Correction: An earlier version of this story had the wrong time for the Ozark Mountain State Park meeting, which is at 1 p.m. on June 27.

Whatever happened to Bryant Creek State Park and Ozark Mountain State Park — southwest Missouri tracts that were bought by the state but never opened?

In June, Missouri State Parks officials will have two meetings about both and take questions from the public about each park's future.

The first meeting will be for the 2,917-acre Bryant Creek State Park, located 18 miles southeast of Ava. The meeting will begin June 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Ava Senior Center, 109 N. Spring St.

The second meeting will be for the 1,011-acre Ozark Mountain State Park north of Branson and just north of the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area. That meeting begins at 1 p.m. on June 27 at 4424 Sycamore Church Road, Branson.

What are the meetings for?

At both venues, people will be invited to share comments about the currently closed state parks, both of which were bought in 2016. State park staff will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

Representatives from Missouri State Parks will talk about the uniqueness of each park property and hear how the public would like the parks to be used.

Unlike Echo Bluff State Park near Eminence, which is heavily developed with a lodge, RV park, cabins and camping areas, park officials in the past have said neither Ozark Mountain nor Bryant Creek parks would have such extensive amenities.

The Missouri Sierra Club plans to offer its input at both meetings. Marisa Frazier, Ozarks Conservation Program coordinator for the Missouri group, said she hopes the new state parks will focus on protecting the parks' water resources from pollution.

Frazier said the Sierra Club will offer volunteers to help build trails and do conservation work at both parks.

Plans for Bryant Creek State Park

At Bryant Creek State Park, Frazier said the organization hopes to see minimal development in the wooded northern half of the park and forest recovery and restoration in the southern half, which was logged in recent years.

"We want the state park to designate the northwest corner as a state park wild area, where no logging could occur in the future," she said.

The group supports the construction of vault toilets, but no electrical hookups for RVs at both parks.

At Ozark Mountain State Park, Frazier said the Sierra Club hopes park officials will follow the lead at adjacent Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area, which does not allow horseback riding or mountain biking. The group will offer volunteers to help preserve the fragile glade areas and build trails and remove cedar trees that threaten to overrun some areas of the park.

"It's important to get people to these meetings and show that people do care about their public lands," she said.

The meetings will be the first of three as part of the Conceptual Development Plan process that state park staff uses when it develops land for a new park.

A second CDP meeting will follow in September with a third planned early next the year. The process is designed to provide information about the parks to the public and allow user groups to suggest how each area should be developed and used.

The meetings give staff the opportunity to let people know the current status and future plans for the parks and historic sites, and they offer visitors the opportunity to comment about the facilities.

For more information about Ozark Mountain or Bryant Creek park meetings, contact Carl Bonnell at Table Rock State Park at 417-334-4704.

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