Summer 2007: Volume 28, Number 3 - Missouri Prairie Foundation

Summer Meeting Members and guestsBy Justin JohnsonCasey GalvinAlong with the wavinggrasses, several redflags on the area markedoccurrences of thefederally threatenedMead’s milkweed(Asclepias meadii),pictured above. Theplant has becomerare over time dueto the overall loss ofnative prairie, habitatfragmentation andearly season haying ofmany remaining prairiesbefore the plant goes toseed. It is also believedthat the small beesthat pollinate Mead’smilkweed are declining.The southern half ofFriendly Prairie wasburned by MDC managersthis spring, and theMead’s milkweed plantswere closely monitoredthrough the summer;however, none ofthe plants producedsuccessful seedpods.The Missouri Prairie Foundation(MPF) held its summer boardmeeting at Friendly Prairie southof Sedalia on August 18. Field conditionswere lush, as June rain and summer heatcombined to produce tall, thick grassat the 40-acre site, which is owned byMPF and cooperatively managed by theMissouri Department of Conservation(MDC).As Membership Grows,MPF Changes Policies and StrategyMPF President Steve Mowry noted that thefoundation has made progress toward its goal of5,000 members by January 1, 2010. In August2005, MPF had 2,300 members and two yearslater that total is 3,300, an all-time high. Inresponse to concerns expressed by some MPFmembers, the board voted to change its policyregarding donations and the general membershipcycle. Effective this year, a donation of $25 ormore, whether intended for general membershipor a specific purpose, such as the Coyne Prairieacquisition, will be treated as a membershiprenewal. In the past, members who contributedto specific campaign appeals during the year wereoften confused by general membership renewalrequests once every 12 months. The change ispart of a general board policy shift to send fewergeneral membership renewal mailings and insteadsend a few action-oriented requests each yearpaul coxto all members. Beginning with the fall 2007issue, more than 900 landowners in GrasslandsCoalition Focus Areas will receive four trial issuesof the Journal. Many former MPF members, wholikely have not seen a Journal since the switchto full-color format in the spring 2006, will alsoreceive a complimentary issue and an invitation tore-join.Resources Available On-lineFull electronic copies of the Missouri PrairieJournal from summer 2003 to the present arenow available at www.moprairie.org. In addition,land management advice and scientific studies arebeing added to the management, education andresearch sections of the Web site. If there is somethingyou would like to see added on-line, visitthe MPF Web site and click on the “Contact”link.Summer Management Season ConcludesPrairie Operations Manager Richard Datemareported that the summer work crew had completedherbicide treatment of sericea lespedezaon all MPF prairies. For more than two months,the team of Beth Meyers and Jeremy Watkinsarrived at various MPF prairies and a few partners’properties by dawn to assist Datema withland management activities before the summerheat reached dangerous levels. In addition to sericeatreatments, the summer crew, Datema andcontractors sprayed other invasive species, clearedbrush and finished clearing nearly all trees fromCoyne and Penn-Sylvania prairies to prepare thesite to be fenced this fall. In October, MPF LandManagement Chairman Stan Parrish will overseethe movement of a small number of longhorncattle from Schwartz Prairie to the 320-acreCoyne and Penn-Sylvania unit. MPF owns 240acres of the property and manages the remaining80 acres between Coyne and Penn-Sylvaniain partnership with landowner Julian Snadon.MPF’s summer work crew for 2007 was fundedby Wildlife Forever, the Missouri Department ofConservation (MDC) and the USDA’s GrazingLands Conservation Initiative.