Audubon Missouri
Audubon Missouri was established in 2000 as the state office of the National Audubon Society, which has about 8,000 members in Missouri, many of whom are also members of ten independent regional chapters. Headquartered at the new Riverlands Audubon Center on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, it also operates a center at Wildcat Glades in Joplin and works with members, chapters, and other partners on habitat restoration, education, and conservation advocacy, including state park issues.
Bruce R. Watkins Center
The Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center of Kansas City commemorates and interprets the experiences of the African-American diaspora, particularly within Missouri. The center cooperates with state parks, such as Island Mound, on educational and cultural exhibits and programs on the historic contributions of African-Americans.
Cave Research Foundation
The Cave Research Foundation is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating the research, management, and interpretation of caves and karst resources. It grew out of efforts by cave explorers working in the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky but has since participated in a number of research efforts and projects across the United States, including at Onondaga Cave State Park.
Conservation Federation of Missouri
The Conservation Federation of Missouri, organized by sportsmen in 1935, is the largest conservation group in Missouri, with 80 affiliated clubs and more than 80,000 individual members. It is also the Missouri affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. CFM seeks “to educate, inspire and empower “ people to take action to conserve wildlife." It maintains a headquarters with staff in Jefferson City, operates a number of conservation programs, and advocates on an array of conservation issues, including state parks.
Conservation Foundation of Missouri Charitable Trust
The trust, which operates under the aegis of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, supports conservation research and education, Missouri stream teams, Conservation Leadership Corps, and Katy Trail projects. It accepts and manages donations, such as the Edward D. Jones donations for Katy Trail State Park. It also owns and operates a Katy Trail Shelter.
Environmental Science
Describing its work as "for environmentalists, by environmentalists," Environmental Science advocates for environmental science education and employment. Its website provides extensive resources for prospective students and job-seekers.
Environmental Science Degree.org
Environmental Science Degree.org is a Kansas-based research and media organization that focuses upon helping job seekers, professionals, and students understand the changing sectors of sustainability and alternative energy.
Gateway Off-Road Cyclists
Mountain-bike enthusiasts in the St. Charles area founded GORC in 1998 to facilitate the design and construction of a local bicycle and hiking trail. Now expanded to include the larger St. Louis metro area, GORC remains committed to advocacy, design, construction, and maintenance of multi-use trails. An affiliate of the International Mountain Bicycle Association, it works with federal, state and local agencies involved in public-use trails and hosts a variety of group trips, rides and other events.
Great Rivers Environmental Law Center
The center, founded in 2002 and headquartered in St. Louis, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free and reduced-fee public interest legal services to individuals and organizations working to protect and preserve Missouri's environment. The center has helped on a number of recent state park issues related to such parks as Arrow Rock, Big Oak Tree. Katy Trail, and Taum Sauk Mountain.
Landmarks Association of Greater St. Louis
The Landmarks Association, founded in 1958, is dedicated to the conservation and adaptive reuse of St. Louis's architectural heritage. It has conducted citywide surveys and nominations of historic structures and neighborhoods and promoted historic tax credit reinvestment, resulting in the rescue of much of the city's cultural heritage.
Meramec River Recreational Association
The Meramec River Recreational Association is a volunteer group whose members give both their time and money to help protect the Meramec River and its watershed. The organization works to link parks, trails, natural areas, and historic sites for the recreational, aesthetic, educational and economic benefit of the public.
Middle Mississippi Valley Grotto
A chapter of the National Speleological Society, the Middle Mississippi Valley Grotto is committed to the exploration, study, and conservation of caves in Missouri, particularly in Perry County and the Meramec Valley. A self-described "fixture in St. Louis since 1958," MMV members meet each month and participate in cartography and speleological research. The MMV has enjoyed a long and cooperative relationship with public and private landowners in its efforts to promote "productive caving."
Missouri Archaeological Society
Founded in 1935, the Missouri Archaeological Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious state societies of professional and amateur archaeologists. It promotes the study, preservation, and interpretation of prehistoric and historic remains and sites in Missouri. Many of its 700 members are active in twelve regional chapters, a number of which are regularly involved with archaeological sites in state parks.
Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation
The federation conducts numerous events and advocates for trails and other measures to make Missouri a safer place to walk, run and cycle, including the Katy Trail and the Rock Island Connector to Kansas City.
Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy
The conservancy is a land trust formed in 1992 to conserve cave and karst areas in Missouri through leases, ownership, management, or other arrangements. It cooperates with Missouri State Parks and other organizations to protect caves, promote scientific study, and educate fellow cavers and the public about cave and karst conservation.
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
The Missouri Coalition for the Environment is an independent citizens environmental organization headquartered in St. Louis that engages in public education, environmental advocacy, and legal action for clean water, clean air, clean energy, and a healthy environment.
Missouri History Museum
The Missouri History Museum of the Missouri Historical Society was built in Forest Park with proceeds from the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and greatly expanded by the Emerson Center and the nearby Library and Research Center. The museum, library, and society preserve and interpret materials related to the history of St. Louis and the West and cooperate with many agencies and organizations, including Missouri State Parks.
Missouri Park and Recreation Association
The Missouri Park and Recreation Association, an affiliate of the National Recreation and Park Association, is an association of park and recreation professionals dedicated to promoting public support for parks and recreation and public awareness of the contribution of recreation to a balanced life. It promotes professional ethics and education and cooperates with public agencies and other organizations on behalf of quality park and recreation facilities and programs.
Missouri Preservation
Founded in 1976 as Missouri Heritage Trust, Missouri Preservation is dedicated to promoting, supporting, and coordinating historic preservation activities in Missouri through a grassroots network of individuals, organizations, and preservation commissions. It coordinates the annual statewide preservation conference, sponsors educational workshops in communities throughout the state, promotes public awareness and advocates for threatened historic resources, and offers technical assistance and restoration strategies for individuals and communities.
Missouri River Communities Network
The network, headquartered in Columbia, is a non-profit organization working to connect people with the heritage of the Missouri River. It cooperates with state parks, especially the Katy Trail, and with local communities, merchants' associations, and other organizations on educational and promotional activities to raise awareness of the river and river communities.
Missouri Speliological Survey
The survey, established in 1956 as a chapter of the National Speliological Society, coordinates the efforts of various caving grottos and other groups in the state, encourages and initiates constructive activities such as cave science projects, mapping and description of caves, and serves as a repository for cave data gathered by individuals and caving clubs. The mission of the Survey is to locate, record, explore, conserve, and study the more than 6000 caves of Missouri.
Missouri State Parks Foundation
Incorporated in 2001, the foundation is governed by an independent, volunteer board that raises funds to support projects in Missouri State Parks. It raised funds for a Katy Trail connection to Jefferson City, assists with the annual Cycle Across Missouri on the Katy Trail, and is helping with the development of Don Robinson State Psrk.
Open Space Council/St. Louis Region
Organized in 1965, the Open Space Council is a not-for-profit group dedicated to "conserving, protecting and sustaining land and water resources” throughout the St. Louis region. The council, which played an active role in the creation of Castlewood State Park, seeks to identify open-space areas that can be acquired and protected for public use and annually hosts river cleanups and other special events.
Osage Region Trail Association
The Osage Region Trail Association was formed in 1996 by a group of hikers and mountain bikers interested in designing, building, and maintaining multi-use, natural-surface trails. ORTA has contributed to the development or enhancement of more than 30 miles of trails in central Missouri, including at Finger Lakes, Rockbridge, and Lake of the Ozarks state parks.
Ozark Greenways
Formed in 1991, Ozark Greenways is a non-profit citizen organization working with private supporters and government agencies to preserve the heritage of the Ozarks by developing a greenway trail network and other parks and open space in the greater Springfield region.
Ozark Regional Land Trust
ORLT works in the five-state Ozark region to help landowners voluntarily protect land in perpetuity through various measures including conservation easements, nature preserves, and partnerships with conservation organizations. Since its founding in 1984 it has protected more than 25,000 acres of land in the Ozarks.
Ozark Trail Association
OTA, incorporated in 2002 and headquartered in Potosi, is a non-profit volunteer group dedicated to the vision of a trail through the Missouri Ozarks from St. Louis to the Arkansas border. The group cooperates with various public agencies and private organizations to maintain nearly 300 miles of the Ozark Trail and design and build new segments, including trail segments in Taum Sauk and Johnson's Shuts-Ins state parks and the Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry.
Show-Me Missouri Backcountry Horsemen
The Show-Me Missouri Back Country Horsemen seeks to preserve equestrian access to public trails in Missouri so that future generations can “preserve historic skills connecting America’s past to the future.” The SMMBCH and its local chapters offer volunteer services to the Missouri state departments of Natural Resources, Conservation, and Transportation, as well as various federal and local policymakers, whom they also help to educate about issues related to equestrian use of public lands.
Sierra Club--Missouri Chapter
The Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club, an integral part of the national Sierra Club with some X,000 Missouri members, coordinates advocacy on a wide array of Missouri environmental issues, including some pertaining to state parks. Its four regional groups offer outings and activities in state parks and other public lands. Sierra Club trail crews built and continue to maintain the Whispering Pine Trail in Hawn State Park as well as certain trails in the Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry.
Springfield Plateau Grotto
The grotto is a chapter of the National Speleological Society whose members share a common interest in the conservation, survey, and management of caves. It works with the Missouri Speleological Survey to document, map, and study caves, and with public agencies and private landowners to protect caves and promote better understanding of caves and karst ecosystems.
State Historical Society of Missouri
Founded in 1898 and headquartered at the University of Missouri–Columbia, the society is the premier research center for the study of Missouri state and local history. It preserves reference materials and manuscript collections through research centers on the each of the four UM campuses and conducts programs and workshops for students and the public.
St. Louis Audubon Society
The St. Louis Audubon Society encourages “conservation friendly management” and promotes citizen education about cultural and environmental resources in the St. Louis region. It supports conservation and environmental research, and has actively promoted and cooperated in the restoration of bottomland forests, wet prairies, and marshes within the confluence region, such as at Confluence Point State Park.
Trailnet
Trailnet promotes walking and bicycling in order to encourage healthy living for people in the St. Louis area. The group organizes a wide variety of recreational programs and advocates for programs, planning, and policies that make possible healthier, safer communities. It cooperates with state parks in the St. Louis area, including Confluence, Babler and Castlewood.