Fall & Winter 2012: Volume 33, Numbers 3 & 4 - Missouri Prairie ...

“The purpose of the park
is to maintain and restore
JUSTIN JOHNSON
Missouri Department of Conservation,
and the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources. According to William D.
Blair, Jr., in his book Katharine Ordway,
The Lady Who Saved the Prairies, “the
Missouri effort was capped in 1978–79,
after the Bicentennial, by the acquisition
of land for a 2,000-acre Missouri Prairie
State Park.”
On June 3, 1980, the Missouri
Department of Natural Resources
received the title to 1,520 acres
acquired at $719,000 from The Nature
Conservancy for the development of
Prairie State Park. The land was 91
percent original prairie—nine percent
had previously been plowed. Of the
original prairie, 59 percent had been
grazed and 41 percent had been hayed.
Thirty years ago, on June 27, 1982, the
park was dedicated, and then Governor
Christopher Bond proclaimed Prairie
Day in Missouri, “to praise those preservation
and conservation organizations
and individuals who have worked so
hard to protect Missouri prairie.”
From the moment the master plan
for Prairie State Park was written in
1979 to the present, Missouri State
Parks has kept its mission in focus. The
master plan stated the following: “The
purpose of the park is to maintain and
restore the native tallgrass prairie ecosystem
as it was in the 1840s when the
first permanent settlers came to Barton
County, and to interpret this heritage
for the people of Missouri.” It goes on
to say “the objectives of Prairie State
Park are twofold: Restoration and preservation
of the original native prairie
environment and provision of public
enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation
of the prairie” and “All planning
and development will focus on creating
a feeling and perception of prairie landscape
character as it was prior to settlement.”
Every plan that has been written
and every decision that has been made
has gone through this prism of maintaining,
restoring, and interpreting the
tallgrass prairie.
The park has grown dramatically
over the years from its original size of
the native tallgrass prairie
ecosystem as it was in the
1840s when the first permanent
settlers came to Barton
County, and to interpret
this heritage for the people
of Missouri.”
— Prairie State Park Master Plan
When the first 1,520 acres of Prairie State
Park were purchased in 1982, the land
was 91 percent original prairie and nine
percent had previously been plowed.
Currently the park is 3,942 acres, with 81
percent original prairie. Regal Tallgrass
Prairie (3,646 acres of the park) was designated
a State Natural Area in 2008.
NOPPADOL PAOTHONG/MDC
Vol. 33 Nos. 3 & 4 Missouri Prairie Journal 19