What is a Heritage Review?
Heritage reviews are informational in nature, and result in a document informing a
requestor if there are sites of conservation concern near a proposed project. In
addititon, potential concerns in the project area (e.g. we don't know that an endangered
species is present, but that the location seems to fit its habitat needs) are identified.
The Missouri Department of Conservation compiles information from many agencies
and sources to track where professionals have confirmed the presence of rare or
endangered species and of good examples of natural areas or unusual habitats. For
more information, see
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/heritage/
which describes heritage records in Missouri
counties, and
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/naturalareas/
which describes the Natural Areas system.
The Department's records:
• come from many internal and external sources
• are recognized by most agencies as the best source of Missouri's
information about where species of conservation concern and high
quality natural communities actually occur
• includes a set of records of known.
◊
federally listed rare, endangered or candidate species sites
◊
sites with state species or habitats of concern
• constantly change as more or better information becomes available.
It is department policy not to reveal detailed locations of known heritage sites.
Identifying sites with precision could expose them to damage from collectors or visitors.
Moreover with 93% of Missouri land in private ownership, many heritage records are on
private property. Private landowners often are willing to share information only if they
feel comfortable such cooperation will not direct unwanted visitors or trespassers to
their land.
