despite the rapid loss of open space to sprawl, land acquisition programs have been reduced in recent years, especially at the state level.

Federal Lands

The largest single federal land holding in Missouri is the Mark Twain National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The official boundaries of the Mark Twain encompass approximately three million acres, about half of which is actually owned by the federal government. The Mark Twain is mostly scattered across the southern one-third of the state and contains seven wilderness areas, a national wild and scenic river (the Eleven Point River), the largest spring on U.S. Forest Service land in the country (Greer Spring) and over 500 native wildlife species, including bald eagles, black bears and the Ozark hellbender (a rare large amphibian).

Much of the Current River flows through
the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Other federal land holdings in Missouri include ten National Wildlife Refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that encompass 70,586 acres; Corps of Engineers lake projects that collectively encompass several hundred thousand acres of land and water; and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (Current and Jacks Fork Rivers) that encompasses more than 65,000 acres.