MPF, NATIONAL & STATE
PRAIRIE-RELATED NEWS
CALL FOR PRAIRIE GARDENS SMALL GRANTS PROPOSALS
Gardening groups, parks, schools, and other entities are invited to submit proposals to the Missouri Prairie Foundation's Prairie Gardens Small Grants Program. In 2012, $500 will be awarded to help fund the establishment of a prairie garden or planting. Gardens must be available for the public to visit/enjoy and must incorporate native prairie species. Matching funds are not required, but proposals with secured matching funds may be evaluated higher than others.
Proposals should address explanation of purpose, include a budget and time frame for completion, and design, maintenance, and interpretation plans. Please limit proposals---including any diagrams or other graphics---to two typewritten pages. Proposals should be submitted no later than March 1, 2012 and grant award will be announced April 2, 2012. Proposals should include contact information.
Send proposals to info @ moprairie.com (remove spaces).
Questions? Call 888-843-6739.
posted January 31, 2012
STILWELL PRAIRIE RESTORATION
Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers who braved a 27-degree day to help restore MPF's Stilwell Prairie January 21, 2012. The volunteers waded through chest-high brush to clear invading woody growth in a swale. This work helps us get closer to our Stilwell Prairie restoration goals-many thanks! Members are always invited to visit this beautiful, original 376-acre prairie in Vernon County with views of the Little Osage and Marmaton River Valleys. --photo by Cathy Hansen --
posted January 31, 2012
LICHEN GLADE RESTORATION
On December 10, 2011, fourteen Missouri Master Naturalists and MPF members volunteered to help restore the 34-acre Lichen Glade in St. Clair County, owned by The Nature Conservancy. The volunteers used hand tools to cut oak sprouts covering an acre of ground in a woodland portion of the property, and treated the stumps with herbicide to prevent regrowth. This work is helping to open up the understory and allow more sunlight to the ground, favoring more native grasses and forbs. --photo by Kenyon Greene--
posted January 31, 2012
MPF'S RICHARD DATEMA SUPERVISES WOOD'S PRAIRIE BURN FOR OZARKS REGIONAL LAND TRUST
Springfield Plateau Chapter of the Missouri Master Naturalist
posted January 18, 2012
MPF RECEIVES KANSAS CITY WILDLANDS AWARD
At the 16th Annual Bridging the Gap Environmental Excellence Awards, MPF was honored with the Kansas City WildLands Award for an Organization at a ceremony hosted by UMB Bank on November 3, 2011.
MPF was recognized for its restoration work at Jerry Smith Park prairie in Kansas City, for recruiting participation in workdays at the prairie, and for creating interpretive signage at the prairie to educate hundreds of new visitors to the natural history significance of the site.
Kansas City WildLands is a coalition of resource professionals, private conservation organizations and conservation minded citizens established to restore and manage the remnants of Kansas City's original landscape. Kansas City WildLands is an affiliate of Bridging the Gap, a coalition of diverse groups working to make the Kansas City region sustainable by connecting environment, economy, and community.
View the inspiring video highlighting all 2011 Bridging the Gap award winners, and featuring MPF board member Steve Mowry and Jerry Smith Park prairie.
PIONEER TIMES LIVE ON IN KANSAS' TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
The Associated Press
STRONG CITY, Kan. | It’s easy to envision the world that pioneers encountered while looking at a herd of bison grazing at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in east-central Kansas.
Little has changed over the decades on the landscape of the only national park dedicated to protecting this dwindling ecosystem, which once covered 40 percent of the United States. Today, less than 4 percent remains of the original tallgrass prairie. Most of what’s left is in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and the Osage Hills of northeastern Oklahoma. READ MORE AT THE KANSAS CITY STAR
posted November 4, 2011
WILD ORCHID FOUND IN 7 STATES NOT ENDANGERED
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says an orchid found in seven states is not in danger of extinction and doesn't require endangered species protection.
The agency on Tuesday announced its finding on the Oklahoma grass pink orchid. The flower is found in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. READ MORE
posted October 9, 2011
PIECE OF UNDISTURBED PRAIRIE LIES IN SOUTH KANASAS CITY MO
By Tim Engle, The Kansas City Star
Visitors to Smith Park can get up close with the remnant prairie by hiking a 2-mile path through the largest chunk. If you get worn out, benches await at a scenic outlook.
Kansas City’s thousands-years-old prairie awaits you, but first you have to find it.
One way to get there is to drive through the Martin City area. Heading south of 135th Street on Holmes Road, don’t look for signs to Jerry Smith Farm Park and Saeger Woods Conservation Area, the prairie’s home, because there aren’t any.
Take a left (that’s east) at 139th Street. Part of this narrow road feels like entering a tunnel thanks to the arching branches overhead that blot out the sun.
But soon enough, about three-fourths of a mile in, you’ll see the park entrance on your left. If your vehicle survives the mini-canyons along several feet of gravel road, you’ll be greeted by the waving grasses, cheerful yellow or purple flowers, flitting butterflies and chirping birds lucky enough to inhabit a chunk of virgin prairie. READ MORE
posted September 15, 2011
MPF Tote Bags for Sale!
Support MPF and show off your love of prairies with a beautiful tote bag!
New MPF tote bags display our beautiful logo. Bags are all cotton, durable, large, and practical with long handles for grocery shopping and lots of other purposes.
Available for $12 at upcoming prairie events where MPF has a booth, or send $15 (for bag and shipping), and your mailing address, to
Susan Parrish
204 East 550th Road
Walnut Grove, MO 65770
Phone: 417-788-2308
Susan will be happy to mail you a tote bag!
LIGHTING A FIRE FOR PRAIRIE
by Carol Davit
photos by Nappadol Paothong
Forty-five years ago, a small group of Missourians held a meeting at Boone Tavern in Columbia to talk about prairie. Or rather, the disappearance of it.
This was 1966, nearly 100 years after the introduction of the first steam-powered tractor, which marked the beginning of accelerated land conversion to row crops. Even before statehood, the plow had begun turning over Missouri’s inheritance of 15 million acres of tall grass prairie. By mid-20th century, 1 percent of the state’s original prairie was all that remained. The vast native grasslands that once rolled unbroken across much of Missouri were gone, and remaining fragments were isolated, their wildlife value much diminished. READ MORE
posted September 1, 2011
Missouri Department of Conservation News: Aug. 30, 2011
WEATHER GIVES ENDANGERED PRAIRIE CHICKENS A NESTING BOOST
Dry weather and good nesting and feeding habitat brought surge in brood counts and number of chicks reaching self-reliant size.
by Bill Graham, MDC
KANSAS CITY, Mo -- Missouri’s endangered prairie chickens got a major lift this summer from dry weather in June and continued refinement in how native grasslands are managed.
The Missouri population dipped to a critically low number of about 100 prairie chickens sighted on mating grounds this spring, in a state that once had hundreds of thousands. However, favorable weather helped hens on MDC-managed prairies hatch and rear their young this summer.
“We had an apparent nesting success of almost 80 percent, which is phenomenal,” said Max Alleger, grassland bird coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “Most studies show that nesting success in stable populations is usually 50 percent.” READ MORE
posted August 31, 2011
TWO NEW BEE SPECIES DISCOVERED ON OKLAHOMA PRESERVE
There haven’t been many positive stories about bees in the news lately. But in 2008 a bee inventory and monitoring program began at The Nature Conservancy’s Four Canyon Preserve in Oklahoma which has found two species new to science.
The following is a guest post written by Mike Arduser which explains the important roles bees play in the ecosystem and the two species that have been found.
Mr. Arduser is a natural history biologist and insect Heritage biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He has authored or co-authored a number of popular and technical publications on bees and pollination ecology and is working on a book about tallgrass prairie bees. READ MORE
posted August 9, 2011
FACING THE STORM: STORY OF THE AMERICAN BISON;
Broadcast Premiere on National PBS Series, Independent Lens
Independent Lens, one of the premier television showcases for documentary film, will include the latest High Plains film, FACING THE STORM: STORY OF THE AMERICAN BISON, in its upcoming 2011-2012 broadcast season. This latest work by filmmaker, Doug Hawes-Davis, is an unflinching examination of the complex, centuries-long relationship between humans and bison in North America. Broadcast date and time will be announced in August. READ MORE
posted July 9, 2011
JUNE 20-26, 2011 Pollinator Week
Five years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of the final week in June as
“National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week has now grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. READ MORE
Missouri becomes focus of drive for energy crops
By Steve Everly, The Kansas City Star
A farmers’ cooperative near Warrensburg, Mo., could help decide the fate of President Barack Obama’s plans to produce more cellulosic-based biofuels to curb oil imports.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to announce today that the Show Me Energy Cooperative will get the first grant in a federal program to determine whether U.S. farmers are interested in growing large quantities of switchgrass or other such energy crops.
The Obama administration wants U.S. farmers to harvest enough cellulosic crops to produce 16 billion gallons of ethanol a year. That would displace about 7 percent of gasoline supplies and help hold down fuel prices. READ MORE
posted May 5, 2011
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture proclaims
NATIONAL WILDFLOWERS WEEK May 15-21, 2011
posted May 5, 2011
Prairie chickens make new stand at Wah’Kon-Tah
By Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation
El Dorado Springs, Mo. -- On a recent spring afternoon, Kansas-born prairie chickens stepped cautiously onto Missouri soil bearing radio transmitters and biologists’ hopes for this endangered icon. The first two prairie chickens scanned the open skies above Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie. Suddenly they fluttered skyward, prompting a dozen more of the black and white speckled birds to leave the release box and glide over a knoll, out of sight but not beyond the telemetry equipment that will track them through the seasons.
The birds were captured where greater prairie chickens are plentiful in the Smoky Hills near Salina, Kan. But the species is critically endangered in Missouri.
Their release this spring at Wah’Kon-Tah will help the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) restore prairie chickens to a onetime stronghold and refine management to help all native grassland birds in decline. READ MORE along w/PHOTO, AUDIO AND VIDEO
posted April 18, 2011
Saving the prairie chicken: Work in Kansas has national significance for declining species of grassland bird
The greater prairie chicken is a declining species across the nation, but studies by researchers at Kansas State University may help boost its numbers. "Kansas has national importance as a stronghold for some of the largest remaining populations of prairie chickens in the United States," said Brett Sandercock, an associate professor of biology who studies the behavior of the birds. READ MORE
posted April 15, 2011
Prairie-Chicken Paintings Sale to Benefit MPF
Plum Skies on the Prairie painting by Rob Dreyer
Rob Dreyer is donating 100% of the proceeds of his painting (above), Plum Skies on the Prairie, to MPF. The original and open edition prints are for sale.
Missouri portrait and wildlife artist Rob Dreyer has recently been made a signature member of the Artists For Conservation Foundation (AFC) and has committed to donate a percentage of the sale of all of his wildlife originals and limited edition prints to support the work of the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF).
The Artists for Conservation Foundation (AFC) is a non-profit, international organization dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the natural world. Based in Vancouver, Canada, the Foundation represents the world's leading collective of artists focused on nature and wildlife, with a membership limited to 500 artists, and spanning five continents and twenty-seven countries. The organization's mission is to support wildlife and habitat conservation, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental education through art that celebrates our natural heritage.
In recommending MPF to the AFC, Rob noted that he "... grew up learning about our natural world on the border of what was once open savannah and prairie land in eastern Missouri. I am delighted to donate a percentage of every original painting or limited edition print to the Missouri Prairie Foundation, which does wonderful work restoring this most vital American ecosystem. I recommend other artists consider supporting their work as well."
While Mr. Dreyer donates a percentage of all of his paintings to MPF, he has decided to donate 100% of the proceeds of his recent painting, Plum Skies on the Prairie, which he based on a photo by Missouri Conservationist photographer Noppadol Paothong. Mr. Dreyer's wildlife work, purchase details, and contact information can be found under his AFC artist listing or at www.DreyerFineArts.com.
While the original painting is listed at $800, less expensive open edition prints are also available. One hundred percent of all post-production costs of these prints will be donated to MPF.
posted April 11, 2011
Call for Prairie Award Nominations
The Missouri Prairie Foundation Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for awards to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions for the cause of prairies and prairie flora and fauna.
If you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of prairies in any of the three categories listed below, please send the Award Committee the name of the person, a short description about the contribution that person has made to prairies, and the award category of the nomination.
All nominations must be received by the Awards Committee no later than September 1, 2011.
Awards will be announced and presented at the Missouri Prairie Foundation's Annual Meeting in October, 2011.
· BILL T. CRAWFORD AWARD, "Prairie Professional of the Year."
The Bill T. Crawford Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding professional contribution to the cause of prairies.
· CLAIR M. KUCERA AWARD, "Prairie Landowner of the Year."
The Clair M. Kucera Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of prairie through ownership/stewardship.
· DONALD M. CHRISTISEN AWARD, "Prairie Volunteer of the Year."
The Donald M. Christisen Award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the cause of prairies through volunteer service.
Please email y our nomination(s) along with a statement about the contribution of the nominee to info @ moprairie.org (REMOVE SPACES) and your nomination will be forwarded to the MPF Nominations Committee.
posted April 11, 2011
Missouri Conservation Groups Receive National Award
Dave Murphy (Executive Director, Conservation Federation of Missouri) holding the State Wildlife Action Plan Partnership Award presented to CFM during the Teaming With Wildlife Fly-in, Congressional Champions of Wildlife and the Environment Reception, March 2, 2011, Washington, DC. To Dave's right is Gene Gardner (Missouri Department of Conservation), and to Dave's left is J.P. Mason (Congressman Sam Graves staffer), Geralyn Hoey (National Wildlife Federation Regional Representative), Rick Thom (front: Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation), Jeremy Symons (back: National Wildlife Federation Senior Vice-President), and Carol Davit (Missouri Prairie Foundation).
On Wednesday evening, March 2, 2011, the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation received a nationally recognized award from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies in Washington, D.C.---the State Wildlife Action Plan Partnership Award. The award was presented during a special reception to Celebrate Champions of Wildlife and the Environment at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Over 300 people, representing conservation groups throughout the country---including the Missouri Prairie Foundation---were in participation as part of the 2011 Teaming With Wildlife Fly-in event to visit with legislators about the importance of conservation funding.
Accepting the award was Dave Murphy, CFM Executive Director. Also on hand to receive Missouri's acknowledgement were Teaming With Wildlife Steering Committee members Rick Thom (Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation), Carol Davit (Missouri Prairie Foundation), and Gene Gardner (Missouri Department of Conservation). The group was also joined by Geralyn Hoey, National Wildlife Federation's Regional Representative for Missouri.
The State Wildlife Action Plan Partnership Award recognizes Missouri for outstanding collaboration in addressing conservation priorities and implementing management strategies associated with our state's wildlife action plan (called Missouri's Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy). Missouri was selected to receive this award for outstanding partnerships to advance the mission of Teaming with Wildlife, supporting increased public funding for wildlife conservation and related education and recreation needs.
In May 2000, the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) led an original Teaming With Wildlife Coalition and helped the House pass the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). As a result, the Missouri coalition helped secure the first $50 million appropriated to state fish and wildlife agencies through the Wildlife Conservation and Reinvestment Program (which subsequently morphed into the State Wildlife Grant Program (SWG) in 2002). In the past ten years, Missouri has received more than $12.4 million through the SWG program and, together with contributions from all our conservation partners, turned those funds into $45 million worth of conservation actions!
The Missouri Prairie Foundation has received several Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative and Missouri Wildlife Diversity Fund grants over the years, which are funded by the SWG program and have made much prairie management work possible. To learn more about how SWG funds work in Missouri, visit the Missouri Teaming With Wildlife Web site. To learn how you can help protect this national conservation funding source, visit the National Teaming with Wildlife FaceBook page. (you do not have to be a member of Facebook to view this page)
posted March 15, 2011
Behold the Splendor of the Prairie by Jeff Cantrell
Jeff Cantrell is a conservation education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation, a local naturalist and a technical adviser for the Missouri Prairie Foundation.
Diamond Grove Prairie is a clear symbol of our national heritage. If we live in the Four-State Area, whether for generations or just in recent times, we have ties to this land. A 10-minute walk out to the middle of the prairie will give you a sense of history, a sense of what this country was like when the Osage knew it. READ MORE from the Joplin Globe.
posted January 20, 2011
New Flint Hills Wildlife Refuge
Approximately 1.1 million acres of tallgrass prairie in the Kansas Flint Hills will be set aside for a new national wildlife refuge. Read more from the Kansas City Star.
posted November 29, 2010
Kansas Prairie to be Auctioned
Brad Guhr with the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains in Kansas sends this news:
There is a parcel of prairie in eastern Harvey County, Kansas, to be auctioned November 30. Brad says, "The 28 acres of hay meadow within a 160-acre parcel of mostly farm ground consists of gorgeous prairie that I've been leading tours on, monitoring for birds and butterflies, and collecting seed from for the last six years. The prairie component of this land is extremely diverse and attracts a vast array of wildlife including rare butterflies." See Brubacher Auction Company for more information.
posted November 12, 2010
Tenth Anniversary of State Wildlife Grants
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the federal State Wildlife Grants Program, which has brought much-needed dollars to many conservation projects in Missouri, including prairie protection.
In recognition of this major accomplishment in conservation history, core team members of the State Wildlife Grants Program in Missouri--Gene Gardner and Dennis Figg, with the Mo. Dept. of Conservation, and Amy Buechler, Mo. Teaming with Wildlife Coordinator, Conservation Federation of Missouri--have complied a special report to summarize the inception, implementation, and accomplishments in conservation made possible with funding from this program.
Read the report at the Missouri Teaming With Wildlife Web site; the Missouri Prairie Foundation is represented on the Missouri Teaming with Wildlife (TWW) Steering Committee and is a proud member of TWW--a national coalition of more than 5,500 conservation organizations, leaders, and businesses working together to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered. The coalition supports dedicated funding for fish, forest, and wildlife conservation, education, and outdoor recreation.
posted October 21, 2010
Missouri Prairie Foundation 2010 Penn-Sylvania Prairie BioBlitz Results (PDF 107 KB)
posted October 14, 2010
PRESCRIBED BURNING CITED IN DISCOVERY OF RARE NATIVE FLOWER
Jan Sassman is an MPF board member, and Jan and Bruce are the owners of Prairie Star Restoration Farm.
At Prairie Star Restoration Farm, woodland thinning and burning are paying big benefits. A new plant, the Eastern Featherbell (PDF 145 KB), was identified
June 2010 on the north slope of naturally managed savannah on the Osage County farm owned by Jan and Bruce Sassmann. A white flowering member of the lily family, the Eastern Featherbell, is becoming quite rare and a find in the wild is to be celebrated, noted Kyle Lairmore, a private lands conservationist with the Missouri Department of Conseration. Eastern Featherbells are considered significantly rare have been found in only nine other counties in Missouri. This is the first report of the plant in Osage County. A stand of the wispy, dainty, 5-foot tall Featherbell blooms are truly a wonder to see in nature, noted Lairmore. READ MORE
posted October 13, 2010
CORN ETHANOL AND WILDLIFE REPORT
How increases in corn plantings are affecting habitat and wildlife in the Prairie Pothole Region
01-13-2010 // Rebecca Brooke, Gregory Fogel, Aviva Glaser, Elizabeth Griffin and Kristen Johnson
posted September 10, 2010
Glenn Chambers Prairie Grouse Images on display at Global Fayre
August 6, 2010: Pictured below are, from left, MPF President Stan Parrish, MPF board member Glenn Chambers, and David Crump, co-owner of Global Fayre.
posted Spetember 7, 2010
Conserving Prairie in Missouri helps conserve the biodiversity of the planet!
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Watch the VIDEO!
posted August 8, 2010
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. | A Kansas rancher has granted a permanent conservation easement on nearly 7,000 acres of Flint Hills native tallgrass prairie near Fort Riley.
Kansas Land Trust says the grant by Rod Moyer of Junction City will protect the land from development. Read more at the Kansas City Star posted July 20, 2010
Visit an MPF Prairie!
Our prairies are in their full glory during the warm months. Especially showy this year are Penn-Sylvania Prairie and Schwartz Prairie. Blooming in the summer are bee balm, coreopsis, lead plant, false sunflower, milkweeds, mountain mint, ashy sunflower, blazing stars, royal catchfly, obedient plant, compass plant, the warm-season grasses, asters, and many, many other species. Directions are on-line or call 888-843-6739 if you need help.
posted June 26, 2010
Happy 4th Annual National Pollinator Week, June 21-27!
A sweat bee (from the Halictidae family) visiting a sunflower, collecting pollen in the process. Photo by James Trager
This week is dedicated to raising awareness of the value of hard-working pollinators that account for every third bite of food people eat.
These pollinators include the many bees and other insects that help our native prairies in Missouri thrive by transporting pollen from flower to flower across the prairie landscape---many by ingenious and strategic methods.
Read about bee pollination in the summer issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal, which will soon appear in members' mailboxes. See the St. Louis Zoo Web site and the Xerces Society Web site for more information as well.
Also, read about the Native Pollinators Workshop to be held in Columbia, Mo., on August 13, organized by Lincoln University with support from MPF, the Xerces Society, and others.
Many thanks to the 98+ participants of the Penn-Sylvania Prairie BioBlitz!
The weather and wildflowers were lovely, and the enthusiasm of all the participants for prairie wildlife made for a very fun weekend.
In addition, the biological sleuthing of the participants helped uncover many species--from snails to ants to plants--from this 160-acre tract of original prairie owned and managed by MPF in Dade County.
Information on species found and identified will be provided in a future issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal.
Those who attended: please send photos from the event to info@moprairie.com for potential use on the MPF web site and the Missouri Prairie Journal.
If you are newly acquainted with MPF because of the BioBlitz, please consider becoming a member--member support is vital to our prairie conservation efforts--and join us for future events as well. Thank you!
PHOTO: Debbie Fantz, mammalogist with the Mo. Dept. of Conservation, prepares to release a small mammal from a trap during the BioBlitz.
posted June 26, 2010
RESULTS: Missouri Prairie Foundation 2010 Penn-Sylvania Prairie BioBlitz Results (PDF 107 KB)
posted October 14, 2010
The Xerces Society initiates new project to protect Monarch Butterflies
As spring moves into summer, you may be seeing monarch butterflies pausing to lay eggs on milkweed or to drink nectar from flowers....CONTINUE READING
posted May 27, 2010
Midwest Voices | The diversity of our prairie provides a lesson to politicians
About 10 years ago in a moment of midlife madness, my husband and I decided to buy land in the country. We had never lived in the country, nor did we have farming experience, but we were drawn to its natural beauty. After closing on the property, we discovered that it included about 25 acres of native prairie....CONTINUE READING
posted May 14, 2010
MPF board member and wildlife videographer Tim Barksdale was the guest speaker at the St. Louis Audubon Society's awards dinner on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Barksdale has been filming wildlife for more than 20 years and has built the largest stock footage library of North American birds in the world. He is currently working on a film project about prairie chickens that's tentatively set to air on PBS in December.
A Brown University researcher plans to study effect of climate change on grasslands. Even though she will not study a site in Missouri, there still may be an opportunity to collaborate.
USDA Releases Long-Awaited Biomass Crop Proposal (BCAP)
While BCAP is a mechanism for producing sources of alternative energy, some prairie conservationists fear the BCAP program could convert remaining prairie to monoculture energy crops. The BCAP public comment period ends April 9. Send comments to: cepdmail@wdc.usda.gov
On February 8, 2010, the U.S.D.A. issued its proposed rule to implement the 2008 Farm Bill Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). This bill would provide funding for agriculture and forest land owners and operators to receive matching payments for eligible biomass materials sold to qualified biomass conversion facilities for the production of heat, power, bio-based products or advanced biofuels. The payment rate is intended to assist producers with the cost of collection, harvest, storage and transportation of the biomass to the facility, for up to two years.
Additionally, BCAP would provide funding for some producers of eligible renewable crops to receive payments up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing the crop and annual payments for up to 15 years for crop production.
Some prairie conservationists are concerned that BCAP could cause a buying spree on marginal pasture ground containing prairie remnants, to be converted to monoculture energy crops like nonnative Miscanthus grass, as well as the spread of planted species like Miscanthus that may have the potential to invade nearby prairies. Research on the use of a diversity of prairie plants for biofuels has been conducted by the University of Minnesota and has shown positive results. Such native, diverse prairie energy crops provide feedstock for biofuels AND provide habitat for wildlife.
USDA is accepting public comments on the BCAP proposal through April 9, 2010. Go here for full details.
Send comments to: cepdmail@wdc.usda.gov
Scientists exploring cup plant as potential new biomass and carbon storing crop
Washington, March 20, 2010 (ANI): A new research by scientists at South Dakota State University (SDSU) is exploring a native perennial called cup plant as a potential new biomass crop that could also store carbon in its extensive root system and add biodiversity to biomass plantings.
Researchers are exploring whether cup plant could be grown in low, moist prairies generally unfit for cropland.
It would be grown and processed along with native grasses grown for biomass.
"We anticipate down the road there's going to be a need and maybe even a market for plants that can store carbon under ground and be part of a biomass production system," SDSU professor Arvid Boe said.
Boe, a plant breeder, is the lead investigator on a grant of 324,336 dollars from the US Department of Energy channeled through the SDSU-based North Central Sun Grant Center.
Project goals include studying genetic variation and developing molecular markers in cup plant populations from the eastern Great Plains; developing new cultivars that can be grown in combination with other biomass crops; determining best practices such as seeding rate, row spacing, harvest timing and nutrient management so that producers will know how to grow the plant; determining life histories of insect pests; and determining biochemical composition.
According to Boe, cup plant, or Silphium perfoliatum, is a member of the sunflower family found in moist low ground in the eastern Great Plains, where it can grow more than 7 feet tall.
It has large seeds and good seedling vigor, and it yields a lot of biomass.
"It's conspicuous in the prairie as a very productive forb in a tallgrass prairie where you have your major grasses such as big bluestem, switchgrass and prairie cordgrass," Boe said.
"We haven't come up with too many things to grow with our grasses to add biodiversity to these biofuel mixtures that we're anticipating growing down the road. It's very compatible with such things as switchgrass and prairie cordgrass and big bluestem," he added.
Boe said that scientists don't envision planting entire fields of cup plant.
Instead, they view it as one in a mix of biomass species that would be seeded in zones best suited for them, just as in the original tallgrass prairie.
Cup plant is likely to increase biodiversity in a plant community because it attracts a variety of insects and even birds. (ANI)
Plant Buffers Can Limit Spread of Antibiotics in Animal Waste posted February 11, 2010
Springfield Plateau Master Naturalists Help MPF Burn Penn-Sylvania Prairie posted December 1, 2009
North America's Great Carbon Ocean by John H. Davidson
Protecting Prairie Grasslands Keeps Carbon in the Soil and Slows the Pace of Climate Change (Winter 2010 Saving Land magazine of The Land Trust Alliance)
published USGS report: Comparison of Hydrologic and Water-Quality Characteristics of Two Native Tallgrass Prairie Streams with Agricultural Streams in Missouri and Kansas posted October 2009
Can Dirt Really Save Us From Global Warming?
NPR, September 3, 2009
Our Endangered Tallgrass Prairie
Kansas City Star, August 22, 2009
Letter to the KC Star Editor by Carol Davit
Letter to The KC Star Editor by Larry Rizzo
Prairie Grouse Protections May Threaten Wind Energy in Oklahoma News OK, August 6, 2009
Toxic Invader Revealing its Presence in Missouri
Spotted Knapweed; Missouri Department of Conservation News, July 23, 2009
Mounting Evidence Shows Native Grasses Could Destroy Explosives Kansas City Star, June 15, 2009
SCHWARTZ AND PENN-SYLVANIA PRAIRIES BURNED
Many thanks to volunteers in southwestern Missouri who helped conduct prescribed burns at MPF's Schwartz and Penn-Sylvania Prairies on December 1. MPF President Stan Parrish and Prairie Operations Manager Richard Datema organized the burn. Burn conditions were perfect, Stan said, and the fire will help keep invasive species at bay and should result in fabulous wildflower displays in 2010.
If you can volunteer to help with future prescribed burns on MPF prairies and would like to be placed on a call list, please contact Stan Parrish at 417-788-2308.
Volunteers Make Space for Natives at
Jerry Smith Park Clearing invasive honeysuckle and cedar makes way for more native prairie plants and better habitat for prairie birds.
Many thanks to the more than 30 volunteers who participated in the Missouri Prairie Foundation workday at Jerry Smith Park in Kansas City on November 22. Volunteers—including members of MPF, Burroughs Audubon, Sierra Club, Kansas City Meetup Hiking group, Missouri Native Plant Society and Kansas City WildLands; UMB employees; Missouri Master Naturalists; and students with the Johnson County Community College, Center for Equitable Education and Pembroke Hill High School—gave an afternoon of their time cutting and treating invasive honeysuckle and cutting cedar from this 40-acre original remnant prairie at the 320-acre Jerry Smith Park, owned by Kansas City Parks and Recreation.
Special thanks are due to Doris and Bob Sherrick and Paul and Karen
Cox with the Missouri Prairie Foundation, and Linda Lehrbaum with
Kansas City WildLands who coordinated the event.
Jerry Smith Park Prairie is a remnant of Jackson County’s once vast
prairie landscape. It is home to showy wildflowers—including
Missouri’s largest population of the state imperiled eared false
foxglove—grassland birds and other wildlife. The area will be burned
this fall/winter to further help restoration efforts. Be sure to visit
the prairie this spring and summer and enjoy the restoration progress.
To see more photos from the work day, visit MPF on Facebook.
For information on other prairies and glades in the Kansas City area, see pages 8-15 of the Missouri Prairie Journal, Vol. 28 #1, 2007
Stargazing at Schwartz Prairie
MPF members and guests enjoyed great company and food, wildflowers, songs of grassland birds, prairie hikes, star gazing and camping at MPF's Schwartz Prairie on August 8. Pictured here is Harold Adams, left, with Dan Zarlenga, amateur astronomer who lent his telescope and his expertise to interpret the night sky.
EXPLORE PRAIRIES
Now is the time to take a break and visit an MPF prairie--teeming with birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Explore two MPF prairies more easily with trails established by Board member and volunteer Stan Parrish. The two prairies are: Schwartz and Golden. At Golden, in Barton County, the 2-mile mown trail begins at the northwest parking lot (at the corner of SE 90 and SE 80 roads) and is routed to the center of the prairie with a loop.
NEW FIELD GUIDE
MPF member and author Don Kurz has a new book available, Shrubs and Woody Vines of Missouri Field Guide, published by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Based on his original, larger-format sized Shrubs and Woody Vines of Missouri, this concise, easy-to-carry field guide features 170 species. Included are 133 shrubs and 37 vines, including several that are native to and desirable on our prairies, such as prairie willow, New Jersey tea, lead plant and the rare meadowsweet from northern Missouri wet prairies.
The book is organized visually by leaf arrangement and shape. Each species entry includes easy-to-understand descriptions and range maps. Colorized illustrations add to the book’s appeal. Shrubs and Woody Vines of Missouri Field Guide is available at Conservation Nature Centers and other book sellers. You also may order by calling 877-521-8632, or on-line at MDC Nature Shop . The price is $7.50, plus shipping and handling and sales tax (where applicable).
RECORD SALES AT 2009 MPF PLANT SALE
Despite a soggy beginning, MPF’s annual native plant sale April 2009 at the City Market in Kansas City, set a record for the number of plants sold. Thanks to the excellent volunteer help provided by Dr. Jim Wells, Lori Wohlschlaeger, Dennis Gredell, Ronnie Berry, Marty Schuettpelz, Susan Appel, Spencer Ernst, Paul Cox, Loree Weber, Van Wiskur, and Bob and Doris Sherrick, and the hard work of Mervin Wallace of Missouri Wildflower Nursery, in loading, delivering and setting up the plants each day, more than $7,200 worth of plants were sold during the two-day fundraiser. Be sure to mark your calendar for next year's sale at the City Market on April 17 and 18, 2010.
FRIENDLY PRAIRIE WORK DAY A SUCCESS
On April 4, volunteers cleared a brushy fencerow in only a few hours at this MPF prairie in Pettis County, opening the prairie vista and improving grassland habitat. Justin Rottger, radio journalist from NPR-affiliate KBIA in Columbia, Missouri, covered the event. Listen to his report in the 4/23/09 edition of KBIA’s Under the Microscope (story follows Bradford pear report). Requires Real Player.
Kemper Foundation Grant Completes Coyne Prairie Acquisition
The Missouri Prairie Foundation was awarded a $25,000 Challenge Grant by the William T. Kemper Foundation of St. Louis. Coyne Prairie, which serves as the background for our website, is one of the best examples of tallgrass prairie in North America. MPF acquired the property in June 2006 for $98,000. Thanks to the generous Kemper Foundation grant, matching funds from the Edward K. Love Foundation and the contributions of our members, the Coyne Prairie acquisition project is now complete. Thank you.
Norcross Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation Grants Support MPF's Prairie Management Program
Recent grants from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation's Superfund program will allow MPF to acquire new prairie management equipment for our Prairie Operations Manager Richard Datema. This spring, MPF will purchase a new ATV for Richard and is considering other equipment, such as a seed spreader for small acreage restoration projects and a spray rig for help with invasive species treatment or prescribed burns.