Stewardship - Education - Open Spaces

The objective of Operation Wild Lands (OWL) is to improve wildlife habitat and nature-related education in the St. Louis region by creating a community-based partnership of volunteer land stewards of all ages who are trained to manage public open space actively.

2008 OWL Workdays

• February 16: Klamberg Woods (Ellisville) 9am-12pm
• March 1: Castlewood State Park Cleanup 9am-12pm
• March 29: Phantom Forest / Bittersweet Woods (Des Peres)
• April 5: Arbor Day Event in Des Peres 10am-2pm
• April 19: Beckemeier Woods (Chesterfield), Hickory Woods (Bridgeton) and Wild Cherry Ridge (Ferguson)
• April 25: OWLS Tree Planting, location TBA
• May 10: Teszars Woods (Arnold)

Providing urban wildlife habitat, nature education, recreation and conservation of open space in the St. Louis region is important and highly valued. Most of the public-owned urban wild acreage in the St. Louis region is passively managed as a matter of practicality. Activities such as building and maintaining trails or controlling invasive exotic plant species are time and cost prohibitive. The Open Space Council and Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS) together will utilize their already established volunteer base to provide this much needed care to the St. Louis area’s wild acres. OWL is a model volunteer-based program for restoring public lands in the St. Louis region.

In addition to land stewardship, education is an important objective of the OWL program. The OWL model strives to nurture environmental literacy and compassionate leadership in urban and suburban youth, especially under-resourced children and teenagers who lack healthy, personal connections to the natural world. OWL programing will include opportunities for youth to experience open spaces in an educational and fun environment.

If you are interested in participating in Operation Wild Lands either as a volunteer, a sponsor or a partner, please contact us!

OWL Project Sites
Beckemeier Woods Conservation Area
Bittersweet Conservation Area
Gravois Creek Conservation Area
Hickory Woods Conservation Area
Klamberg Woods Conservation Area
Phantom Forest Conservation Area
Teszars Woods Conservation Area
Wild Cherry Ridge Conservation Area
Castlewood State Park
City of Fenton’s parks
City of Wildwood’s parks
Greentree Park, Kirkwood

OWL Partners

Open Space Council
Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS)
Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Parks Association
City of Des Peres
City of Ellisville
City of Fenton
City of Kirkwood
City of Wildwood