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Natural Heritage Review

Information to help Missouri projects conserve heritage resources and species of conservation concern

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 this page describing heritage records in Missouri counties, and the Natural Areas system page

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 and 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

Who needs a heritage review?

Heritage Reviews are normally sought by private or public projects seeking federal funding or permits. Such projects are required to investigate and plan for potential impacts to rare or endangered species in accordance with the federal Endangered Species Act or other statutes. A heritage review is normally the first step in that investigation and planning process.

Missouri citizens have repeatedly shown their concern for conserving our natural resources. Anyone about to undertake a project and wanting to know if records indicate nearby sites of conservation concerns may request a heritage review

How do I get a Heritage Review?

Send a project description, map and Township/ Range/ Section description to:

Missouri Department of Conservation

Attention Resource Science Division

P.O. Box 180

Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180

This website can provide a preliminary review on line (Heritage Review). This review provides some projects a letter saying the project is not near to any sites of concern. For others, it will send information entered to MDC and/ or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so staff can review possible conflicts

I have one. What now?

When you have received a heritage review, what do you do next? In general, you are in a planning stage and need to identify steps to take. This may include modifying plans or making sure that planning documents include best management practices. The specific may depend on the species/habitat in question:

Is it a federal or state issue?

Federally listed species are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, listed under the Endangered Species Act. If you have a federal species on-site, you should consult with USFWS through its Missouri office about best management requirements. All federally listed species are also state listed, but not the other way around. State listed species are protected under 3 CSR 10-4.111 of the Missouri Wildlife Code. For all federal and some state listed species, best management practices (BMPs) are available to guide planning.

Is it known to be on or near the site?

If the letter reports that a species or habitat of concern has been known on or near your site, a first question is whether or not it is actually there at this time. Some records are several years old, animals range over wide territories, and even plant communities can move over time. Present on-site conditions can be determined by your personnel, a professional consultant or sometimes by contacting a local MDC Natural History Biologist. If the species is present, identify follow best management practices. If BMPs cannot be found in listings on this page, please contact the nearest Conservation Department office or Natural History Biologist for assistance.

Is it simply a possibility on your site?

If the letter reports that project area is located in a region where a species/habitat of concern could be found, further action may not be necessary. It is, however, a good idea to learn enough about the species/habitat that your site-managers will know to watch for it. For example, being in a region of Karst geology does not necessitate action by itself. However, if there is a sinkhole on site, you should take measures to avoid introducing pollutants that could affect groundwater or species dependent on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I use the website and get a Level 2 or higher response, does that mean there is a species or habitat of concern that my project must consider?

Not necessarily. The computer overlays the State with a grid of one-mile squares. It then looks to see if any marked heritage record is in a grid square near your project. Many of those records will present no concern for most projects, but it takes a person to make judgments that the computer is not able to make. For example, a tower on a bluff overlooking a river is not likely to affect fish in the river, nor is a bridge likely to imperil an upland songbird. On the other hand, in-stream construction work could affect fish spawning or mussel beds many miles away.

Why use the website if I'm going to have to mail something in anyway?

Well over half of the heritage reviews we process on paper would get a Level 1 response at the website, allowing the planner to print off a document and move forward. Response to written requests is dependent on volume received and other staff projects. It can take anywhere from one to six weeks to get an answer. If more people use the website, fewer letters will come to our offices. That will mean a shorter stack to work our way through, quicker responses generally, and more time for staff to focus on providing the best answer to those projects where their review makes a difference.

What does it mean when you say "this is not a site clearance letter?"

Various laws, including the federal Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, require or forbid certain actions by all people and agencies. These laws authorize some agencies to provide permits, approve activities, clear funds for release or make requirements. The Missouri Department of Conservation does not have authority to "clear" anything. MDC does maintain records, and a heritage review tells people what is known or suspected to be present. Generally, a Heritage Review showing no records of concern is enough information for regulatory agencies to approve permits or grants, or to state conditions under which they will "clear" your project. A Heritage Review does not relieve anyone of responsibility to comply with the laws. Securing a heritage review is a good faith effort to identify reasonable concerns, but it does not mean that conditions won't change or that there may not be surprises as a project progresses.

What is the difference between finding a specific site and having a general concern raised?

Biologists from many agencies feed information to Heritage records. When they find something—a rare plant, animal or habitat—they provide a record telling what it is, where it is, when they saw it and other things about it. When your project site includes or is near a heritage record, we refer to it as a "hit" and say something like, "we have a record of an eagle nest in the area you want to develop."

On the other hand, much is not recorded, and conditions change. For example, eagle nests may move around, but almost all are in areas adjacent to large lakes or rivers. If a project involves clearing timber in the Missouri River floodplain, we'll note the general concern that there might be an eagle nest that we don't know about.

In both cases, the project manager has to evaluate the situation and decide what to do. If it's an eagle "hit," coordination with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required. If not, the manager still has a decision—ignore it, go look, hire a consultant, etc. The decision hangs on the nature of the project, and the costs involved if the contingency is not well enough considered. The role of MDC is to provide information enabling project managers to plan and avoid surprises. Most species and sites of concern are much easier and cheaper to protect in the planning phase than after heavy machinery starts to move.

Why would MDC not know about a rare or endangered species site on my project area?

There are many reasons, some of which include:

Change is a constant in nature. Animals all move themselves and their homes over a larger or smaller territory, perhaps likely to stay in a general vicinity but not necessarily in the same spot they may at some time have been seen. A nest may be in one place when recorded then blow down or be abandoned. The same birds may start a new nest miles away. Young birds may start new nests in the vicinity.
The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn't trespass on private land without permission to find or verify sites. Some landowners won't give permission and some that do ask us not to list it. If so we don't.
We only list sites that we know about, and we have limited staff to cover Missouri's 44 million+ acres. Some things, such as eagle nests, are comparatively easy to see and verify even at a distance. Others, like small plants or cave species may be very near at hand without anyone noticing.

How long does it take to do a Heritage Review?

The online review is immediate for Level 1 sites. Level 2 or 3 sites or other requests by mail normally take a week and may take longer if there is a backlog or if staff is in transition. Some days there are no reviews requested, but there are also days when 100 sites arrive to be checked. Reviews begin processing in the order received, but responses may be delayed while checking conditions with specialists or staff in the field. Once the technical issues are clear, a draft response goes to clerical staff for completion. This step involves assembling the response letter, logging into our record system, distributing and filing copies.

Identifying Project-Location

Requirements

The Department of Conservation reviews sites for Natural Heritage issues visually, normally on a USGS topographic map background.

We prefer to see a clear topographic map showing each project site, identifying the quadrangle name and identifying either Section / Township / Range(S/T/R) or identifying a reference point with UTM or Latitude/ Longitude coordinates. [In most cases, projects can determine these parameters using free sites available on the internet.]
Street addresses are acceptable if the requestor also identifies a public website (e.g. MapQuest or TerraServer) that maps accurately to them. Some rural and recently established addresses do not map properly on some sites.
Some sites do not have Section/ Township/ Range descriptions because land-ownership was established based on Spanish and French systems predating the Public Land Survey System. This is common along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. and in Missour's historic lead belt.
Large or ongoing projects (e.g. petroleum pipelines, road projects or wind farms) should provide a GIS shapefile (based on UTM Zone 15N NAD 1983) if possible.

Tips

Several public websites can identify or help you identify location coordinates, or to print or save maps. These include Terraserver, CARES, the National Map Viewer, etc.
Since animals, plant communities and water all move around, we routinely look at all natural heritage records within a mile of project boundaries. This makes precision in drawing project site boundaries less important. Unless the project involves multiple locations or a long, thin project site, a rectangle or circle containing it works just as well as a detailed drawing of boundaries.
It is often adequate to mark a reference point and describe the project site in reference to it (e.g. "within 200 feet of the point," "within ¼ mile SE along the SW side of the road and within 200 feet of the road," or "within a rectangle extending east by X-feet and south by Y-feet").
Defining a project by section often produces more records of concern than defining with more precision. Sections are typically about 1-mile square, but most projects are much smaller. For example, for a project to build new curbs at an intersection where range and township lines meet, location based on S/T/R will mean we look for heritage records near any of the four sections when we may need to consider only those near a circle within 200 feet of the center of the intersection.
Be sure to state if grant or permit requirements require investigation of some specific zone, e.g. all issues within 5 miles, or effects 15 miles downstream.

Help With Maps

Heritage reviews are conducted by overlaying various kinds of records over the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute topographic maps. This makes the "topo" preferred as a site locator map, although other maps will in many cases work. The important thing is that the map you provide enables our staff to locate your project site on the topographic map. County highway maps often show too little detail to relate to the terrain, and the roads plotted on the two forms do not always line up well.

Maps can be a problem for many people to find, copy and mail. One solution is to find maps at on-line sites, especially one of the several sites that provide USGS maps on-line. Maps for heritage review need to make it possible to identify a project site clearly, but sharp detail in describing project boundary is not necessary – hand-drawn pinpoints or site boundaries on a printed portion of a topographic map sheets work fine (but please be sure to identify the name of the map quadrangle). Because of limited storage options at the Department of Conservation, we cannot retain large maps on file for future reference.

Online Tools

TerraServer: TerraServer is an online commercial mapping service with some useful services available at no charge. You can use it to easily find a location (e.g. a topographic or photo map of a town). Once you have found the site, the site reports latitude and longitude coordinates as you move the cursor over the map. Terraserver will also provide an email link (URL) that you can e-mail to provide reviewers the ability to look at the same map. Printable maps require payment of a fee.
CARES Map Room: The CARES (Center for Applied Research and Environmental Systems) Map Room is a free service that enables you to construct topographic or photographic background maps and identify coordinates or print maps of Missouri sites.
USGS National Map Viewer: The USGS operates the National Map Viewer which allows you to view, navigate and print maps with a variety of backgrounds, or identify latitude/longitude coordinates for the point covered by your cursor.

Site Location

Heritage reviews require, in addition to a map, the name of the county and definite site location information. One good locator is the Township, Range and Section (T/R/S), available on many deeds and legal descriptions of real estate. T/R/S works well with our mapping tools to locate project sites in most of the state. Somewhat greater precision is available with either UTM coordinates or latitude and longitude. Street addresses do not work well to locate points on topographic maps, which typically show few street names and no numbering system.

Section/Township/Range: The U.S. Government surveyed Missouri in the early 1800s using a system of Townships, Range and Sections to locate land. This system is the basis for most deeds in the state. Townships, in concept, are squares, six miles on a side, divided in 36 sections that are normally 1-mile squares. Because the earth is not flat, sections are never truly square and some are quite irregular. Also, in parts of Missouri settled before 1800 (mainly St. Louis and southeast of it), land titles established under an older French/Spanish land system often supersede the the T/R/S system and make it hard to work with. In these areas, UTM or Lat/Long are the preferred site locators.
UTM: Universal Transverse Mercator is a framework for locating sites on a type of map called a Mercator Projection—topos are among them. It basically counts meters to a point from two fixed baselines, and is usually more reliable for pinpoint precision. Most GPS receivers, increasingly common today, identify locations base on UTM coordinates. Most of Missouri is covered by UTM Zone 15, although UTM Zone 16 includes parts of Missouri that lie east of a longitude line near St. Louis.
Lat/Long: Latitude and Longitude are angular measures. Latitude measures degrees north of the Earth's equator while longitude measures degrees east or west of the Prime Meridian that passes through Greenwich, England. However, since degrees represent different distances depending on longitude or altitude, it is less precise than UTM for identifying locations. However, it may be the best information available on a site location. If you send Lat/Long site description, we prefer that it be listed in decimal degrees rather than degrees/minutes/seconds.
On-line Coordinate Converters: There are tools available on-line that allow conversion among the T/R/S, UTM and Lat/Long systems. Here are two: Degree/Minute/Second to Decimal Degree Converter and Latitude/Longitude to UTM Converter

Interactive Mapping Application Tools Overview

You have the option to use an interactive map tool to identify the location for your query. You can zoom in and out of the map by using your mouse-wheel, or the zoom slider (located in the upper left of the map). You can pan by clicking and dragging on the map.

You can identify a location on the map as a point, line, or polygon. To draw, first click either the point, line, or polygon button. You are now in draw mode and can click on the map to start drawing your shape. Follow the directions provided in the instructional tooltip to complete your drawing.

Once you are finished, you can edit your shape by clicking on it. To exit edit mode, click away from your shape. To start over, click clear and repeat the process.

Mapping Errors

Mapping systems and coordinate systems do not always work in precise unison, and this is one reason we look not only on your project site but in a one mile radius about it. Aside from error in measurement (e.g. GPS error, or round-off errors, like 39.2 v. 39.175 v. 39.174 degrees), one point identified by both UTM and Lat/Long on-site may show up on a map as two different points many meters apart.

Mapping errors affect your data on site location, and our data on endangered species sites. When our map shows a species record on your site, it may in fact be some distance away. On the other, hand, we may see a species record that appears to be several hundred yards distant, but in fact was recorded on your project site. This is part of the reason every heritage review letter should be viewed as a beginning point that project planners need to analyze appropriately and confirm on the ground.

Remember, laws protecting species and habitats of conservation concern assign responsibility to the project and its managers. A heritage review is one action toward that end, but it is only a source of information. It is our goal to help you comply with laws and regulations by identifying known or likely issues you may have to resolve, and suggesting ways to complete your project with minimal impact.

We believe it is better to remind you that a concern may be present than to omit reference and end up with an emergency when "the dozers start moving." For example, we may alert you to the possibility of karst geologic features (caves, springs, sinkholes) at a site. If you know no such features are there, there is nothing that needs to be done. If there are karst features, it is worth special planning to avoid impacts to groundwater, not to mention the needs of rare cave species and the legal implications of impacts to them.

Missouri Department of Conservation