Closings

PURPOSE: This rule establishes hours department areas are closed to public use and designates conditions under which some areas are closed to certain activities. (1) Department areas are open to public use only from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily; however, hunting, fishing, trapping, dog training, camping, launching boats, and landing boats are permitted at any time in areas where these activities are authorized, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. (2) Any department area may be opened during closed hours for department-sponsored events or programs. Parking or storage of watercraft and commercial vehicles is prohibited during the closed hours. (3) Department lands associated with offices, education centers, nature centers, hatcheries, staffed shooting ranges, and the following conservation areas are open to public use only during the hours authorized by posting: (A) Beckemeier (August G.) Conservation Area; (B) Bellefontaine Conservation Area; (C) Blind Pony Lake Conservation Area; (D) Columbia Bottom Conservation Area; (E) Goodson (Jean and Joan) Conservation Area; (F) Gravois Creek Conservation Area; (G) Hickory Woods Conservation Area; (H) Klamberg (Roger) Woods Conservation Area; (I) Peck Ranch Conservation Area (inside the fenced portions designated as a refuge by posting or as shown on the area map or the online conservation atlas); (J) Phantom Forest Conservation Area; (K) Reed (James A.) Memorial Wildlife Area; (L) Rock Lake Conservation Area; (M) Rockwoods Range; (N) Rockwoods Reservation; (O) Rush Creek Conservation Area; and (P) Wild Cherry Ridge Conservation Area. (4) The following department areas are closed during high waters: (A) On Black Island Conservation Area, all public use is prohibited, except fishing and waterfowl hunting by boat, when the Mississippi River water level is at or above twentyeight feet (28') on the Caruthersville, MO, gauge; (B) On Donaldson Point Conservation Area, all public use is prohibited, except fishing and waterfowl hunting by boat, when the Mississippi River water level is at or above thirty-four feet (34') on the New Madrid, MO, gauge; (C) On Girvin (John L. and Georgia) Conservation Area, all public use is prohibited, except fishing and waterfowl hunting by boat, when the Mississippi River water level is at or above twenty-nine feet (29') on the New Madrid, MO, gauge; (D) On Hornersville Swamp Conservation Area, all public use is prohibited, except fishing and waterfowl hunting by boat, when the water level is at or above thirty-eight feet (38') on the Little River Floodway Ditch No. 1 at Hornersville, MO, gauge; and (E) On Seven Island Conservation Area, all public use is prohibited, except fishing and waterfowl hunting by boat, when the Mississippi River water level is at or above thirty feet (30') on the New Madrid, MO, gauge. (5) On the following department areas, portions designated as Waterfowl Refuge are closed to all public use according to the dates listed below and as shown on the area map or the online conservation atlas. Portions of these designated areas may be open to other activities by posting. (A) October 15 through March 1: 1. Brown (Bob) Conservation Area; 2. Coon Island Conservation Area; 3. Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area; 4. Fountain Grove Conservation Area; 5. Four Rivers (August A. Busch Jr. Memorial Wetlands at) Conservation Area; 6. Grand Pass Conservation Area; 7. Leach (B.K.) Memorial Conservation Area (Kings Lake and Bittern Basin); 8. Marais Temps Clair Conservation Area; 9. Montrose Conservation Area; 10. Nodaway Valley Conservation Area; 11. Perry (Ralph and Martha) Conservation Area; 12. Schell-Osage Conservation Area; 13. Settle’s Ford Conservation Area; and 14. Shanks (Ted) Conservation Area. (B) October 15 through March 31: 1. Otter Slough Conservation Area; and 2. Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area. (C) October 15 through the end of the last segment of the appropriate zone’s duck season: 1. Duck Creek Conservation Area (Pool 1 South); 2. Kendzora (Anthony and Beatrice) Conservation Area; 3. Leach (B.K.) Memorial Conservation Area (River Slough portion); 4. Otter Slough Conservation Area (Cypress Lake); and 5. Stockton Lake Management Lands. (D) October 15 through the end of the last segment of the appropriate zone’s Canada goose season: 1. Duck Creek Conservation Area (Pool 1 North and Dark Cypress Swamp Refuge); 2. Little River Conservation Area; and 3. Truman Reservoir Management Lands (Grand River Bottoms Wildlife Management Area). (6) On the following department areas, portions designated as Waterfowl Hunting Only Zone are closed to all public use except waterfowl hunting, according to the dates listed below and as shown on the area map or the online conservation atlas. Portions of these designated areas may be open to other activities by posting. (A) From October 15—February 15: 1. Coon Island Conservation Area; 2. Duck Creek Conservation Area; 3. Fountain Grove Conservation Area; 4. Four Rivers Conservation Area (August A. Busch Jr. Memorial Wetlands at); 5. Grand Pass Conservation Area; 6. Otter Slough Conservation Area (Waterfowl Hunt Zone 1); and 7. Schell-Osage Conservation Area. (B) From October 15 through the end of the last segment of the appropriate zone’s duck season: 1. Brown (Bob) Conservation Area; 2. Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area; 3. Leach (B.K.) Memorial Conservation Area; 4. Marais Temps Clair Conservation Area; 5. Nodaway Valley Conservation Area; 6. Otter Slough Conservation Area (Waterfowl Hunt Zone 2); and 7. Shanks (Ted) Conservation Area. (C) From November 1 through the end of the last segment of the appropriate zone’s Canada goose season: 1. Little River Conservation Area; and 2. Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area (Waterfowl Hunt Zone 1). (D) From November 15 through the end of the last segment of the appropriate zone’s Canada goose season on Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area (Waterfowl Hunt Zone 2). AUTHORITY: sections 40 and 45 of Art. IV, Mo. Const., and section 252.040, RSMo 2016.* This rule previously filed as 3 CSR 10-4.115. Original rule filed April 30, 2001, effective Sept. 30, 2001. Amended: Filed Oct. 1, 2001, effective Oct. 15, 2001. Amended: Filed May 9, 2002, effective Oct. 30, 2002. Amended: Filed April 20, 2005, effective Sept. 30, 2005. Amended: Filed Sept. 27, 2007, effective Feb. 29, 2008. Amended: Filed Oct. 10, 2008, effective April 30, 2009. Amended: Filed Sept. 12, 2011, effective March 1, 2012. Amended: Filed March 17, 2014, effective Aug. 30, 2014. Amended: Filed Aug. 28, 2015, effective March 1, 2016. Amended: Filed Aug. 29, 2016, effective March 1, 2017. Amended: Filed March 1, 2017, effective Aug. 30, 2017. Amended: Filed Aug. 28, 2018, effective March 1, 2019. Amended: Filed March 1, 2019, effective July 30, 2019. Amended: Filed March 2, 2020, effective Aug. 30, 2020. Amended: Filed July 29, 2022, effective Feb. 28, 2023. Amended: Filed Sept. 6, 2024, effective Feb. 28, 2025. Amended: Filed Feb. 4, 2026, effective Aug. 30, 2026. *Original authority: 252.040, RSMo 1945, amended 1989.