Tagged: wildfires

Federal officials say two fires in southern Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest have been contained, but new ones have broken out.

The Forest Service said Tuesday that mop-up operations are under way at the 622-acre East End Fire near the Iron County town of Bixby. Arson is suspect in that blaze, which broke out last Thursday.

Nixon seeks permission to ease land restrictions during drought

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has asked the federal government to allow farmers to graze cattle on land that's been taken out of crop production as part of a federal conservation effort.

Farmers in the state have about 1.4 million acres of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays them to plant other vegetation instead of cash crops like corn or soybeans. Livestock grazing is allowed on the land when there's a 40 percent shortage of hay and precipitation.

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Arson is the suspected cause of a fire that burned about 620 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service said Monday that law enforcement is investigating. The blaze started Thursday morning in southeast Missouri's Iron County.