Give nature-themed holiday gifts from MDC

by Joe Jerek, Missouri Department of Conservation 


Have nature lovers on your holiday gift list? The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) online Nature Shop makes holiday shopping a breeze for anyone interested in nature-themed gifts. Offerings include the ever-popular Natural Events Calendar, plus a variety of books and more for all ages.

Holiday shoppers can also skip retail stores and visit one of the MDC nature centers around the state in Kirkwood, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Kansas City, Blue Springs, and Jefferson City for an array of reasonably priced, nature-themed holiday gifts. Find MDC nature centers at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/nature-centers.

MDC holiday gift offerings include:

• 2025 Natural Events Calendar ($9) -- This annual favorite has amazing images of native animals, plants, and places, along with phases of the moon, holidays and days of recognition, daily notes about natural events, and more.
• Coneflower Nature Journal ($8) – It includes simple tips to get started drawing or writing about nature. It is spiral-bound with plenty of blank pages. 
• Cooking Wild in Missouri ($16) – This favorite cookbook features more than 100 recipes for native game, fish, fruits, nuts, and mushrooms.
• Strange but True ($8.95)  -- This fun offering was adapted from the pages of MDC’s Xplor magazine and features 350 weird and wild facts and illustrations about creatures that inhabit Missouri. 
• A Paddlers Guide to Missouri ($9) – This newly revised edition makes a great gift for canoeists, kayakers, and floaters with color photos, maps, and descriptions of 54 rivers and streams. The 102-page, spiral-bound guide includes trip planning tips, equipment recommendations, paddling pointers, and more. New to the 2023 edition are maps of the upper Mississippi River from Hannibal to St. Louis and an expanded section on the Big River.
• Owl & Nuthatches Notecard Sets ($8) – This is great for gift giving. Each set includes 12 cards of either a barred owl or brown-headed pair of nuthatch birds.  
• Missouri’s Wild Mushrooms ($26) – This book is a great guide for hunting, identifying, and cooking the state's most common mushrooms.
• Discover Missouri Natural Areas, Second Edition ($19.95) – This handy reference helps nature lovers experience 50 great examples of our state’s natural heritage. The new edition features updated maps, text, references, and scientific names.
• Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri, Third Edition ($29) – This classic book has been updated and expanded to a 522-page illustrated guide that provides descriptions, distribution, habitats, habits, breeding, and other information on nearly 130 species of native salamanders, toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes. 

Buy these and other items at MDC nature centers, through the MDC online Nature Shop at mdcnatureshop.com or by calling 877-521-8632. Order early. Applicable tax, shipping, and handling costs will apply.

Give the gift of hunting and fishing permits for hunters and anglers on your list. Buy permits from vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits or through the MDC free mobile apps, Mo Hunting and Mo Fishing, available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.

Missouri Department of Conservation offers a variety of gift options for nature lovers in your life, including the 2025 Natural Events calendar. Photo credit: MDC