l4c9lj6

Spring 

2014 

Volume 35 

Number 1 

Missouri Prairie Journal 

The Missouri Prairie Foundation 

Protecting Native Grasslands 

2013 Annual Report Prairie Strips and Row Crops 

Prairie Fish Landscaping with Native Small Trees

Message from the President 

Jon Wingo at MPF’s 

Denison Prairie. 

Carol Davit 

The earliest settlers to Missouri scorned the 

prairie land and built log houses in the 

timbered hills. At the time it was believed 

that prairie lands would not support crops, but 

any doubts about the suitability of unforested 

prairie soil for general agriculture were allayed by 

General Thomas Adams Smith in the 1820s. As 

our Executive Director Carol Davit shared in her 

remarks at the 2013 Missouri Prairie Foundation 

(MPF) dinner, Smith’s experimental prairie farm in 

Saline County was a profitable operation. Smith’s 

“Experiment Farm” proved that grasslands were 

fertile and could be cultivated with less labor than 

woodlands. As quoted in Wentmore’s Gazette of 

1837, “Smith was highly respected and news of 

his accomplishment spread. His popularization of 

prairie farming proved invaluable as the settlement frontier reached the Great 

Plains in western Missouri.” 

If we move forward a century after the prairie sod was broken, we come 

to a lesson learned the hard way. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s resulted from a 

devastating drought that increased wind erosion, carrying fertile topsoil from 

the Midwest to as far away as Washington, D.C. The Dust Bowl made soil 

erosion enter into the American public consciousness of the 1930s. 

Today it is evident that, in order to maintain and increase food production, 

efforts to prevent soil degradation must become a top priority of our 

global society. Soil health is the measure of balance between the physical, 

chemical, and biological properties and organismal populations within the 

soil. Soil health has become a buzzword among agronomists and some are 

looking back to prairie to determine baseline conditions for soil health. 

A group from MPF’s Executive Committee met with soil scientists 

Dr. David Hammer and Dr. Bob Kremer at the University of Missouri- 

Columbia in January to discuss use of MPF’s remnant prairies for research 

in setting a baseline for soil health. It was very enlightening and exciting to 

learn about cutting-edge technology to evaluate the microbial communities 

in the soil such as PFLA marking. Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) are 

a main component of the membrane (essentially the skin) of all microbes. 

PLFA analysis provides direct information on the entire microbial community 

in three key areas: viable living biomass, community composition of 

population fingerprint, and microbial activity. 

I hope you enjoy the articles in this issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal, 

including the one on prairie strips. It gives me hope that by embracing 

modern-day technologies, proven Best Management Practices, and learning 

from the past, our society will be able to continue to conserve soil resources, 

natural ecosystems, and produce food supplies sufficient to meet current and 

future population demands. 

Soil is the foundation of agriculture, but in midcontinental North 

America, prairie was the foundation of our agricultural soils. 

Jon Wingo, President 

The mission of the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) 

is to protect and restore prairie and other 

native grassland communities through 

acquisition, management, education, and research. 

Officers 

President Jon Wingo, Wentzville, MO 

Immediate Past President Stanley M. Parrish, Walnut Grove, MO 

Vice President Doris Sherrick, Peculiar, MO 

Vice President of Science and Management Bruce Schuette, Troy, MO 

Secretary Van Wiskur, Pleasant Hill, MO 

Treasurer Laura Church, Kansas City, MO 

Directors 

Susan E. Appel, Leawood, KS 

Dale Blevins, Independence, MO 

Glenn Chambers, Columbia, MO 

Brian Edmond, Walnut Grove, MO 

Margo Farnsworth, Smithville, MO 

Page Hereford, St. Louis, MO 

Scott Lenharth, Nevada, MO 

Wayne Morton, M.D., Osceola, MO 

Steve Mowry, Trimble, MO 

Donnie Nichols, Warsaw, MO 

Jan Sassmann, Bland, MO 

Bonnie Teel, Rich Hill, MO 

Presidential Appointees 

Doug Bauer, St. Louis, MO 

Galen Hasler, M.D., Madison, WI 

Rick Thom, Jefferson City, MO 

Emeritus 

Bill Crawford, Columbia, MO 

Bill Davit, Washington, MO 

Lowell Pugh, Golden City, MO 

Owen Sexton, St. Louis, MO 

Technical Advisors 

Max Alleger, Clinton, MO 

Jeff Cantrell, Neosho, MO 

Steve Clubine, Windsor, MO 

Dennis Figg, Jefferson City, MO 

Mike Leahy, Jefferson City, MO 

Dr. Quinn Long, St. Louis, MO 

Rudi Roeslein, St. Louis, MO 

Dr. James Trager, Pacific, MO 

Staff 

Carol Davit, Executive Director and 

Missouri Prairie Journal Editor, Jefferson City, MO 

Richard Datema, Prairie Operations Manager, Springfield, MO 

2 Missouri Prairie Journal Vol. 35 No. 1

Contents 

Spring 

2014 Volume 35, Number 1 

Editor: Carol Davit, 

1311 Moreland Ave. 

Jefferson City, MO 65101 

phone: 573-356-7828 

info@moprairie.com 

Designer: Tracy Ritter 

Technical Review: Mike Leahy, 

Bruce Schuette 

Proofing: Doris and Bob Sherrick 

The Missouri Prairie Journal 

is mailed to Missouri Prairie 

Foundation members as a benefit 

of membership. Please contact the 

editor if you have questions about 

or ideas for content. 

4 

2 Message from the President 

12 

Regular membership dues to 

MPF are $35 a year. To become a 

member, to renew, or to give a 

free gift membership when you 

renew, send a check to 

membership address: 

Missouri Prairie Foundation 

c/o Martinsburg Bank 

P.O. Box 856 

Mexico, MO 65265-0856 

or become a member on-line at 

www.moprairie.org 

16 

4 2013 Annual Report 

By Carol Davit 

12 Prairie Strips 

By Lisa Schulte Moore 

16 Prairie Streams 

By Tom Priesendorf and Kara Tvedt 

20 Grow Native! 

Landscaping with Native Small Trees 

By Alan Branhagen 

General e-mail address 

info@moprairie.com 

Toll-free number 

1-888-843-6739 

www.moprairie.org 

Questions about your membership 

or donation? Contact Jane 

Schaefer, who administers 

MPF’s membership database at 

janeschaefer@earthlink.net. 

20 

23 Steve Clubine’s Native Warm-Season Grass News 

27 Jeff Cantrell’s Education on the Prairie 

28 Prairie Postings 

Back cover Calendar of Events 

On the cover: 

A young butterfly 

enthusiast with 

lepidopterist Phil Koenig 

at MPF’s 2 nd Annual 

Prairie BioBlitz at 

Golden Prairie in 2011. 

Don’t miss MPF’s 5 th 

Annual Prairie BioBlitz 

June 7 and 8, 2014 at Gay 

Feather Prairie in Vernon 

County. See back cover 

for more information. 

Photo by MDC/Noppadol 

Paothong 

#81779 

#8426 

Vol. 35 No. 1 Missouri Prairie Journal 3

MPF 2013 annual report 

Prairie rose (Rosa carolina) 

HOW MPF USED Funding TO CONSERVE PRAIRIE AND 

PROVIDE NATIVE PLANT EDUCATION IN 2013 

Fundraising and Membership 

11.4% 

Outreach, Education, Research, 

and Grow Native! Program 

33.3% 

Investment Income 

7% 

4% 

Administration: 

8% 

Plant, Seed, Hay, and Merchandise Sales 

USDA Payments 

2.5% 

Rent, Annual Dinner 

2.5% 

Grow Native! Program 

1% 

Prairie Land Donation 

7% 

Grants 

8% 

Phil Koenig 

Thank you, Prairie Supporters! 

The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) gratefully acknowledges the generosity of all 

supporters who enabled us to fulfill our 2013 Campaign for Prairies. Thanks to your 

membership contributions and other gifts, we surpassed our $300,000 fundraising goal, 

which made it possible for us to not only meet our budget and carry out extensive prairie 

conservation, outreach, and research work last year, but also enabled us to purchase a much 

needed tractor for fireline establishment and other conservation work! Donors also made 

several contributions to our Land Acquisition and Prairie Stewardship Funds. 

As more people understand the urgency of conserving Missouri’s rapidly disappearing 

original prairie remnants, the MPF community continues to grow. We are delighted that you 

are part of it. We look forward to seeing you at our many upcoming events this year. 

—Carol Davit, executive director and Missouri Prairie Journal editor 

Highlights of 2013 Work 

MPF 2013 Sources of Funding 

Prairie Management, 

Property Taxes, and Insurance 

47.3% 

Programmatic Expenses 

80.6% 

Membership dues and other 

donations by individuals 

68% 

MPF’s prairie management and restoration work was made possible thanks to many contributions 

from individual supporters (see page 8) and grants from the following organizations, programs, and 

corporations: Whole Foods® Market, LUSH cosmetics, Audubon Society of Missouri, Missouri Chapter 

of the Wildlife Society, National Wild Turkey Federation, Missouri Department of Conservation costshare 

funds, Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife 

Diversity Fund grant program. 

In 2013, thanks to your support, a 

dedicated, hands-on volunteer board 

of directors, and MPF’s two employees, 

MPF completed the following: 

• Provided quality stewardship of prairies 

owned by MPF, Kansas City 

Parks and Recreation, The Nature 

Conservancy, Ozark Regional Land 

Trust, and the Missouri Department of 

Conservation, including invasive species 

control on more than 1,680 acres 

and fireline preparation for prescribed 

fires on numerous MPF prairies. 

• Completed the structural restoration 

of our 2010 acquisition, the 80-acre 

Welsch Tract. 

• Contracted a dragonfly and damselfly 

survey on nine MPF prairies and one 

Nature Conservancy prairie, and a 

vegetative analysis of MPF’s Golden 

Prairie. 

• Carried out our first full year of the 

Grow Native! program, with workshops 

held in Lawrence, KS; Neosho, 

MO; submission of monthly articles 

for gardening publications; organization 

of a successful annual Grow 

Native! Professional Member conference, 

and many other activities. 

• Awarded the second annual MPF 

Prairie Gardens Grant to Squier Park 

Neighborhood in Kansas City. 


• Created new policies to guide MPF’s 

implementation of best organizational 

and land transaction practices as advocated 

by the nationally recognized 

Land Trust Alliance. 

• Organized 15 events, including MPF’s 

Fourth Annual Prairie BioBlitz at 

Denison and Lattner Prairies, many 

free hikes and tours at native grasslands 

around the state, and the MPF annual 

dinner that featured Dr. Chip Taylor 

of Monarch Watch. 

• Produced and sent three issues of the 

Missouri Prairie Journal to members, 

elected officials, schools, landowners, 

and conservation leaders. 

• As an active member of the Missouri 

Teaming With Wildlife Steering 

Committee, advocated for robust FY14 

federal State Wildlife Program funding 

Carol Davit 

Carol Davit 

Above from left, MPF board member Jan 

Sassmann and Jessica Serrati of Whole Foods 

Market® at Whole Foods’ Five Percent Day for 

MPF on April 18, 2013. 

Top left, prairie enthusiasts enjoy a wagon 

tour of Dr. Wayne Morton’s prairie during the 

Cole Camp Prairie Day and Evening on the 

Prairie held October 12, 2013. The Hi Lonesome 

Chapter of the Missouri Master Naturalists 

organized the Prairie Day activities and MPF 

organized the Evening on the Prairie. 

From left is MPF Treasurer Laura Church, MPF 

Past President Randy Washburn, and Michael 

Laughlin, who served as bartenders during 

MPF’s Evening on the Prairie. Washburn generously 

donated the wine, refreshments, and 

tent rental for the event. 

to benefit healthy habitats nationwide. 

MPF also supported grassland wildlifefriendly 

conservation measures in the 

Farm Bill and other state and federal 

policies, plans, and strategies. 

• Gave presentations on prairie and 

native plants to garden clubs and 

other groups, and had a presence at 

Whole Foods® Markets, the Springfield 

Butterfly Festival, America’s 

Grasslands National Conference, the 

Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative 

Conference, and other events. 

In January 2013, 47 acres of MPF’s Welsch Tract were seeded with a diverse mix of locally collected 

seeds of prairie plants. At left is how the seeded area looked in March 2013, and at right, in August. 

The uniformly green area was seeded; the restored canopy structure of the savanna portion of the 

Welsch Tract is visible in the background and is a testament to Prairie Operations Manager Richard 

Datema’s hard work. The restoration and reconstruction work at the Welsch Tract—immediately 

adjacent to MPF’s Coyne Prairie—will expand the prairie habitat in this part of Dade County, MO. 

Carol Davit 

Photos Susan Parrish 

MPF SELECTED FOR $750,000 

Award 

In 2013, MPF was selected to receive 

a $750,000 award from the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service and the Missouri 

Department of Natural Resources to purchase 

and steward prairie in Jasper and 

Newton Counties. 

In July 2013, MPF submitted a proposal 

to apply for funds made available as 

a result of a Natural Resources Damage 

Assessment (NRDA) settlement with 

ASARCO, a lead mining and smelting 

company whose operations created environmental 

damage while it operated in Jasper 

and Newton Counties over the last century. 

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

and the Missouri Department of Natural 

Resources, as trustees of settlement 

funds, are pleased to award $750,000 

to the Missouri Prairie Foundation for 

its proposal to acquire and restore prairie 

in southwest Missouri,” said Fish 

and Wildlife Biologist Scott Hamilton 

with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Ecological Field Office in Columbia, 

MO. NRDA funds are meant to mitigate 

for past mining practices that have devastated 

significant portions of the landscape 

within Jasper and Newton Counties. 

“The Missouri Prairie Foundation 

was selected for this funding opportunity 

because of its track record of successful 

prairie management and its impeccable 

conservation ethic,” said Hamilton. “We 

look forward to a fruitful partnership 

with the Missouri Prairie Foundation, 

one that results in the increased protection 

of tallgrass prairie, a vanishing 

resource within Missouri.” 

MPF is proud to have been selected 

for this award, the funds of which will be 

released to MPF as MPF identifies land 

to purchase. MPF is actively seeking suitable 

parcels of land to aquire from willing 

sellers in Jasper and Newton Counties, 

where this funding is restricted to purchasing 

and stewarding new acquisitions. 

MPF welcomes its supporters to contribute 

to the maintenance of the prairies it 

currently owns and to MPF’s outreach 

and education activities. 


MPF 2013 a n n u a l report 

MPF 2013 Member Dinner 

More than 130 guests enjoyed 

tours, dinner, and a wonderful 

presentation by Dr. Chip Taylor 

of Monarch Watch at MPF’s 2013 

member dinner, organized in conjunction 

with Lincoln University’s Native Plant 

Program and held at Alberici Corporate 

Headquarters in St. Louis. 

Guests enjoyed a pre-dinner tour 

of Alberici’s native grounds from guides 

MPF President Jon Wingo, Dr. Nadia 

Navarrete-Tindall of Lincoln University’s 

Native Plants Program, MPF Board 

Member Doug Bauer, and Grow Native! 

Committee Member Simon Barker. At 

dinner, guests enjoyed beautiful native 

bouquets created by faculty, staff, and 

students of Lincoln University. 

Many thanks to Alberici for hosting 

the event, and to Bethlehem Valley 

Vineyards and Schlafly Bottleworks for 

providing wine and beer for the event. 

Gratitude goes also to MPF member 

Ms. Pat Behle, who generously gave each 

dinner guest a milkweed plant she had 

grown from seed. 

Grow Native! Committee Member Simon Barker 

leading a group of dinner guests on a tour of 

Alberici’s native-planted campus. 

Dr. Chip Taylor of Monarch Watch, right, 

received a framed print of MPF’s Schwartz 

Prairie from MPF President Jon Wingo in appreciation 

of his talk at MPF’s 2013 Member Dinner 

at Alberici Corporate Headquarters in St. Louis. 

6 Missouri Prairie Journal Vol. 35 No. 1 

Debbie Wingo Debbie Wingo 

ATCHISON 

HOLT 

NODAWAY 

ANDREW 

BUCHANAN 

PLATTE 

BARTON 

WORTH 

GENTRY 

DEKALB 

CLINTON 

CLAY 

JACKSON 

CASS 

BATES 

NEWTON 

VERNON 

JASPER 

MCDONALD 

HARRISON 

DAVIESS 

CALDWELL 

RAY 

HENRY 

CEDAR 

DADE 

LAWRENCE 

BARRY 

MAP DATA PROVIDED BY CHRIS WIEBERG, MDC. 

LAFAYETTE 

JOHNSON 

ST CLAIR 

MERCER 

GRUNDY 

LIVINGSTON 

CARROLL 

POLK 

STONE 

SALINE 

PETTIS 

BENTON 

HICKORY 

GREENE 

PUTNAM 

SULLIVAN 

LINN 

CHARITON 

DALLAS 

CHRISTIAN 

TANEY 

COOPER 

MORGAN 

CAMDEN 

WEBSTER 

MACON 

HOWARD 

SCHUYLER 

SCOTLAND 

ADAIR 

RANDOLPH 

MONITEAU 

LACLEDE 

MILLER 

WRIGHT 

DOUGLAS 

OZARK 

BOONE 

COLE 

PULASKI 

MONROE 

HOWELL 

SHANNON 

OREGON 

These prairies by MPF and later sold to 

the Missouri Department of Conservation 

Presettlement Prairie. Of these original 15 million acres, fewer than 90,000 acres remain. 

KNOX 

SHELBY 

MARIES 

TEXAS 

CLARK 

AUDRAIN 

CALLAWAY 

OSAGE 

LEWIS 

MARION 

RALLS 

MONT 

GOMERY 

GASCONADE 

Now in its 48th year, MPF has 

acquired more than 3,300 

acres of prairie for permanent 

protection. With the 

conveyance of more than 700 

PIKE 

of those acres to the Missouri 

Department of Conservation, 

LINCOLN 

MPF currently owns more than 

2,600 acres in 16 tracts of 

ST CHARLES 

WARREN 

land, clears trees on properties 

ST LOUIS 

neighboring MPF land to 

FRANKLIN 

expand grassland habitat, and 

JEFFERSON 

provides management services 

for thousands of additional 

CRAWFORD WASHINGTON 

PHELPS 

STE GENEVIEVE 

acres owned by others. 

ST FRANCOIS 

PERRY 

IRON 

DENT 

MADISON 

CAPE 

REYNOLDS 

GIRARDEAU 

Ecologists rank temperate grasslands—which include Missouri’s tallgrass prairies—as the 

least conserved, most threatened major terrestrial habitat type on earth. Prairie protection 

efforts in Missouri, therefore, are not only essential to preserving our state’s natural 

heritage, but also are significant to national and even global conservation work. MPF is the 

only organization in the state whose land conservation efforts are dedicated exclusively to 

prairie and other native grasslands. 

New MPF Video Produced 

MPF now has a beautiful and informative 

video to help spread the 

message about the importance 

of prairie and MPF’s work. The sevenminute 

video includes breathtaking 

images and insightful expert interviews, 

demonstrating the bountiful ecological, 

wildlife, and economic benefits native 

prairie provides. The video was produced 

in fall 2013 and made financially possible 

through a generous gift from Rudi 

Roeslein/Roeslein Alternative Energy. 

The video makes the case that realizing 

the environmental benefits of prairie 

requires restoring more land with native plants and conserving the remaining 90,000 

scattered acres of original native prairie in the state. 

“Like so many things in life, we are beginning to realize the benefit of the prairies 

now that they’re nearly all gone,” Dr. Peter Raven, President Emeritus of the Missouri 

Botanical Garden, said in the video. “They are disappearing very rapidly. And that 

really changes the whole natural balance of the whole Northern Hemisphere.” 

The video is posted at YouTube, with a link provided at the home page of 

www.moprairie.org. 

CARTER 

RIPLEY 

WAYNE 

BUTLER 

BOLLINGER 

DUNKLIN 

STODDARD 

NEW 

MADRID 

PEMISCOT 

SCOTT 

MISSISSIPPI 

MPF President Jon Wingo being interviewed by 

Mike Martin Media, the company that created 

the new MPF video. 

Carol Davit


Resource Guide 

To suppliers of native plant products and services 

Choose native plants for 

• landscaping 

• farms and forage 

• water management 

• wildlife and pollinator habitat 

If you would like a free copy of the 2014 Grow 

Native! Resource Guide mailed to you, please 

call 888-843-6739. Large supplies are also 

available to make available at conferences, 

garden club meetings, and other events. 

Grow Native! Program 2013 Activity 

MPF carried out its first full year of the Grow Native! program in 2013. 

MPF became the new home of the now 14-year-old native plant education 

and marketing program in 2012, when MPF was chosen by the Missouri 

Department of Conservation to take on Grow Native! 

The work of the Grow Native! program is overseen by a committee of dedicated 

native plant advocates and native landscaping industry professionals. Highlights of 

Grow Native! program activity in 2013 include: 

• organizing three successful native landscaping workshops held in Lawrence, KS, 

and Neosho, MO and also the Native Plant Education Tract at the 2013 National 

Green Centre in St. Louis. 

• providing native plant outreach at numerous events, including the Missouri 

Landscape and Nursery Association’s (MLNA’s) Nuts and Bolts Continuing 

Education Conference, MLNA’s Field Day, the Missouri Green Industry 

Conference, and the Statewide Master Gardeners’ Conference. 

• giving native plant talks to the Fulton Garden Club, Lake of the Ozarks Watershed 

Alliance, and Moberly Area Community College Plant Biology students. 

• submitting native landscaping articles monthly to Missouri Ruralist and Kansas City 

Gardener magazines, and publishing three native landscaping articles in the Missouri 

Prairie Journal. 

• creating the 2014 Grow Native! Resource Guide to suppliers of native plant 

products and services, featuring 2014 Grow Native! Professional Members. 

• organizing a successful Grow Native! Professional Member Conference with 

informative speakers, hosted by the University of MO–Columbia. 

• creating a model Native Landscaping Ordinance, available at www.grownative.org. 

In 2013, MPF was bequeathed a 34-acre 

original prairie in Hickory County from the Ann 

Louise Stark Trust. Stark Family Prairie is home 

to prairie hyacinth (Camassia angusta), above, 

and many other native prairie species. 

Bruce Schuette 

2013 Native Landscape ChallengeFor eight years, the St. Louis 

Chapter of Wild Ones has 

invited homeowners in the 

St. Louis area to participate in 

a native landscape challenge. In 

2013, thirteen landowners competed 

for this front yard native makeover 

orchestrated by Wild Ones, 

Shaw Nature Reserve, and MPF’s 

Grow Native! program. 

In May 2013, Challenge 

volunteer organizers reviewed the submissions and chose that of homeowner Dawn 

Weber, of the City of St. Louis, because her yard offered a “blank slate” and potential 

for a rain garden. Over the past summer, landscape designer, Wild Ones member, 

and Grow Native! professional member Jeanne Cablish instructed Weber in preparing 

her front yard for the native plantings, installed by Scott Woodbury of Shaw Nature 

Reserve and a crew of Wild Ones volunteers on a Saturday in September 2013. 

The Grow Native! program provided $500 for the purchase of native plants. 

Congratulation to Ms. Weber and all involved in this successful project. 

sherri DeRousse 

—Ed Schmidt, MPF member and president of the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones 


Thank you 



Ambassador Award 

The Grow Native! program annually recognizes 

an individual who has made outstanding 

contributions to the advancement of the use 

and promotion of native plants and native plant 

landscaping. Recognition is awarded in the form 

of the Grow Native! Ambassador Award. 

At the 2013 Grow Native! professional 

member meeting in November, Grow Native! 

Committee Chair Carrie Coyne, above left, 

announced that Mr. Bill Ruppert of Kirkwood, 

MO, had been selected as the 2013 Grow Native! 

Ambassador Awardee. 

Ruppert has been an advocate for native plants 

for many years—from his work at the Woodland 

and Floral Gardens at the University of Missouri– 

Columbia in the 1980s to his current work as a 

member of the Grow Native! Committee. 

Over the course of 2013, Ruppert went outside 

of the “native plant establishment” to forge 

new alliances for natives and help new audiences 

see the immense value of native plants. 

In March 2013, Ruppert taught the importance 

of natives to members of the Missouri 

Landscape and Nursery Association at their annual 

“Nuts and Bolts” conference. He also worked 

hard to introduce the importance of natives to 

members of the turf industry, to demonstrate 

how native plantings can complement traditional 

turf. This work has led to a pilot project at the 

University of Missouri’s South Farm. In addition, 

Ruppert has gone all the way to the U.S. Senate 

in his quest to bring native trees to the Gateway 

Arch grounds. Congratulations, Bill Ruppert! 


Robert Weaver 

$30,000 AND ABOVE 

Estate of Ms. Linden Trial* 

$20,000 TO $29,999 

Andrew Love, Edward K. Love 

Conservation Foundation* 

$10,000 TO $19,999 

Ronald and Suzanne Berry* 

Rudi Roeslein* 

$5,000 TO $9,999 

Anonymous 

Margaret Holyfield and 

Maurice Meslans* 

Pat Jones* 

$2,500 TO $4,999 

James and Charlene Jackson* 

Robert and Cathleen Hansen* 

Doris and Bob Sherrick * 

Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family 

Foundation 

$1,000 to $2,499 

Susan Appel 

Scott Avetta 

Robert and Martha Barnhardt* 

Rodger and Rita Benson 

Dale and Marla Blevins* 

Mildred Blevins 

Bill Crawford* 

Mrs. Henry (Nancy) Day* 

Susan Canull and Des Pain 

Leo and Kay Drey* 

Margo Farnsworth and 

Jim Pascoe 

Judith Felder* 

Betsy Garrett 

James and Joan Garrison* 

Francine Glass 

Norma Hamm 

Page and Fonda Hereford* 

John and Lucia Hulston, 

Hulston Family Foundation* 

Chris and Tricia Jerome 

Harold John* 

Warren and Susan Lammert* 

Susan Marker 

Michael McMullen* 

Gina Miller* 

Donnie and Kim Nichols 

Frank and Judy Oberle* 

Sharon Pedersen 

F. Leland Russell and 

Mary Jameson* 

Edgar Schmidt* 

Bonnie Teel 

W. Randall Washburn* 

David and Judy Young 

$500 to $999 

Robert and Linda Ballard 

Alice Counts, Ozarks AAZK 

Karen and Paul Cox 

Rebecca Erickson 

Elizabeth and Scott Galante 

James and Marilyn Hebenstreit 

Cynthia Hobart 

Jerome and Billie Jerome 

John and Deborah Killmer 

Steve Maritz 

James and Nancy Martin 

John and Connie McPheeters 

David Mesker and 

Dorothy Haase 

Wayne Morton 

J. Sarah Myers and Dennis 

O’Brien 

Barbara and William Pickard 

Dale Shriver and Judith Rogers 

Mary and Mike Skinner 

James and Jan Trager 

Sue Ann and Richard Wright 

$250 TO $499 

John Besser and Cathy Richter 

Mark Brodkey 

John Camp 

Steve and Debbie Clark 

Stephen Davis 

Robert Elworth 

Bob and Sara Caulk, Fayetteville 

Arkansas Natural Heritage 

Association 

Cheryl and Chuck Fletcher 

Ellen Sue Goodman, Bluejay 

Farm 

Ruth Grant and Howard 

Schwartz 

Dennis Gredell and 

Lori Wohlschlaeger 

Bucky Green 

Ann Grotjan, Full Spectrum 

Photo and Audio 

Rusty and Prae Hathcock 

Bonnie Heidy 

Joe Holland 

Jim Hull 

Joseph and Anne Jezak 

Robert and Barbara Kipfer 

Ward and Carol Klein 

Janet Koester 

Linda S. Labrayere Revocable 

Trust 

Laurence and Dorothy Lambert 

Theresa and Joseph Long 

Julia Marsden 

MHR, Inc. 

John and Anita O’Connell 

Orbie Overly 

Paul Petty 

Pizzo Native Plant Nursery 

Stan and Audrey Putthoff 

Roger and Anita Randolph 

Gordon and Barbara Risk 

Molly Rundquist 

Caroline and William Sant 

Walter and Marie Schmitz 

James Sullivan 

Charles and Nancy Van Dyke 

Julie Wiegand 

Jack’s Girls, Kay Wood 

$100 TO $249 

Hearld and Marge Ambler 

Toni Armstrong and 

Richard Spener 

Alan and Mary Atterbury 

George and Angel Avery 

Daniel and Joann Barklage 

Joe Bassler 

Bauer Equity Partners 

David and Nancy Bedan 

Edward Beheler, 

Broken Arrow Ranch 

Richard Beheler, 

Broken Arrow Ranch 

Pat Behle 

Patricia Bellington 

Nick and Denise Bertram 

Dan and Jenny Blesi 

Peter Bloch and Marsha Richins 

Allan and Nancy Bornstein 

William and Monica Bowman 

Bettye and Robert Boyd 

John and Regina Brennan 

Steve Buback 

William and Ester Bultas 

Mary Bumgarner 

Robert Campbell 

Jeffrey Cantrell 

Ann Case 

Juliet Cassady 

David and Ann Catlin 

Robert Charity 

Agnes Chouteau 

Alice Christensen 

Laura Christisen 

Louis Clairmont and 

Deborah Barker 

Jean C. Coday 

Raymond Coffey 

Virginia Burns Cromer 

Richard Cronemeyer 

Jo Anna Dale 

William Danforth 

Dolly Darigo 

Sue Davis 

Bill and Joyce Davit 

Richard and Eleanor Dawson 

Ann Day and Roger Clawitter 

Kevin and Janet Day 

Ronald and Sue Dellbringge 

Paula Diaz 

Mike Doyen 

Harold Draper 

DST Systems, Inc. Matching 

Gifts Program 

Ethan Duke and Dana Ripper, 

Missouri River Bird 

Observatory 

Susan Dyer 

Majorie Eddy 

Jack Edmiston 

Earl and Darryl Edwards 

David and Judy Elsberry 

Danny Engelage 

J. Robert Farkas 

Federated Garden Clubs 

of Missouri, Inc. 

James and Cynthia Felts 

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Walker Gaffney 

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Manufacturing Technologies 

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Furman 

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(Ret)

, 

MPF Members and Other Supporters 

Who Made Contributions in 2013 

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Mark Robbins, University of 

Kansas Biodiversity Institute 

Bill Roberts 


Thank you, MPF Members and Other Supporters Who Made Contributions in 2013 continued 


Bill and Emily Robertson 

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Blood 

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$35 TO $49 

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Grace the Earth Foundation 

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Farm 

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Walter Hammond 

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Marilyn Harlan 

Ray Harmon 

Leann Harrell 

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Roger Helling 

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Hereford Concrete Products, 

Inc. 

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Carla and Kevin Hogan 

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Wallace McDonald 

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McRoberts Farm, Inc. 

Lenora Medcalf 

Larry Melton 

Melodie and Mark Metje 

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Scott Patrick 

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Engineering 

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Wayne and Elizabeth Porter 

George and Susan Powell 

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Tim and Janet Rogers 

Alan Rolfing, DVM 

Robert Rothrock 

Gail Rowley 

Roy and Mary Ruckdeschel 

Ron Rupp 

James Ruschill 

Mark and Suzanne Russell, 

Cedar Bluff Farm 

Linda and Guy Sachs 

Charles Salveter 

Douglas and Jeanette Salzman 

Harlan Samuels 

Ken Schaal 

Francis and Eva Schallert 

Randy Scheffler and Janet 

Hankins 

Jim Schiller 

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Jane Anton 

Dave and Angela Schneider 

Gary Schneider 

Marc and Debbie Scholes 

Walter Schroeder 

Scott and Elizabeth Schulte 

Lynne Scott 

Eric Seaman 

Vincent and Joan Seiler 

Donna Setterberg 

Gary and Penny Shackelford 

Quint Shafer 

Jack Sharkey 

Terry Sharpe 

Robert Shelby 

Terry Shelton, Walnut Dell 

Farms, LLC. 

Michael Sherraden 

Sherry McCowan 

William Shields 

Joshua and Vonda Shoop 

Ross Shuman 

Mark and Sherry Siegismund 

Erin Skornia 

Robert and Joyce Slater 

Pittsburg State University 

Axe Library 

Mike Smith and Maria 

Brady-Smith 

Neal Smith 

Robert Smith 

Scott Smith 

Shaun Smith 

Steven and Julie Snow, 

Snow Family Farm 

Michael Soltys 

Herb and Charlene Sommerer 

Karen Stair 

Kathryn Steinhoff 

Doug and Cindy Steinmetz 

Family Steinmeyer 

Barbra Stephenson 

Kristina Sterling 

D’Jeanne Stevens 

Frank Stokes 

Al and Linda Storms 

Mark Strothmann 

Betty Struckhoff and James 

Harris 

Bob Sullivan 

Harriett Swinger 

Bernard and Betty Teevan 

Harold Temme 

Larry and June Terrell 

Alan Thibault 

Kathy Thiele 

Andrew and Diann Thomas 

Bob Thompson 

Thomas Thompson 

Romie Thornhill 

Dorothy and Robert Thurman 

Ed and Mary Tillman 

Michael Trial 

Robert Turnbull 

Aaron and Tracy Twombly 

Karen Van Berkel 

Elmer Van Dyke 

Barbara Van Vleck 

Charlotte VanBibber 

Leslie and James Vanluvan 

Joe Veras 

Adrienne Waterston and 

Tim Jegla 

Missouri Western State College 

Library 

Fred and Jan Weisenborn 

Charlene Wenig 

Patricia and Tom Westhoff 

Ann Wethington 

Bonnie and Timothy White 

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John White 

Kevin Whitsitt 

Mary Jo Wickliff 

Jerry and Maggie Wiechman 

Ashley Williams 

James and Marsha Wilson 

Elizabeth Winters-Rozema 

Michael Wohlstadter 

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Robert Wood 

P. Allen Woodliffe 

Chris Woodson 

Jean Worthley 

Suzanne Wright 

S. Jeanene Yackey 

George and Kay Yatskievych 

Judy Yoder 

James Zellmer 

Suzanne and Ted Zorn 

Mark Zupec 

To $34 

Katie Aichholz 

Irving and Melody Boime 

Stephen Bowles 

George and Nancy Brakhage 

Kevin and Evia Carpenter 

Robert Casner 

Judith Conoyer 

Liz Copeland 

Duane and Connie Dassow 

Bernadette Dryden 

Joe and Betty Dwigans 

Marshall and Faye Dyer 

Lisa Francis 

Sally and Howard Fulweiler 

Joseph Godi 

Jim and Betty Grace 

John Gulla 

Ron and Jan Haffey 

Winifred Hepler 

David and Jane Hooper 

Ann Korschgen 

Jean Kuntz 

Clarence Mabee 

Mid-Continent Public Library 

North Independence Branch 

Library 

Lyn Magee 

L. Margaret Martin 

Richard Matt 

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Marianne McGrath 

Thomas Metcalf 

Bob Middleton 

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Rick Myers 

John Nekola 

Justin Newman and Elizabeth 

Leis-Newman 

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William Piper 

Nancy and Sam Potter 

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Betty Richards 

Gilbert and Donna Ross 

Robert and June Silverman 

Rollin and Bettina Sparrowe 

Cheryl Ann Steffan 

Dave and Mary Sturdevent 

Boyd and Carolyn Terry 

M. A. and J. A. Thomas 

Margaret Tyler 

Peter Van Linn 

Carl Wermuth and Carmen 

Cortelyou 

Woodneath Branch Library 

Contributions listed above are 

per 2013 bank deposit dates. 

Please contact Jane Schaefer, 

who administers MPF’s membership 

and donor database, at 

janeschaefer@earthlink.net or 

call 888-843-6739 if you have 

questions. 

* 2013 Crawford and Christisen 

Society members. Members of 

this society are existing lifetime 

members who give $1,000 or 

more in a year. 

MPF Receives Gift of $316,205 from the Linden Trial Estate 

Richard Day 

In 2013, MPF was honored to receive a very generous gift of $316,205 

from the estate of Ms. Linden Trial, of Columbia, who died in 2012 at 

the age of 61. In 2012, MPF also received $239,059 from Ms. Trial’s 

estate, bringing her total gift to MPF to $555,264. 

The bulk of Ms. Trial’s gift will be used to purchase and steward a new 

prairie acquisition; a small remainder will be used for outreach and education 

purposes. A modest amount was used in 2013 to fund a grassland dragonfly 

and damselfly study. 

Ms. Trial was an entomologist who worked for the Missouri 

Department of Conservation from 1972 until her retirement in 1999. She 

spent her first years on benthic entomology projects and specialized in 

adult dragonfly research during the last third of her working years. An avid 

field researcher, Ms. Trial discovered the rare Hine’s emerald dragonfly in 

Reynolds County, MO in 1999. Her contributions to dragonfly data are 

widely used in both state and national conservation projects. 

MPF is extremely grateful for Ms. Trial’s generosity and interest in 

prairie conservation. 


Prairie Strips 

Bringing biodiversity, improved water 

quality, and soil protection to agriculture 

By Lisa Schulte Moore 

The prairie strips conservation practice harnesses the 

productivity, stability, and benefits of prairie—the 

historically dominant ecosystem that once blanketed 

much of the Midwest—to help farms produce clean 

water, wildlife, and biological wonder in addition to 

food, feed, fiber, and fuel. 

The motivation for expanding the 

basket of goods that Midwestern farms 

produce is strong. While our current 

agricultural system achieves record productivity 

in crops and livestock, it is also 

associated with serious environmental 

shortcomings, including declines in 

water quality and biodiversity, increased 

flooding and greenhouse gas emissions, 

and even degradation of the foundation 

of agricultural productivity: the soil. 

Even tried and true conservation 

practices, like no-till, are recognized to 

be insufficient given the heavy rains the 

region is now commonly experiencing. 

Many farmers, farmland owners, and 

conservation professionals are recognizing 

that we need a better way. Prairie 

strips might just be that better way for 

some farms. 


Sarah Hirsh 

The Prairie Strips Practice 

A prairie strip is an area within or at the 

downslope edge of a crop field that has 

been planted to and managed as native 

prairie vegetation. The prairie strips 

practice was developed and monitored 

in an experiment at central Iowa’s Neal 

Smith National Wildlife Refuge. The 

STRIPS acronym stands for “Strategic 

Integration of Rowcrops with Prairie 

Strips.” 

Prairie strips may vary in width and 

length based on the characteristics of 

the field, including its topography, soil 

type, and size. Importantly, the strips 

are interlaced with crops and follow the 

topographic contour so they intercept 

water running over the soil surface. Also 

importantly, the strips are planted to 

a diverse mix of native prairie plants, 

including cool-season grasses, warm-season 

grasses, and forbs. This diverse mix 

of prairie plants, with their stiff, upright 

stems, deep roots, and biological activity 

over the course of the whole growing 

season, provide ecological functions that 

annual crop plants—which are designed 

to maximize grain or bean productivity—do 

not. 

In 2007, the STRIPS team— 

including investigators from Iowa State 

University, the USDA Agricultural 

Research Service, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest 

Service—sowed the seeds of 35 native 

prairie plant species in 10- to 30-footwide 

strips (100- to 150-feet-wide at 

slope base) in experimental catchments 

farmed on a corn-bean rotation using 

no-till techniques. The experiment tested 

four different configurations: 

• all row crop (no prairie) 

• 90 percent row crops and 10 percent 

prairie placed all at the bottom of the 

catchment where runoff water flows out 


prairie placed in multiple strips running 

along the contour 

This prairie strip is part of the STRIPS experiment at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Prairie 

City, Iowa. The diverse native prairie plants with stiff stems and deep roots make this practice 

effective at providing multiple conservation benefits, including erosion control, clean water, and 

wildlife and pollinator habitat. 


prairie placed in multiple strips running 

along the contour. 

Slopes at our experiment range 

between 6 and 10 percent. We also 

installed many kinds of scientific monitoring 

equipment in these catchments so 

we could quantitatively understand how 

these areas were functioning agronomically 

and environmentally. Specifically, 

we measured crop yield, soil and water 

movement, plant cover and diversity, 

bird and insect diversity, greenhouse gas 

emissions, and socioeconomic characteristics. 

A catchment is a topographically defined area 

of land that basically “catches” rainfall. Any 

rainfall, minus that which evaporates or is 

transpired by plants, should theoretically run 

toward and congregate at the lowest spot in 

the catchment. This experimental catchment, 

above, contains alternate strips of prairie 

and crops, in this case soybeans. An H-flume 

is located at the bottom of the catchment 

and allows collection of samples of water 

runoff. The poles protruding from the strips 

mark the location of ground water wells, for 

measuring ground water depth and chemistry, 

and suction cup lysimeters, for measuring soil 

water chemistry. 

Anna MacDonald 



Here are some of our results: 

• In terms of plant measures, we find 

that catchments that have at least 10 

percent of their area in prairie have a 

380 percent increase in native plants 

with 115 percent cover compared to 

entirely row-cropped catchments. This 

is impressive, but not surprising, given 

we planted most of this diversity. 

• Important to farmers who might adopt 

prairie strips as a conservation practice, 

we’ve also found that the strips do 

not have a negative impact on yield of 

adjacent crops, and plants from them 

do not invade adjacent cropland. In 

other words, the prairie plants do not 

become a weed problem for farmers. 

• Our data on water quality impacts are 

probably the most dramatic. We’ve 

recorded 60 percent less water leaving 

catchments with just 10 percent of 

their area in prairie strips, likely due to 

the combination of greater infiltration 

of water through the soil and transpiration 

of water to the atmosphere by the 

prairie plants. Associated with lower 

levels of runoff are 95 percent reductions 

in the amount of sediment moving 

out of the catchments, and nearly 

90 percent reductions in the amount 

of phosphorus and nitrogen moving 

out of the catchments. These measures 

are important because while soil, 

phosphorus, and nitrogen are wonderful 

assets supporting plant growth in 

agriculture fields, they become serious 

pollutants if they reach our waterways. 

Sediment, phosphorus, and nitratenitrogen 

are three of the top four water 

pollutants in Iowa. In Missouri, bacteria 

is the most common water pollutant, 

followed by heavy metals. 

• Soil is an invaluable farm resource. 

Our data show that, on sloping lands 

like at our experimental location, notill 

soil management alone was not 

adequate for keeping soil loss below 

USDA Natural Resource Conservation 

Service’s “tolerable soil loss” of 5 tons 

per acre per year. In one April 2009 

storm alone, an average of 1 ton per 

acre of soil was lost from catchments 

without strips; loss from catchments 

with 10 percent in prairie strips was 

negligible. No-till needs to be considered 

a component of a conservation 

system that also include other conservation 

practices such as prairie strips, 

grassed waterways, and cover crops. 

• In terms of beneficial insects, we’ve 

recorded the same diversity of insect 

pollinators as found in nearby patches 

of restored prairie. We’ve found 1.4 

to 2 times the abundance of insects 

that serve as predators of crop pests in 

prairie strips than in adjacent cropland. 

While the strips appear to be providing 

habitat for these beneficial species, we 

have not yet detected a reduction in 

crop pests as a result. 

• With regard to bird biodiversity, we’ve 

recorded 118 percent and 133 percent 

increases in native bird species richness 

and abundance, respectively, including 

species of regional and continental 

conservation concern, including the 

field sparrow, lark sparrow, and dickcissel. 

We next need to see if these 

increases in abundance translate into 

the increased fecundity of native birds. 

• Prairie strips, if scaled up, could also 

have a meaningful impact on greenhouse 

gas emissions. Nitrous oxide 

is a serious greenhouse gas pollutant, 

Keeping Midwestern Soils 

Out of the Gulf 

Hypoxia, or low oxygen, is an environmental phenomenon where the concentration of 

dissolved oxygen in the water is so low that it can no longer support living aquatic organisms. 

Hypoxic areas, or “Dead Zones,” have increased in duration and frequency across our planet’s 

oceans since first being noted in the 1970s. 

The Gulf of Mexico is the largest hypoxic zone in the United States and the second largest 

worldwide. Gulf hypoxia is caused by the discharge of nutrients into the Mississippi River, which flows to the Gulf, which in turn encourages 

the growth of aquatic plants. When bacteria decompose this plant material, oxygen is depleted. 

Row crop agriculture is responsible for tremendous losses of soil and fertilizers that, in a large part of the Midwest, run off the land into 

the watershed of the Mississippi River. Both Iowa and Missouri are top contributors of these nutrient losses—Iowa is a bigger contributor 

of nitrogen while Missouri is a bigger contributor of phosphorous. Iowa has recently committed to achieving 41 percent and 29 percent 

reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively, from reaching surface waters. Initial results from the STRIPS project suggest that prairie 

strips might be an effective, economical way to get Iowa much of the way there. 

NOAA 


Members of the STRIPS team 

laying out prairie strips on 

Seth Watkin’s commercial 

farm in Taylor County, Iowa. 

“My gut tells me that it’s a 

good practice,” Watkin said. 

“If other people are going to 

buy in, they’re going to need 

some hard data.” 

The STRIPS experiment has 

yielded data on 1.2- to 8-acre 

experimental catchments, 

demonstrating the benefits 

of prairie strips to farmers 

and wildlife alike. The STRIPS 

team is beginning to consult 

with a growing group of 

farmers and farmland owners 

on “Phase 2” implementation 

of the experiment, which is 

on commercial farm fields. 


with 300 times the global warming 

potential of carbon dioxide. Globally, 

most nitrous oxide emissions are associated 

with agriculture, emitted after 

fertilizers with naturally occurring 

and synthetic nitrogen are applied to 

row crops. We’ve found substantially 

reduced nitrous oxide flux associated 

with our prairie strips in comparison to 

cropped land. We’ve also found substantial 

accumulation of soil organic 

carbon at the base of catchments with 

strips. 

• Finally, we’ve found that when baled, 

prairie strips produce about 3.2 tons 

per acre of dried plant material, which 

can be used for animal bedding or 

to produce bioenergy where markets 

exist. While this quantity isn’t outstanding—it’s 

similar to moderately 

managed switchgrass—it’s an added 

benefit layered on top of a multitude 

of conservation assets, several of which 

help to sustain agriculture itself into 

the future. 

We’ve run the numbers, and a farmer 

could get all of the benefits of prairie 

strips for $24 to $35 per treated acre per 

year, which could be further cut by 80 

percent if the strips were enrolled in the 

federal Conservation Reserve Program. 

This is affordable: farmers continuously 

spend $3 to $35 an acre on inputs. For 

example, cover crops, which are experiencing 

a boom in adoption across the 

Corn Belt now cost about $40 per acre. 

An application of nitrogen fertilizer costs 

about $85 per acre. 

If by now you’re thinking that 

prairie strips make a whole lot of sense, 

you’re not alone. Many others—including 

farmers, farmland owners, state and 

federal agencies, and commodity and 

environmental organizations—also think 

so and are getting on the bandwagon. 

The STRIPS team is beginning to consult 

with a growing group of farmers and 

farmland owners on “Phase 2” implementation 

of the experiment, which is 

on commercial farm fields. 

In sum, prairie strips are a costeffective 

way to blend production and 

conservation. They harness the productivity, 

stability, and benefits of the 

historically dominant ecosystem that 

once blanketed much of the Midwest 

and help build farming systems that produce 

clean water, wildlife, and wonder 

in addition to food, feed, fiber, and fuel. 

To learn more about the Prairie STRIPS 

program, visit www.prairiestrips.org. 

Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore is Associate 

Professor of Natural Resource Ecology and 

Management at Iowa State University. 

She is one of the lead investigators on the 

STRIPS project, leading the bird biodiversity 

component and playing a major role in 

on-farm research and demonstration of the 

prairie strips practice. 


Prairie Streams 

Priceless Habitat for Aquatic Life 

By Tom Priesendorf and Kara Tvedt • Photos by Kara Tvedt 

Recent surveys of 

streams on Missouri 

Prairie Foundation 

prairies document 

numerous fish species. 

Several Arkansas darters were discovered 

three years ago on the 

Missouri Prairie Foundation’s 

Golden Prairie, in Barton County. If 

you were walking past the grassy rivulet, 

you may not even have realized that you 

were near an aquatic feature, let alone 

near one of Missouri’s aquatic species of 

conservation concern. 

This particular site is a very small 

headwater stream that is dry during parts 

of the year except for a small section that 

is maintained by spring flow. Arkansas 

darters are listed as a “candidate” for listing 

species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. Historically, Arkansas darters 

were found in the Arkansas River drainage 

in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, 

Kansas, and Colorado. They were never 

found in great abundance throughout 

their range, but over the years their 

numbers have declined, especially in the 

range’s central and western parts. 

The Arkansas darter story is a great 

illustration of the importance of prairie 

aquatic features and attests that even the 

smallest stream provides priceless habitat 

for aquatic organisms. 

Prairie Streams— 

More Rare Than Prairie 

The amount of prairie habitat remaining 

on the Missouri landscape is scarce 

when compared to past coverage. The 

same can be said for prairie streams and 

their unique assemblages of fish, as well 

as crayfish and other macroinvertebrates. 

In fact, very few streams, or even stream 

segments, have watersheds that function 

as they did in pre-settlement times 

as almost no prairie watersheds remain 

completely intact. Development for 

agricultural and urban use has taken a 

heavy toll. This development has altered 

habitat and flow conditions in prairie 

streams. These changes make high quality 

prairie streams even scarcer than the 

prairies themselves. 

Often overlooked, prairie streams 

host a unique community within the 

prairies through which they flow. Even 

some of the smallest streams can support 

small fish such as a variety of darters, 


An Arkansas darter (Etheostoma cragini), a 

candidate species for federal endangered species 

status, found in a small stream on Golden 

Prairie, facing page, by Missouri Department of 

Conservation fisheries biologists. 

topminnows, shiners, and madtoms. 

Depending on water conditions their 

occupancy may be seasonal or yearround. 

As the streams get bigger, the 

presence of sunfish such as bluegill and 

warmouth can be noted along with a few 

largemouth bass and suckers. 

The substrate of the stream channels 

is also thriving with life. Different 

portions of streams will sustain different 

kinds of macroinvertebrates depending 

on habitat characteristics in the immediate 

area. Aquatic worms, snails, and various 

fly larvae are just a few of the aquatic 

invertebrates found in areas of prairie 

streams that possess predominantly silty 

streambeds. Dragonfly larvae are common 

among woody debris, fine roots, 

and aquatic plants found in the water. 

Some macroinvertebrates, however, 

are especially adapted to “making 

a living” among the open spaces of 

clean gravel substrates. These areas are 

especially sensitive to frequent disturbance. 

If streams become choked with 

silt, this important habitat—the spaces 

between gravel particles—can disappear 

along with the organisms housed there. 

Examples of these kinds of invertebrates 

include larvae of mayflies, damselflies, 

caddisflies, and certain kinds of crayfish. 

Regardless of where found or kind 

of organism, all of these creatures are 

important in cycling nutrients and providing 

important services for the aquatic 

ecosystem. 

The prairie stream is also more than just 

the water and its residents. The streambank 

of these waterways has its own 

terrestrial vegetative characteristics and is 

distinct enough to have been described 

as a terrestrial natural community 

within the prairie landscape. According 

to Nelson’s The Terrestrial Natural 

Communities of Missouri (2005), the 

prairie headwater stream edge subtype is 

distinguished by relative dominance of 

shrubs and scattered small trees bordering 

small streams on the prairies. Nelson 

lists characteristic plant species as being 

false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), button 

bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), swamp 

dogwood (Cornus amomum ssp. oblique), 

and wetland prairie grasses. 

You may ask yourself, “Does size 

matter when it comes to streams?” The 

answer may surprise you. Small, intermittent 

streams are just as important as 

the bigger streams. Smaller streams may 

not support as many fish, but they play 

a key role as nursery areas for some fish 

species. Fish move into these reaches 

during the wetter parts of the year (i.e., 

early spring) to escape predation while 

laying eggs and rearing their young. 

Once water levels start to drop and 

the upper reaches of the stream begin 

to dry, the fish move downstream to 

larger waters. These small, intermittent 

streams also provide a direct connection 

between the watershed and the larger 

prairie streams, leading some to contend 

that small streams are more important 

because this is where the streams and the 

watershed have the greatest interaction. 

In short, even small streams should not 

be disregarded. 

Missouri Prairie Stream Surveys 

Missouri Department of Conservation 

(MDC) biologists have been focusing 

additional attention on prairie streams. 

To date they have investigated a number 

Missouri Department of Conservation staff seining a stream on MPF’s Denison Prairie. 


Orangethroat darters (Etheostoma spectabile) 

from Allen Branch on MPF’s Schwartz Prairie. 

A blackspotted topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus) 

from Allen Branch on MPF’s Schwartz Prairie. 

Missouri Department of Conservation staff using backpack electrofishing to sample Allen Branch on 

MPF’s Schwartz Prairie. 

A small-mouthed salamander (Ambystoma 

texanum) larva from a small headwater stream 

on MPF’s Golden Prairie. 

of streams on several Missouri Prairie 

Foundation (MPF) properties, Prairie 

State Park, and MDC prairies. The 

streams have ranged in size from very 

small, intermittent drainages to larger, 

wadeable waterways. The watersheds for 

these streams have had prairie tracts that 

have ranged from expansive to “postage 

stamp-sized.” When looking at these 

streams, they concentrated their efforts 

on the fish communities and associated 

habitats. 

To increase their chances of catching 

all fish species occupying these 

streams, the biologists used a variety of 

sampling equipment, including kick 

nets, dip nets, seines, mini-fyke nets, 

and a backpack electrofisher. Most of 

this equipment requires an active effort 

on the part of the biologists, such as 

pulling seines or nets through the water 

or applying an electric field to the water 

to collect fish. However, mini-fyke nets 

are passive in that they require deployment 

and then retrieval only after a set 

period of time. Regardless of equipment 

type, fish were collected, identified, and 

returned to the water unharmed. 

Survey Results 

So what did the biologists find in these 

remnant prairie streams? In the smaller 

headwater prairie streams the number 

of documented fish species ranged from 

zero to eleven. Common fish species 

found in these smaller streams include 

bluegill, orangethroat darter, creek chub, 

and blackstriped and blackspotted topminnows. 

The absence of fish, however, 

is not necessarily a negative finding. 

These sections of streams with no or very 

few fish act as refuges for other aquatic 

species such as salamanders, tadpoles, 

and aquatic invertebrates. This refuge 

concept was evident at MPF’s Golden 

Prairie in Barton County where biologists 

documented the first county record 

for small-mouthed salamanders by capturing 

several salamander larvae in a fishless 

section of a small headwater stream. 

As streams that were surveyed got 

bigger, they typically possessed more 

species. Some noteworthy additions to 

the species list on these large streams 

sometimes included greenside darters, 

slough darters, slender madtoms, white 


Summary of the total fish species count by area and stream system 

surveyed between 2011 and 2013 

Area 

Prairie State Park - DNR 

Stream System 

Stream 

Order* 

Total Fish 

Species 

Count 

Fleck Creek and its Tributaries 1° to 3° 25 

East Drywood Creek 2° 11 

Golden Prairie - MPF 

Bethel Prairie 

Conservation Area - MDC 

Clear Creek 

Conservation Area - MDC 

Penn-Sylvania and 

Coyne Prairies - MPF 

Tributaries to Coon Creek 1° 5 

Tributary to Little Coon Creek 1° 1 

Tributary to North Fork Spring River 2° 8 

Clear Creek 3° 19 

Tributaries to Cedar Creek 1° 8 

Welsch Tract - MPF Tributaries to Cedar Creek 1° 0 

Missouri Department of Conservation staff 

tending to a mini-fyke net in East Drywood 

Creek at Prairie State Park. 

Schwartz Prairie - MPF Allen Branch 1° 6 

Denison and 

Lattner Prairies - MPF 

Tributaries to Little Drywood Creek 1° to 2° 8 

* Stream order is a size classification system, with 1° being the smallest stream indicated on a 

topographic map. 

suckers, and a variety of sunfish species. 

In Clear Creek at MDC’s Clear Creek 

Conservation Area and in Fleck Creek 

at Prairie State Park, biologists found as 

many as 19 and 25 fish species, respectively. 

The number of species found in 

Fleck Creek and its tributaries is another 

story in that this stream system was 

nearly “dead” in the late 1980s. As parts 

of the watershed have been restored 

from past mining activity, the fish community 

has rebounded over the years. 

Besides fish, biologists also noted 

any aquatic invertebrates as well as 

amphibians and reptiles they encountered. 

MDC staff members have provided 

MPF with detailed reports listing all 

aquatic organisms found in their efforts. 

To date they have looked at MPF’s 

Golden Prairie, Schwartz Prairie, the 

adjacent Denison and Lattner Prairies, 

and the Penn-Sylvania Prairie, Coyne 

Prairie, and Welsch Tract complex. 

In general, streams with a good prairie 

streambank and stream edge community 

tend to support a wider variety of 

aquatic organisms. As with many communities, 

there are some challenges. Fish 

passage barriers are common. Terrestrial 

land management activities such as tree 

removal, grazing, burning, and herbicide 

application can also inadvertently impact 

these systems, if not done carefully and 

mindful of aquatic resources. 

In closing, prairie streams are 

important features on the landscape 

and full of life. In order to maintain 

their overall functionality and diversity, 

aquatic organisms must be able to move 

in and out of the smaller streams as 

habitat conditions allow. Quality riparian 

areas are also needed to help protect 

and maintain habitat conditions such as 

adequate channel depth, desirable stream 

temperatures, and stable substrates. 

If these considerations are taken into 

account, many prairie streams can continue 

to thrive within the diverse prairie 

landscapes through which they flow. 

Fisheries Management Biologist 

Tom Priesendorf with the Missouri 

Department of Conservation (MDC) is 

stationed at El Dorado Springs. His job 

duties include managing streams and 

public lakes in Bates, Vernon, and St. Clair 

Counties. He has been with MDC for more 

than 20 years and he particularly enjoys 

sampling the fish communities of small 

streams. Fisheries Management Biologist 

Kara Tvedt has been with MDC for more 

than 20 years. Her job duties include 

managing streams and public lakes in 

Greene, Webster, Barton, Jasper, and 

Lawrence Counties. 


Landscaping 

with Native 

Small Trees 

By Alan Branhagen 

Missouri’s wild landscapes 

are blessed with a marvelous 

variety of small trees from 

forest understories to wooded 

edges. Redbuds and dogwoods 

may be the first trees that 

come to mind, and rightfully 

so as they provide such a fresh 

breath of floral delight after 

winter. Beyond these two 

beloved species, however, 

there are many other native 

small trees suitable for full sun 

to shade, and from wetland 

to dry glade conditions. Their 

ornamental assets include 

beautiful flowers, unusual 

and edible fruits, fall color, 

beautiful bark and branching 

patterns, and let us not forget 

their verdant summertime 

foliage. 

Beloved Dogwoods and Redbuds 

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), 

our state tree, is one of the best small 

trees for landscaping. Its four seasons 

of interest in the landscape make it a 

much desired ornamental well beyond 

Missouri’s borders. Lately it has gotten 

some bad press because of dogwood 

anthracnose, a disease that has killed the 

trees mainly in other parts of its range. 

Plant a non-native Asian dogwood 

instead, and guess what? Our native 

insects won’t eat its foliage; choose flowering 

dogwood to provide beauty as well 

as food for insects and thus other animals 

up the food chain. 

Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) thrive 

statewide and are easier to grow than 

dogwoods. While they grow quickly, 

they live only about as long as we do. 

Redbuds are loved for their wisps of 

nectar-rich, pea-like blossoms the color 

of raspberry sherbet, which perfectly 

compliment the neon light greens of 

early spring. 

My favorite aspect of the tree is its 

shape, with branches and trunks leaning 

or spiraling into marvelous forms, often 

cloaked in lovely chartreuse and chalky 

blue lichens. Grow them where they can 

branch or lean to the ground. Remove 

turf beneath them and plant blue-flowering 

spring wildflowers for an unforgettable 

scene. Embrace their habit by not 

pruning them into upright soldiers. If 

an older trunk dies of old age, then cut 

Flowering Dogwood 

it out and rejuvenate the tree with new 

sprouts from the base. 

Hawthorns 

Moving beyond the popular dogwoods 

and redbuds, I feel compelled to pick 

from the realm of other small native 

flowering trees the much maligned 

state flower of Missouri: the hawthorn. 

Hawthorns were more abundant in 

the rural landscape of Missouri when 

small farms and pastures were more 

numerous and woodlands were more 

open. Hawthorns were celebrated at the 

turn of the prior century by renowned 

Midwestern landscape designers like O. 

C. Simmonds (who designed Hannibal’s 

www.HenryDomke.com 


Redbud 


Corkspur Hawthorn 

Alan Branhagen 

American Hornbeam 


Green Hawthorn 

city park) for their lovely branching, 

which mimics the horizontal plains of 

the Midwest. The trees flower in spring 

after they leaf out and are pollinated by 

beetles and flies, and have lovely variously 

toothed and lobed leaves. 

Unfortunately, hawthorns are susceptible 

to various rusts, mainly cedarapple 

and cedar-quince rusts. Some 

species are more resistant, but I never let 

the rust bother me—I often chide gardeners 

that if the orange spots were on 

a coleus leaf they would love them! 

Native green (Crataegus viridis), 

Washington (C. phaenopyrum), and 

littlehip hawthorns (C. spathulata) are 

quite resistant to cedar-apple rust and 


have beautiful red fruit that hangs on the 

trees into winter for a dazzling display. 

Many species drop fruit soon after ripening 

and turning red. Songbirds eat the 

fruit, and little forest mammals like mice 

eat the seeds. Unfortunately the fruits 

are now often mired by cedar-quince 

rust that creates what looks like orange 

horns coming out of the fruits. 

Hawthorn species in Missouri are 

rich and varied, and I actually worry 

about their long-term existence. At least 

one formerly common species east of 

here is now no longer even known in 

the wild as woodlands have become so 

dense! 

The beauty in hawthorns lies mainly 

in their winter form (or after early leaf 

drop). The littlehip hawthorn trunks 

look like fluted cinnamon with gray 

patches, and green hawthorn also has 

quite lovely exfoliating bark in grays, 

olive, and almost silver. Common sense 

says don’t plant hawthorns in a formal 

garden but in hedgerows, naturalistic 

forest edges, savannas and other similar 

designs. Schoolchildren selected the redhaw 

(downy hawthorn (C. mollis) to be 

exact) as the state flower. I would hate to 

see the day that this bit of our heritage 

no longer enriches our landscape. 

American Hornbeam and 

Eastern Hophornbeam 

Two “sleeper” understory trees related to 

birch are all too often forgotten in landscaping: 

American hornbeam (Carpinus 

caroliniana) and eastern hophornbeam 

(Ostrya virginiana). Both are important 

to our web of life, hosting a wealth of 

creatures. 


Red Buckeye 

Don’t miss the delight of standing 

beneath one of these small trees while 

they are in spring bloom, their pendulous 

male catkins adorning each branch. 

Each has fruit that hangs on the tree 

into winter looking like little pagodas on 

hornbeam and hops on hophornbeam. 

Songbirds like the seeds inside. 

Hornbeam’s fall color is one of the 

best of any tree’s, ranging from yellow 

to orange and red, with hophornbeam 

a more mellow yellow. Hophornbeam 

holds its leaves into winter (a condition 

termed “marcescent”) adding to 

its appeal. Hophornbeam’s branching 

is delicate and resembles the veining 

inside a leaf when viewed from below. 

Hornbeam’s sinuous gray trunks— 

which give the species its other common 

name, “musclewood”—make it stand 

out in winter. 


perfect for natural gardens—Ohio buckeye 

is always a stunning compliment to 

redbuds blooming in spring. Woodlands 

edged with red buckeye and flowering 

dogwood with Virginia bluebells underneath 

was a living mural I will never forget 

seeing in Missouri’s Mingo National 

Wildlife Refuge. 

Deciduous Holly 

Possumhaw or deciduous holly (Ilex 

decidua) is the dazzler in the winter landscape 

with vibrant red fruit on female 

trees. As showy as any flowers, the fruits 

last on the trees for months, only to 

dwindle as songbirds raid them. The 

fruits are usually guarded by a mockingbird, 

which adds to the entertainment 

value of the tree through winter. The 

inconspicuous white flowers in spring 

are nectar-rich and make a fine honey. 

Deciduous Holly 

Fringetree 



Buckeyes 

Buckeyes’ burst of fresh spring growth 

before other trees makes them a favorite 

to experience after winter. Ohio buckeye’s 

(Aesculus glabra) yellow flowers and 

red buckeye’s (A. pavia) scarlet flowers 

set off by fresh green leaves are not only 

fine to look at, but also nectar-rich for 

hummingbirds to bumblebees. 

Both these trees can, like the hawthorn, 

have premature leaf drop, but are 

The wealth of small trees native to Missouri, with their 

abundant appeal, will I hope become irresistible for more and 

more gardeners. To me it wouldn’t be spring without the fragrance 

of wild plums or the fleecy flowers of fringetree, or the end-ofsummer 

“antlers” of white spheres of devil’s walkingstisck (Aralia 

spinosa) flowers. Incorporate these Missouri native treasures in 

your landscape and create a beautiful living work of art. 

Alan Branhagen is the director of horticulture at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, MO, 

and also serves on the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Grow Native! Committee. 


Native Warm-Season Grass News • Spring 2014 

A Landowner’s Guide To Wildlife-Friendly Grasslands 

Stevie Collins 

The Patch-Burn Grazing Working Group has been meeting annually since 2003, 

and I attended the 2013 meeting in September. Pete Bauman, with South Dakota 

Extension, hosted this year’s meeting held in Gary. The theme was “Patch Burn 

Grazing in Fragmented Landscapes.” Attendance was 105 folks from state and federal 

agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private landowners. Much excellent 

information was presented at the meeting and I thought I would share it with readers. 

I believe that patch-burn grazing (PBG), or other grazing regimes, can be very effective 

grassland management tools. 

Yours for better grasslands, 

Steve Clubine 

Notes from the 2013 Patch-Burn Grazing (PBG) 

Working Group Meeting 

It was a depressing drive up I-29 through the corn and soybean 

desert of the Missouri River Valley and across eastern 

South Dakota. Fewer than three years ago, the eastern South 

Dakota landscape was mostly prairie and Conservation Reserve 

Program grasslands. A South Dakota State University study, 

published in March 2013, estimated that 1.3 million acres 

of grassland were destroyed to plant crops in the Dakotas, 

Minnesota, and Nebraska between 2006 and 2011. 

Such sod-busting for corn and soybean cropping has been 

concentrated in the Dakotas, east of the Missouri River. The 

magnitude of this conversion is similar to the peak rates documented 

during the 1920s and 1930s, when tractors and other 

mechanized equipment came into widespread use, say study 

authors Christopher Wright and Michael Wimberly. 

Soon after we turned east off I-29 toward the tiny town 

of Gary, we passed through several thousand acres of rolling 

native prairie rangeland, eyewash for corn-burned eyes. Some 

of this prairie turned out to be sites for some of the meeting 

field trips. Several ranchers in this area had volunteered to 

experiment with PBG and these sites were stops for one of the 

field trips. We also learned that much of the area was put into 

permanent easements by the ranch owners, hopefully preventing 

future generations from destroying these last remaining 

grasslands. 

Ryan Harr, Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife 

biologist, was the first speaker, and I summarize many of 

the points he made below because I feel that they pertain to 

much of Missouri as well as to Iowa. 

• Grasslands are dependent on disturbance, with fire and well 

managed grazing being critical. 

Editor’s Note 

The Missouri Prairie 

Foundation’s position on 

using grazing with cattle 

for prairie management 

is that the size and 

quality of prairie may 

determine the type of 

management applied, 

and that it should be used 

and monitored carefully. 

That is, conservation 

grazing regimes on 

very small and/or high 

quality prairie whose sole 

purpose is conservation 

of all prairie-dependent 

species, if used at all, 

might be very different 

from grazing regimes on 

prairie plantings, prairies 

and other grasslands in 

cattle production, or highly 

degraded prairie. 

• While European settlers weren’t 

exactly comfortable with fire, there 

was still a lot of burning happening, 

about once in ten years, up until the 

mid-twentieth century. Somehow 

that changed. Harr pointed out that 

a northwestern Missouri prairie had 

seen only one fire since 1955, so 

what happened? Woody invasion! 

• There seems to be a “reluctance in the prairie peninsula,” 

Harr said, to using all the tools available to keep grasslands 

open. Some people are becoming more comfortable with fire, 

but not with grazing, but Harr felt that the knowledge base is 

slowly growing to where more ranchers and public land managers 

understand that grazing can be a valuable tool. 

• Harr acknowledged that “grazing is not appropriate in all 

cases.” 

• Grazing management in the past preached take half and leave 

half (meaning graze the top half of height but leave the bottom 

half to maintain root growth and root reserves). That 

formula leaves out a transitional state that is important for 

wildlife species. Some flora and fauna need little cover and 

lots of sunlight, others require dense cover and little sunlight 

and many require the full array of cover heights and densities 

during life requisites. However, even this basic tenet of grazing 

management has not been taught in 30 years at any state 

university, so few people understand the importance of grazing 

or what conservation grazing is. 

• Stocking rate is the key to maintaining “patch contrast.” 

Harr offered the idea of leasing based on Animal Units (AUs) 


Native Warm-Season Grass News 


instead of leasing based on acres. Heavy grazing or too many 

AUs and continuous grazing has left a bad taste in everyone’s 

mouths. “If we can get to the point of appropriate stocking 

rates with fire,” Harr said, “then we can work our way to 

restore prairies.” 

• Harr stated that those who have been restoring prairies 

with fire and grazing, and documenting results, have found 

increased diversity of plants, birds, invertebrates, and other 

biota. Editor’s note: Increased diversity does not necessarily 

mean an increase in the diversity of prairie-dependent species. 

Documenting data on the response to prairie-dependent species 

is also needed. Documenting and sharing results of any 

management technique are both important. 

Chippewa Prairie Preserve in Minnesota 

Chippewa Prairie Preserve Other morning presentations 

introduced us to and set the stage for the afternoon field 

trip to the Chippewa Prairie Preserve, owned by The Nature 

Conservancy (TNC) and Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management 

Area in Minnesota where TNC and the Minnesota 

Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) are experimenting 

with PBG. Their focus is on quality habitat and wildlife management, 

not beef production. There are a lot of rare species 

in these prairie landscapes, and MDNR and TNC are thankful 

that Minnesota has areas that were too wet or too rocky to 

farm, otherwise these sites would no longer exist. However, 

never underestimate technology and greed. Adjacent to several 

areas, we saw rock clearing (with large rocks being shipped to 

Minneapolis for landscaping) and wetland draining and tiling, 

efforts to make this land more arable for corn and soybeans. 

The PBG trial site is a high-use public area and is eight 

miles of open prairie landscape with several access points and 

Steve Clubine 

swing gates for the public. Projected “grazable” acres were 

used to figure the stocking rates (sites that produce no grazable 

forage are deducted from the total area available for grazing). 

In 2012, managers used 200 head (240 AUs) on 2,177 acres, 

which equates to ~10 acres/cow-calf pair on the entire site and 

~2.2 acres/cow-calf pair on burned areas. Wells and solar-powered 

float pumps provide stock water. Fencing is also designed 

so the public does not notice it while driving by. They chose an 

effective post spacing and a higher wire spacing that requires 

less maintenance, has a stronger charge, and is wildlife friendly. 

Chargers are protected with Gallagher lightning diverters. 

Much of what one sees today on these prairies is due to 

past management. Fire occurrence ranged from zero to nine 

burns since public ownership. Land managers chose to use 

cattle because they felt that cattle were great tools in the toolbox 

and they needed more disturbance than just fire or doing 

no management at all. Haying is limited by pocket gopher 

mounds, and is considered a poor management choice for wildlife, 

but is used to maintain some firebreaks. 

To reintroduce grazing to Chippewa Prairie, TNC and 

MDNR have been working with area cattle producers and 

using a model called “grass-banking.” They work with producers 

who own bigger tracts of prairie and use their cattle to graze 

the Chippewa Prairie. “Grass-banking” allows these producers 

to rest their prairies to improve production, root depth, and 

diversity. It is a win-win because habitat is improved on both 

the Chippewa Prairie and private land, and landowners get 

more and better quality forage for livestock on both properties. 

MDNR and TNC are interested in knowing what effects 

PBG has across the landscape and have high quality prairie 

monitoring projects set up—monitoring and sampling for vegetation, 

birds, mammals, insects, amphibians, and reptiles. For 

instance, they want to see the effect of the grazing component 

of PBG on the plant species composition of a dry-mesic prairie. 

Sample plots were laid out for five pairs in each of the five 

management units. Current results show that burns stimulate 

the grass community and grazing produces the desired structure 

with an increase in plant diversity. Editor’s note: these results 

may show an increase in plant diversity, but what are also 

needed are data that show the plant species that make up this 

increase. 

Woody invasion is a huge problem in Minnesota and 

South Dakota prairies as elsewhere. Grazing helped keep the 

woodies down so management crews were not in the field with 

their chainsaws as often, allowing them to do other important 

work. Cattle also become extremely important when the crews 

are not able to conduct prescribed burns. They have a very short 

window of opportunity for burning, so grazing can help with 


woody control and getting varied plant structure when sites 

can’t get burned. Without the burned patch, the previously 

burned and grazed patch may get somewhat more grazing focus 

than unburned patches, but not as much as one might think. If 

it does get too much, it can be hotwired out of the grazed area. 

7-Mile Fen Preserve The second field trip was to 7-Mile Fen 

Preserve in the Prairie Coteau in South Dakota. This was the 

private prairie pasture we’d seen on the drive in to Gary, which 

contains a fen, or a wetland where calcium-rich groundwater 

percolates to the surface. Sharp-tail grouse, greater prairiechickens, 

and dung beetles are three of many prairie species in 

the area. Pete Bauman, with South Dakota State University 

Extension and this year’s meeting host, pointed out it is getting 

tougher for all of the grassland species because in the last five 

years they have lost approximately eight acres of prairie to soybeans 

and corn every 15 minutes. 

This PBG site at the preserve is 160 acres and TNC is 

using 25 cow/calf pairs. Exclosures illustrate the potential biomass 

and species composition. Seeing and bouncing on the fen 

was an unusual and fun experience. The boglike wetland was, 

Bauman said, at least 27 feet deep without hitting the bottom. 

One landowner at the meeting stated that he really believed 

in the value of fire for restoring prairie and liked the idea of 

PBG, but wasn’t sure he’d be able to continue. Having trained 

professionals burn is one thing, but it can be hard for ranchers 

to carry out burns because they do not have the equipment or 

manpower. Neighbors might work together, but it is difficult 

chosing with whom to begin because of the short window for 

burning. There are no contractors in the area, and out-of-state 

burn contractors have problems with travel and hitting optimum 

weather once they get there. On an ending note, Pete Bauman 

said “it appears that most of the landowners see the benefits of 

burning, but one of the challenges is teaching and getting the 

landowners to learn the tools and techniques of burning.” 

It was gratifying to see that PBG in eastern South Dakota 

and Minnesota functioned similarly to other places I’ve seen 

it employed (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, 

and Texas). Most prairie pastures in the area were dominated 

by Kentucky bluegrass due to a long history without fire, but 

native grasses and forbs were responding to rest they received 

when the burned patch focused grazing on a smaller portion of 

the pasture. Big bluestem, indiangrass, little bluestem, porcupinegrass, 

green needlegrass, and several native forbs that had 

survived a history of periodic herbicide treatments and seasonlong 

grazing were conspicuous in unburned patches as well as 

in exclosures in the burned patch. 

Above is an exclosure in a 

current-year burn patch 

at 7-Mile Fen Preserve. 

Approximately one-fourth 

to one-third of a pasture is 

burned each year. Grazing 

animals graze the freshly 

burned area selectively 

while grazing the remaining 

unburned portion lightly. The grazing exclosure illustrates the amount 

of cover and the plant species that would be present without being grazed 

and what the rest of the burned patch will look like the next two to three 

years when animals focus on the next newly burned area. Burning different 

portions each year creates a “shifting mosaic” of cover and vegetative parameters 

(Fuhlendorf, S. et. al. 2006. Heterogeneity and Grassland Conservation 

Ecological Applications. Ecological Society of America 16 (5): 1706–1716). 

Above right is the unburned-grazed portion of the same prairie pasture as 

shown in the photo at top. It has been lightly to moderately grazed, and will 

likely be the next unit to be burned. The burned portion of the prairie in the 

photo at top will likely look like this the next two to three years. 

The Missouri Conservation Department’s Len Gilmore kneels beside a glacial 

erratic in a current-year burn patch at 7-Mile Fen Preserve. Glacial erratics 

are rocks that were carried and dropped by glaciers thousands of years ago. 

The depression around the rock was caused by bison rubbing on the rock 

over the centuries. Such sites were common on South Dakota prairies but 

are becoming rare as rocks are removed and prairies are destroyed to plant 

corn and soybeans. A similar rubbing rock occurs on The Nature Conservancy’s 

Dunn Ranch in Missouri. 

Steve Clubine 

Steve Clubine 

Steve Clubine 


Native Warm-Season Grass News 


Cover types from left to right are: 

patch-burn grazed rangeland; continuously, 

severely grazed rangeland; 

conventional tillage; no-till with 

regular duff it would have; and no-till 

cover crop. 

Rainfall Simulator One of the 

most remarkable presentations 

on the field trip was the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service 

(NRCS) Rainfall Simulator demonstration. 

NRCS soil conservationist 

Stan Boltz exhibited five 

three-inch thick cover type samples—cover-crop, 

conventional 

tillage, minimum tillage, severely 

grazed pasture, and moderately 

grazed native pasture. Each cover 

type had two jars—an outer jar 

to capture runoff and an inner jar 

to collect infiltration water. The 

simulator released 1.5 inches of 

rainfall as shown in a rain gauge. 

The conventionally tilled sod 

filled the runoff jug with dirty 

water with little water in the infiltration 

jug. The minimum tilled 

sample had less and cleaner runoff 

water and moderate infiltration water. The cover crop sample 

had virtually no runoff water, but overflowed the infiltration 

jug. The continuously grazed pasture sod filled the runoff jug 

with dingy water and not much infiltration water. The moderately 

grazed native sod had virtually no runoff and half a jug of 

infiltration water. The jars speak for themselves! 

It was amazing to see the amount of runoff from the continuously 

grazed rangeland and conventional tillage cropland. 

The other three cover types had very, very minimal runoff 

amounts and the infiltration was phenomenal. The prairie 

results shouldn’t be too surprising to prairie folks—good prairie 

holds huge amounts of rainfall with little runoff. 

Chris Helzer, TNC, will host the 2014 meeting on the 

Platte River Prairies between Kearney and Grand Island, 

Nebraska. Missouri will be the host state in 2016. 

Pasture Rent 

Photos Aimee Coy 

Pasture rent inflated by double digits through 2013 across 

the West Central Plains (Kansas, western Missouri, and 

Nebraska), and by single digits elsewhere, according to the 

Federal Reserve. Pasture values were up an average of 15.7 percent 

compared to a year ago, but still nowhere near prices paid 

for grassland that was converted to cropland. 

Ask Steve: 

Question: Dr. Bill Browning, a Kansas Flint Hills landowner, 

called me about problems he is having with Caucasian bluestem 

(one of several species of Old World bluestem) in his rangeland. 

He has been frustrated with efforts to control it with glyphosate 

(Roundup is the brand name) and asked if I knew of any other 

means or chemicals that worked better. 

A colony of Caucasian bluestem in a native 

prairie pasture in Kansas, which cattle have 

avoided grazing. 

Answer: There are 

a lot of Caucasian 

and other Old World 

bluestems in Kansas 

and Missouri. They 

are real problems, 

and certain to 

get worse. So far, 

Caucasian bluestem 

has not been found 

on any public prairies 

in Missouri, but 

it has shown up as 

a seed contaminant in CRP, highway right-of-way, and other 

plantings. A colony will get larger over time because it will suppress 

and replace most other native grasses whether idle, grazed, 

or hayed. 

I’ve had limited experience controlling it, but have been 

fairly successful using glyphosate and know of nothing that 

works better. It takes diligence and follow up to ensure all seedlings 

are treated and killed. There’s no window of opportunity 

in which other warm-season species wouldn’t be vulnerable so 

treatment is likely to cause dead areas for a time. I talked to 

Dr. Walt Fick, Kansas State University, and Keith Harmony, 

Ft. Hays State University, who researched Old World bluestem 

control. They said imazapyr (Arsenal or Sahara) also worked, 

but tended to sterilize the site for a while. 

Question: Can I plant buffalograss for pasture in Missouri? 

Answer: Buffalograss works better for sunny lawns that are 

mowed once every week or two in Missouri than in pastures. 

We get too much rainfall for buffalograss to work well in 

pastures. Buffalograss will tolerate the moisture, but other 

plants will get taller and shade it. Buffalograss doesn’t tolerate 

shade. Severe grazing can keep some of the competing plants 

down, but many like ragweed, goldenrod, and ironweed aren’t 

palatable and so will get much taller than the 4- to 6-inch 

buffalograss. Even other native grasses like big bluestem, 

indiangrass, and eastern gamagrass will get too tall for 

buffalograss except in high trafficways such as vehicle trails or 

tops of pond dams where the traffic helps control competition. 

Steve Clubine 


Education on the Prairie with Jeff Cantrell 

Remembering the Dough Birds 

cyndi cogbill 

A. J. Hendershott 

The year 2014 brings a sober anniversary. This year 

marks a century since the last passenger pigeon cooed 

for the final time, marking the extinction of what was 

possibly the most numerous bird ever on earth. As the 

numbers of pigeons began to noticeably diminish, 

market hunters turned their attention to two birds of 

the Midwest prairies, the upland sandpiper and the 

Eskimo curlew. 

Eskimo curlews bred in the tundra and wintered in the pampas of Argentina, their migration 

pattern a distorted oval. They lingered in the spring at grasslands of regions like western Missouri 

and Kansas on their way north to breeding grounds and bypassed the Midwest on their autumn 

return to South America. Flocks covered 40 to 50 acres of Missouri grasslands while they fed on 

abundant insect life. Their southbound movement brought them in easy contact with market 

hunters on the beaches of the Atlantic coast. 

The unrestricted hunting from market hunters from 1870 to 1890 rapidly reduced the curlew 

population: “barrels full” were shipped to markets in Boston. Unfortunately, they were very 

good to eat, so the demand continued until the large flocks were gone. Historic records show 

thousands would be taken from the same area in just a few days. Their behavior of staying in a 

flock, being attracted to wooden decoys, and having no fear allowed for ceaseless slaughter. On 

the menus and supply lists to markets they were referred to as dough birds from the shorebird’s 

body being plump with fat. 

The Eskimo curlew today is presumed extinct although 

there have been a few periodic sightings on the coast of 

Texas as late as the 1970s. We may never know this bird’s 

ecological role in the prairie biome. If extinction was this species’ final 

chapter, we will not mark it with an anniversary because this bird that darkened the skies similar 

to the passenger pigeon slipped into silence with no official records. Today, while other extinctions 

are better known, this major player in Missouri’s grasslands is rarely remembered. 

The upland sandpiper is referenced in Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac as the upland 

plover; it was said to be a “favorite on toast” in Victorian Times. Leopold’s words also give us 

a glimpse of its grace and place in our grassland heritage. Fortunately the upland sandpiper 

benefited from the conservation movement in the early 1900s, and the Migratory Bird Treaty 

Act of 1916 came just in time for this species. Biologists are still working to help the upland 

sandpipers, engaging in conservation efforts across two continents, from here in the Midwest to 

the bird’s wintering grounds in Argentina. Biologists and prairie enthusiasts are working to make 

the upland sandpiper and other grassland birds thriving success stories and are learning a valuable 

lesson from a curlew with an Arctic name. 

Science CLEs: EC.1.C.a., EC.1.D.a., EC.1.D.b. 

Educators can have 

students research a wide 

variety of topics related to 

extinction and species of 

concern: 

• Name five organisms that 

migrated through Missouri 

grasslands in massive numbers. 

• What other factors would have 

contributed to the curlews’ 

demise other than unregulated 

market hunting? (were there any?) 

• What are some ways today’s 

sportsmen help migratory birds? 

• Lead a group discussion after 

reading “Back from the Argentine” 

in A Sand County Almanac. 

• Trace on a map the historic 

migration of the Eskimo curlew 

and compare it to that of today’s 

upland sandpiper and American 

golden plovers. 

Do you have a question 

about using prairies for 

in-depth learning for 

scout, school, or 

homeschool studies? 

Please feel free to contact 

Jeff at swampcandle1@ 

gmail.com. 


Prairie Postings 

MPF’s 2013 Awards 

By Lee Phillion 

At the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s (MPF’s) annual 

meeting held October 12, 2013, at Dr. Wayne Morton’s 

prairie just outside of Cole Camp, MPF honored the 

following individuals for their contributions to prairie 

conservation efforts. Framed plaques were presented 

to the awardees. MPF would like to thank the 

photographers who contributed their photographs for 

the plaques, and MPF board member Jan Sassmann 

for generously framing them. 

Stan Parrish 

Donald M. Christisen Prairie Volunteer of the Year Award 

The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) can thank switchgrass for 

turning Stan Parrish into a prairie enthusiast. In the 1980s, Parrish’s 

Soil Conservation Service agent told him to plant it in his waterways 

to control erosion. “I didn’t know what it was, so I started learning 

about it,” said Parrish. “That led to finding out about the larger ecosystem 

switchgrass is part of, and I was captivated,” said Parrish. 

That interest led Parrish and his wife Susan to membership in 

MPF in 1985. In 1990, their involvement in MPF prairies intensified 

when they helped enable MPF’s purchase of the Crook Meadow 

(renamed Schwartz Prairie) by buying the less desirable 80 acres of the 

tract. 

“Stan has been generous with his time, talents, and equipment,” 

said MPF President Jon Wingo. “He has served as president of MPF 

and spent many hours on our prairies fighting invasives, from which 

I must conclude he is tougher than a two-dollar steak. My thanks and 

admiration for his dedication to MPF.” 

Parrish was invited to join the MPF board in 1993, and served as 

its president from 2009 to 2012. One of the highlights of Parrish’s 

able leadership was purchasing and restoring the 80-acre Welsh Tract 

as a buffer to protect MPF’s adjacent high quality Coyne Prairie in 

Dade County. The tree canopy structure of the savanna has been 

restored, and a 47-acre portion formerly in row crops was seeded in 

2013 with locally harvested seed. 

Parrish combines a deep regard for prairie with an understanding 

of the challenges and methods of protecting them. “It’s heartbreaking 

to see remnant prairie go down to the plow,” said Parrish. “What 

we need is to seek out and protect more remnant prairies and more 

resources to buffer the high quality prairies we already protect.” 

Doug Ladd 

Bill T. Crawford Prairie Professional of the Year Award 

Most nature enthusiasts are familiar with Doug Ladd, who has served 

as director of conservation science for The Nature Conservancy 

From left, awardees Stan Parrish and Dr. Curtis Long; MPF President Jon 

Wingo, who presented the awards; and awardee Doug Ladd. 

in Missouri since 1985. Ladd has been involved in conservation 

planning, natural-area assessment, management, restoration and 

research—with emphasis on vegetation, restoration, and fire ecology—for 

more than 30 years. 

Well known for his riveting talks about a wide range of nature topics, 

from Ozark lichens and prairie-chickens to native forbs and fire 

ecology, Ladd can spellbind an audience on just about any topic. His 

incredible depth and breadth of knowledge is the product of countless 

hours of fieldwork, lab research, and study. His knowledge and engaging 

manner have helped shape the conservation practices and perspectives 

across the Midwest, and the careers of many mentees. 

“Doug is one of those legendary yet humble and accessible botanists 

and ecologists who have influenced so many Midwestern natural 

area managers, field botanists, ecologists, and natural community 

enthusiasts, including myself,” said Mike Leahy, natural areas coordinator 

for the Missouri Department of Conservation. “Doug is equally 

at home carrying a drip torch, keying out obscure sedges, deciphering 

cryptic lichens or presenting to a large auditorium audience. His range 

of field ecology and botanical talents and command of the English 

language are a constant source of education to those who work with 

him.” 

Leahy remarked that Doug’s passion about the tallgrass prairie 

and his commitment to conservation science have left and continue 

to leave an indelible mark on the conservation of Midwestern natural 

communities. 

Ladd is a research associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden as 

well as the Conservation Research Institute and Morton Arboretum 

in Chicago, and his lichen work in the Ozarks has led to collaboration 

with the New York Botanical Garden. Ladd is the author of 

two plant field guides, North Woods Wildflowers and Tallgrass Prairie 

Wildflowers, and coauthored the book Discover Natural Missouri: a 

guide to exploring The Nature Conservancy Preserves. 

Carol Davit 


Dr. Curtis W. Long 

Clair M. Kucera Prairie Landowner of the Year 

Physician Curtis Long’s Briarwood Native Prairie is the only half 

section (320 acres) of native prairie left in Bates County in western 

Missouri. Since Long acquired ownership and began proactively 

managing the prairie his fields are thriving, and he intends to keep 

them that way. 

“Dr. Long has done a remarkable job in a very short time of 

removing an invasive exotic species, Sericea lespedeza, from his 

prairie,” said Rex Hamilton, owner of Hamilton Native Outpost. 

“He brought the enthusiasm, labor resources and technology required 

to restore the land, and he is achieving spectacular results.” 

Invasive sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), which had a very 

noticeable presence when Dr. Long undertook care of the prairie, has 

been reduced to rare and scattered populations. Continuing removal 

of fescue that still exists on parts of the property and a planned savanna 

restoration will add even more variety to the 94 species of plants 

that have been documented on the property. 

The arrival of a nesting prairie-chicken on the property last year is 

a testament to Long’s intensive habitat recovery effort. Nine chicks 

hatched from the prairie-chicken’s eleven-egg clutch. “I hayed this 

field in the 60s and 70s, and it wasn’t unusual to see 20 prairiechickens,” 

Dr. Long says. “But I hadn’t seen any in years.” 

A MPF member since 1992, Long joined the ranks of private 

landowners working to restore grassland habitat when he signed his 

Grassland Reserve Program contract in 2011. The program enables 

landowners to cut hay and use the land for hunting and other recreation 

activities as long as it is maintained as grassland. Long is happy 

to do so. “I hope to preserve the prairie forever,” he says. 

Lee Phillion is an MPF member and 

Missouri Master Naturalist from St. Charles, MO. 

MDC 

These woodland sunflowers (Helianthus 

divaricatus) at the edge of a recovering sterile 

part of the glade are the only specimens in at 

least a one-half acre surrounding them. 

Cécile Lagandré 

News from Feaster Glade 

Creating a meager soil as they eke out a living, and eventually die, microorganisms are as busy 

today on Feaster Glade as they have been for millions of years. Some unicellular microorganisms 

are believed to have existed on earth for about 75 percent of the solar system’s 4.5 billion years; for 

a few millions years around the beginning of the last 11 percent of these eons, early-Ordovician 

cyanobacteria were building stromatolitic living quarters at Feaster, then on the tropical coastline of 

a re-emerged much older volcano. 

Feaster Glade may seem to delegate most of its carbon fixation burden to warm-season grasses 

but, in fact, microorganisms in its soil are its beating heart. Our emotional connection with Feaster 

Glade’s microorganisms had us pause before burning our red cedar brush piles last winter. We had 

been warned that brush fires would sterilize parts of our glade, as the massacre of microorganisms 

is prudishly referred to. Even though trunks weren’t included in the piles, the fires burned with an 

incredible intensity that we felt as we danced around them to smother run-away flames. 

This last growing season, I noticed the return of quite a few plants on blackened areas. Butterfly 

weed didn’t flower but leafed out, proving that a substantial part of their taproots had survived. 

Some “first responders” like pokeweed and hogwort didn’t mind the sterile soil at all and the 

amusingly nicknamed Obe-Wan Canobea (Leucospora multifida), a fan of sterile areas on glades 

according to Missouri Prairie Foundation Technical Advisor Mike Leahy, appeared on cue. 

Tickle grass and woodland sunflower flowered on the edges while hairy wild petunia and some 

sedges ventured a few inches inside. A few limp stems of purple prairie clover, born of wandering 

seeds landing in the ashes, regaled my senses. By late December, rose verbena and panic grass 

showed healthy leaves; still, I tried to accelerate the resuscitation by crushing and dispersing some of 

the abundant dried seed heads present on the glade. 

—MPF member Cécile Lagandré and her husband Dave Van Dyne have the privilege of calling 

Feaster Glade their own; Cécile shares tales of its restoration in the Missouri Prairie Journal. 


Prairie Postings 

A Thistle Flower 

from the Prairie 

New English Translation of Book Published; 

Proceeds to Benefit MPF 

A Danish immigrant 

couple with two children 

face harsh conditions 

on their late 

19th-century Nebraska 

prairie farm. Peter is 

stubborn and contrary. 

Ellen Marie is sweet, 

congenial, and patient. 

Neighbors, craftsmen, 

and a pastor reach out 

to help the struggling 

family. But Peter persists in his self-reliance. 

Will they survive blizzards, tornados, plagues 

of insects, arduous hauls for water, and long 

journeys to town for farm and household 

supplies? 

The 34-page A Thistle Flower from the 

Prairie, a light-hearted allegory, was originally 

published in Danish in 1953. Now in 

this new edition, it has been faithfully translated 

into modern English by Lindy Falk 

van Rooyen. Its author, Jens Christian Bay, 

was a librarian, botanist, and an authority on 

books on the exploration and settlement of 

the American West. His extensive collection 

of Americana is available in his namesake 

room at the Missouri State Historical Library 

in Columbia. He contributed extensively to 

the promotion of his native country’s literature 

and folklore. Bay was knighted in 1947 

by King Frederick IX of Denmark. 

This novelette, edited by Jens Christian 

Bay’s son, MPF member John Bay of 

Carthage, MO, is illustrated with color 

photos of prairie wildflowers, prairie 

restoration efforts in Missouri, the author, 

the original 1953 Danish edition, and the 

author’s handwritten manuscript. 

Proceeds from sales of the book will help 

support MPF’s prairie preservation and 

restoration efforts. Further information and 

orders may be placed through www.amazon. 

com or local book dealers. 

MPF Board Member Bonnie Teel and her newly designated Prairie View Farm Natural Area. 

Prairie View Farm Now a Designated State Natural Area 

Congratulations to MPF board member Bonnie Teel on the designation of 184 acres of her 

and her family’s nearly 1,000-acre Prairie View Farm as a Missouri Natural Area. 

“Mrs. Teel’s prairie is one of fewer than a dozen high quality limestone prairie remnants left 

in Missouri. Most remnant prairies in Missouri are overlying sandstone bedrock,” said Mike 

Leahy, natural areas coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation and MPF 

technical advisor. 

The Missouri Natural Areas program recognizes the best remaining forests, prairies, wetlands, 

and other natural communities in the state for their superlative geologic formations or 

other outstanding natural features. Missouri Natural Areas are critical components of the effort 

to conserve Missouri’s natural heritage by focusing restoration and conservation efforts on 

these sites. There are a total of 185 designated Missouri Natural Areas, on both private land, 

like Mrs. Teel’s, and on land open to the public, including MPF’s La Petite Gemme Prairie. 

In May 2013, members of the Missouri Natural Areas Committee, made up of professional 

biologists from conservation agencies and The Nature Conservancy, approved of the nomination. 

This past winter a cooperative agreement was completed with the Missouri Department 

of Conservation, and joint approval from the directors of the Missouri Departments of 

Conservation and Natural Resources was obtained to finalize the designation. 

“I’m so proud of this prairie and honored to steward this land, which has been in my late 

husband’s family since the 1880s,” said Mrs. Teel. “I’m grateful to Mike Leahy, who worked 

hard on the nomination process, and to Scott Sudkamp, also of the Missouri Department of 

Conservation, who created a management plan for my prairie.” 

For the past several years, Mrs. Teel has had trees cut from draws in the prairie, conducted 

prescribed burns, and also reduced the portion of the 184-acre tract that in the past had been 

annually hayed. 

Dickcissels and grasshopper sparrows, which nest on the prairie, are among the wildlife 

species noted from Prairie View Farm Natural Area. A total of 212 native plant species are documented 

from the prairie, including stunning displays of shooting stars, prairie phlox, Indian 

paintbrush, and other spring prairie wildflowers. These low-growing plants bloom while prairie 

grasses are still short; indiangrass, big bluestem, and other warm-season prairie grasses grow 

taller as the growing season progresses. In addition, blazing star, asters, and other wildflowers 

bloom over the summer and into the fall. 

“Mrs. Teel is to be commended for her hard work to protect and improve her prairie,” 

Leahy said. “Natural Area status is a feather in the cap for Prairie View Farm.” 

For more information on Missouri’s Natural Areas Program and a directory of designated 

natural areas open to the public visit http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places-go/naturalareas. 

carol davit 



Honorariums and Memorials 

In Honor of Stephen Davis 

MPF would like to thank Marianne McGrath for 

her gift in honor of Stephen Davis. 

In Honor of Duane and Judy Woltjen 

MPF would like to thank Sara and Bob Caulk for 

their gift in honor of Duane and Judy Woltjen. 

In Honor of Phillip Miller 

MPF would like to thank Pearl Miller for her gift 

in honor of her husband Phillip Miller’s birthday. 

In Honor of R. E. Fullerton 

MPF would like to thank Michelle Anderson for 

her gift in honor of R. E. Fullerton. 

In Honor of Jim and Jean Shoemaker 

MPF would like to thank Carol Hunt, Margo 

Farnsworth, and Jim Pascoe for their gifts in 

honor of Jim and Jean Shoemaker. 

In Honor of Jon Wingo 

MPF would like to thank Susan Canull and 

Des Pain for their gift in honor MPF President 

Jon Wingo. 

In Honor of Margo Farnsworth 

MPF would like to thank Jean and Jim 

Shoemaker and Carol Hunt for their gifts in honor 

of MPF board member Margo Farnsworth. 

In Memory of Donna Coffey 

MPF would like to thank Raymond Coffey for his 

gift in memory of Donna Coffey. 

In Memory of Dr. Clair Kucera 

MPF would like to thank James and Paula 

Shannon for their gift in memory of Dr. Clair 

Kucera, prairie conservation pioneer and 

founding member of MPF. 

In Memory of Helen Louise Schwarzer 

MPF would like to thank Carole and Bob 

Hunter for their gift in memory of Helen Louise 

Schwarzer. 

In Memory of Elizabeth (Libby) 

Schwartz 

MPF would like to thank Joel and Marty Vance 

for their gift in memory of conservation pioneer 

Elizabeth (Libby) Schwartz. 

Planned Giving for Prairies 

Your annual membership and other gifts to MPF are vital to our ongoing prairie 

conservation work. By establishing a planned gift to MPF as well, you can also ensure 

that we can continue our work well into the future. Below are several ways to make a 

planned gift: 

• Create a charitable remainder trust. You will receive fixed payments for the rest 

of your life and have a charitable deduction. Charitable remainder trusts offer 

payment rates that are more attractive than many other investments, with the rate 

amount determined by your age. In addition, you have the satisfaction of knowing 

that the remainder of your gift will benefit MPF. 

• Give appreciated stock or bonds. You will provide a larger gift to MPF—and avoid 

capital gains liability. 

• Put a bequest in your will or trust (cash, specific property, or a share of the 

residual estate). You will make a gift for MPF’s future that doesn’t affect your cash 

flow or portfolio now, but will provide an eventual estate tax deduction. 

Those wishing to make a bequest to MPF may find the suggested wording helpful: 

I bequeath ___% of my residuary estate (or $___) to the Missouri Prairie Foundation, a 

nonprofit conservation organization, with its address at P.O. Box 200, Columbia, MO 

65205 for its ongoing programs in prairie acquisitions, stewardship, and education. 

If you have already made a planned give to MPF, or plan to, please let us know. For 

more information contact us: Missouri Prairie Foundation, P.O. Box 200, Columbia, 

MO 65205, toll-free phone: 1-888-843-6739, or email at info@moprairie.com. 

Your Membership Matters! 

Member support is crucial to MPF’s work. 

If you are not a member, please send 

your membership dues today. If you are 

a current member, please note that your 

membership expiration date is printed 

above your name on the back cover. 

Prompt renewal helps our conservation 

work. If you are able, please consider 

increasing your membership level. 

To become a new member, renew your 

membership, give a gift membership, 

or make an additional donation outside 

of annual membership, please send 

payment and address information to 


c/o Martinsburg Bank 

P.O. Box 856 

Mexico, MO 65265-0856 

(Please use MPF’s Columbia, Missouri address 

only for general correspondence.) 

You may also contribute on-line via PayPal 

at www.moprairie.com, Donate. 

If you have any questions about your 

membership, please contact Jane Schaefer, 

who administers MPF’s membership 

database, at janeschaefer@earthlink.net or 

call 1-888-843-6739. 

Membership Levels 

(individual, family, or organization) 

Regular and gift memberships: $35 

Friend: $50 

Supporting: $100 

Contributing: $250 

Sustaining: $500 

Life (no membership expiration): $1,000 

Crawford & Christisen Compass Society: 

Annual Gift of $1,000 or more from 

lifetime members (cumulative or lump 

sum in a year) 

MPF Silver Patron: Annual Gift of 

$5,000 to $9,999 

MPF Gold Patron: Annual Gift of 

$10,000 or More 

See www.moprairie.org, Donate, 

for contributor benefits. 

Justin Johnson 


MISSOURI 

PRAIRIE 

FOUNDATION 

Protecting Native Grasslands 


P.O. Box 200 

Columbia, MO 65205 

info@moprairie.com • 1-888-843-6739 • www.moprairie.org 

Nonprofit Org. 

U.S. Postage 

PAID 

Columbia, MO 

Permit No. 286 

Please note that your 

MPF membership expiration date 

is now printed with your address. 

Renewing promptly will save MPF costs 

of mailing renewal reminder letters. 

To renew, see page 31. 

Calendar of Prairie-Related Events 

Missouri Prairie Foundation Events 

April 12, 2014—MPF Board 

Meeting and Rain Garden Tour, 

Burns & McDonnell Headquarters, 

9400 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, 

MO 64114. Members are invited 

to tour the rain gardens on the 

Burns & McDonnell campus at 

2:00 p.m., following the meeting. 

RSVP for the tour to 888-843-6739 

or info@moprairie.com by April 

7. If you plan to attend the board 

meeting at 10:00 a.m. as well, 

please let us know. 

April 19 and 26, 2014—Annual 

MPF Native Plant Sale at the City 

Market, 5th and Walnut, Kansas 

City. Both dates: 8:00 a.m. to 

1:00 p.m. Plants for a variety of 

growing conditions will be available. 

New this year: On April 19, 

plants, shrubs, and trees from 

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery 

and Forrest Keeling Nursery will 

be for sale; on April 26, plants, 

shrubs, and trees will be supplied 

from Missouri Wildflowers 

Nursery and Applied Ecological 

Services. If you can volunteer at 

the sale, please contact MPF Vice 

President Doris Sherrick at bjdjsh 

er@fairpoint.net or 816-716-9159. 

April 19, 2014—Edgar Denison 

Day, Kirkwood Farmer’s Market, 

10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The life 

and work of native plant pioneer 

and MPF patron Edgar Denison 

will be celebrated at Kirkwood’s 

Earth Day at the town’s farmer’s 

market. For details on this and 

other upcoming events organized 

in honor of Edgar Denison, 

visit http://www.kirkwoodin 

bloom.org/calendar. 

May 3, 2014—LUSH Charity Pot 

Lotion Party Featuring MPF. Noon 

to 5:00 p.m. Enjoy shopping at 

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics 

at the Galleria and learn about 

MPF’s prairie conservation work 

and the importance of native 

plant landscaping. 1155 St. Louis 

Galleria, St. Louis MO, 63117, 

314-725-6333. 

May 24, 2014—MPF Field Trip 

to Union Ridge Conservation 

Area. Free. 10:00 a.m. until 

approximately 2:00 p.m. 

Biologists Darren Thornhill and 

Ryan Jones will be our guides to 

this biologically rich area near 

Green Castle, MO (22 miles west 

of Kirksville). A 3.5-mile walking 

tour on a well maintained 

field trail of Spring Creek Ranch 

Natural Area and its savanna 

and stream features is planned. 

The hike will be along ridgetops 

and on steep gradients. Bring 

a sack lunch, plenty of water, 

insect repellent, and dress for 

the weather. RSVP to Darren 

Thornhill at 660-785-2420 or 

Darren.Thornhill@mdc.mo.gov. 

Directions and a map will be sent 

when you RSVP. 

lowed by a potluck dinner, stargazing, 

and free tent camping. 

Registration will be open after all 

field study groups have been set. 

See moprairie.org, MPF’s e-news, 

and Facebook for more details, or 

call 888-843-6739 or email info@ 

moprairie.com. 

June 14, 2014—Grow Native! 

Workshop: Converting Fescue to 

Native Grasses and Wildflowers 

with Elizabeth Hamilton-Steele 

of Hamilton’s Native Outpost. 

University of Missouri’s Bradford 

Farm, south of Columbia. 9:00 

a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Cost: $40 per 

person for non-MPF members; 

$30 for MPF members. Lunch 

included. Learn how to convert 

lawn or fields of fescue or 

other non-native vegetation to 

a diversity of drought-tolerant 

native grasses and wildflowers. 

See www.moprairie.org or www. 

grownative.org for full details 

and registration information, 

or call 888-843-6739. RSVP by 

June 9, 2014. 

June 21, 2014—Grow Native! 

Field Tour and Picnic Dinner 

at MPF member Bill Ambrose’s 

Double T Creek Farm in St. 

Elizabeth, 27 miles south of 

Jefferson City. 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. 

Tour this 325-acre farm in Miller 

County, where Ambrose has 

used natives to restore glades, 

establish prairie pasture for cattle, 

stabilize a stream bank, and 

improve water quality with native 

trees and shrubs. Native popu- 

June 7 & 8, 2014—MPF’s 5th 

Annual Prairie BioBlitz, Gayfeather 

Prairie, Vernon County. Free. 

BioBlitz begins at 2:00 p.m. 

on June 7 and lasts until noon 

on June 8. Join other nature 

enthusiasts and help biologists 

document plants and animals of 

the prairie. Fieldwork will be follations 

of collared lizards and 

Niangua darters are known from 

Ambrose’s property. Cost: $35 

for non-MPF members; $25 for 

members. Dinner included. Tours 

will be on foot and by wagon. 

See www.moprairie.org or www. 

grownative.org for full details and 

registration information, or call 

888-843-6739. RSVP by June 16, 

2014. 

June 28, 2014—Tour of MPF’s 

Welsch Tract Restoration Project. 

7:00 p.m. Join MPF Past President 

Stan Parrish for an evening walking 

tour of the restoration in 

progress at MPF’s Welsch Tract, 

an 80-acre addition to MPF’s 

Coyne Prairie in Dade County. 

Directions: At the junction of 

State Highways E and D in Dade 

County (2 miles north of 160), 

go east one mile on E then turn 

south on County Road 41. Go 

approximately 1 mile and park 

along the road. Dress for a walk 

through some tall vegetation. 

Free. RSVP to 417-788-2308. 

August 23, 2014—Save the 

Date! MPF Annual Dinner with 

Dr. Peter Raven, President 

Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical 

Garden, recipient of the National 

Medal of Science, former 

Guggenheim Fellow, and TIME 

magazine “Hero of the Planet,” 

among numerous other honors 

and achievements. White River 

Conference Center, Springfield. 

Watch for details. 

E-news alerts provide MPF members with news about more events. Send your e-mail address 

to info@moprairie.com to be added to the e-news list. MPF does not share e-mail addresses with other groups. 

Events are also posted at www.moprairie.org.

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