Cory W. MacNeil / KBIA

Every year, Missouri’s George O. White State Forest nursery sends out 2 million tree seedlings to customers across the state and beyond. The nursery was founded by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1930s to assist landowners in reforesting the state. The Ozarks had been heavily logged during the construction of railroads heading west. The original site was just 40 acres. It’s now owned and operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation. KBIA’s Jana Rose Schleis interviewed the staff growing and cultivating the trees on the now 100 acre site in Licking, Missouri… As for keeping wildlife from eating on the plots of snacks the nursery unintentionally makes available for them, the forest technicians use diluted Frank’s Hot Sauce sprayed over the fields. “We buy it in cases and Jeff City has never said a word about why we buy so much hot sauce.”