NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
Just Moments in Time Steve Yocom has been a farmer his whole life.
stability of the structure, but also provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife.” Steve and Rachel were in. “We knew we had to try this and hope it works, or don’t and know what that outcome will be,” said Rachel. Working with The Nature Conservancy, MDC, and the Ozark Land Trust, nearly 2,000 feet of streambank has been stabilized using bioengineering. Trees from the Yocoms’ property were selectively harvested and used on the project to cut costs and utilize homegrown resources. They were then able to take advantage of an MDC cost share program to revegetate the area and add diversity to their grazing mix. Throughout the process, Steve made sure Rachel was a part of all conversations and decisions. “This land will be hers someday and I want her to be involved in the day-to-day operations and long-term decisions,” said Steve. The Yocoms’ goal was to stop losing their land to the creek now and into the future. “We are just trying to continue what is not just ours, but our future generations’,” said Rachel. “We are just moments in time.”
“My grandmother and grandfather bought this property in the 1930s, and it’s been in the family ever since,” he said. “I never left.” The family farm, located in the small town of Davisville in Crawford County, Mo., has grown to encompass over 1,100 acres with well over 2 miles of frontage along the Huzzah Creek—a tributary of the Meramec River. It was historically a grass-based dairy and beef farm and remains a cattle farm today. Since 2009, Steve and his daughter, Rachel Hopkins, his partner in the cattle operation, have fought severe erosion along their streambanks. “We’ve tried a lot of options, including planting willows and laying down erosion control mat, but none of them held,” said Steve. “We were losing our land with every flood,” said Rachel. When Rob Pulliam, a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), connected Steve and Rachel with Dr. Steve Herrington, TNC’s director of science & impact measures, they learned there was another solution. “Nature-based solutions or bioengineering isn’t a new concept, but it’s rarely used in Missouri,” said Herrington. “It’s using the fundamentals of engineering but utilizing nature for the materials, which not only increases the
LEARN MORE about bioengineering at nature.org/HuzzahCreek
THIS PAGE Three generations of the Yocum Family—Steve Yocum, his daughter, Rachel Hopkins, and granddaughter, Cora Hopkins. © Kristy Stoyer/TNC
10 MISSOURI: ACTION AND IMPACT
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