Federal shutdown means less Missouri land for hunting and fishing this year

Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Oct 22, 2025

Published in Outdoors

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gridlock in the nation’s capital will mean fewer areas to hunt in Missouri this fall and winter.

The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced it is removing nearly 5,000 acres of land from a program designed to allow outdoor enthusiasts to use specially designated private property for hunting and fishing.

While there are hundreds of thousands of acres of public land still available for those activities, the removal of six tracts of land is the latest example of how actions in Washington, D.C., are eroding state and federal partnerships serving Missourians.

In recent weeks, the federal government shutdown has imperiled food aid for low-income residents and telehealth and in-home medical visit programs for seniors.

The conservation program in question provides incentives for private landowners to allow fishing, hunting and hiking on their lands. It is funded through the federal farm bill via the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

With Republicans who control Congress unable to agree on a new agriculture spending bill and the ongoing shutdown, however, the state has been unable to renew agreements with property owners who participate.

“We’ve recently had some properties leave the program because the lack of available federal grant funding,” said Lisa Potter, who oversees the private lands program for the Department of Conservation.

Additional property owners may withdraw from the program, just as thousands of Missourians head into the fall hunting season, she said.

Last year, there were about 450,000 firearms deer permit holders in Missouri and about 210,000 archery deer permit holders.

The incentives for many of the current properties were initiated in 2020, when the department entered into a contract with the USDA for $2.2 million, which provides payments to landowners and funding for the agency to provide wildlife habitat management practices, signage and salaries to hourly staff who maintain the properties.

“The $2.2 million is now completely exhausted, which caused us to be unable to renew the properties,” Potter said. “We provide a full year payment to participating landowners at the beginning of each year, so the remaining ... properties enrolled have not reached their annual expiration date yet.”

Another round of closures could be implemented next year, she added.

In July, following the passage of President Donald Trump’s signature tax cut and budget legislation, $70 million was made available to states for the outdoor program, but the shutdown has pushed back the release of that money.

“With the recent federal shutdown, this timeline will likely be pushed back, possibly significantly, depending on the length of the shutdown, which, of course, pushes the timeline farther away,” Potter said.

The properties in question are spread across the state, including tracts in Reynolds, Iron, Bollinger, Howell and Cape Girardeau counties in the southern and southeast part of the state, and land in Gentry County in northwestern Missouri.

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