MDC and partners offer Prairie Days tours at Dunn Ranch

Free event celebrates grassland heritage with bison, birds and wildflowers

Bethany, Mo. – Northwest Missouri’s grassland heritage will be celebrated at Prairie Days June 24-25 at Dunn Ranch in Harrison County. Bison, butterflies, birds and native plants that support them will be on display. Experts will interpret prairie ecology at a free event sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), The Nature Conservancy, and the Missouri Prairie Foundation. No registration is required and all ages are welcome for hikes, tours and exhibits.

    A social and mixer will be held 9 to 11 p.m. at the Dunn Ranch Prairie headquarters onFriday, June 24. The movie “Green Fire,” a documentary about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold, will be shown. The headquarters  is at 16970 West 150th St., Hatfield, Mo. This rural address is west of Eagleville and can be accessed off Interstate 35 via Route M.

   Saturday, June 25. The kickoff is a guided bird hike 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. at MDC’s Pawnee Prairie Natural Area. This prairie is three miles northwest of Dunn Ranch and is accessed off South 140th Avenue, south of Hatfield. Visitors can walk on unplowed prairie remnants with diverse wildflowers, warm-season grasses and birds, as well as restored native grassland.

   At Dunn Ranch, activities begin at 8 a.m. with bison tours, prairie plant identification, grazing and nutrition sessions, and prairie ecology topics such as pollinator insects, mammals, amphibians and headwater streams. Visitors can view prairie tracts in bloom with wildflowers. Experts will discuss how water, plants and creatures interweave a prairie’s richly productive life cycles. The Conservancy utilizes a bison herd on the ranch in forage management. But other species contribute to the prairie’s colorful abundance, too.

   Pawnee Prairie and Dunn Ranch Prairie are part of a broader public and private partnership to enhance prairie species in the Grand River Grasslands. The effort extends north into Iowa with programs such as habitat management to boost prairie chickens, which are endangered in Missouri and Iowa.

   For more information on Prairie Days, call the MDC Northwest Regional Office at 816-271-3100. Concessions will be available onsite. No registration is required for the free activities.

   Information and a map for Pawnee Prairie Natural Area are available athttp://on.mo.gov/1KOa8Xv. To learn about Missouri prairies, visit http://mdc.mo.gov.

   To learn about Dunn Ranch Prairie, visit http://bit.ly/1ellp2i.

MDC to host Prairie Days with The Nature Conservancy

Free event at Dunn Ranch and Pawnee Prairie showcases prairie ecology and history

Eagleville, Mo. – Prairie grasses and wildflowers once waved in summer winds throughout northwest Missouri. Trees grew in scattered groves in the grassland ecosystem along streams and some ridges. But the grasses and wildflowers provided the main food base for bison, elk, prairie chickens and butterflies. Very little prairie remains today after 200 years of settlement and farming greatly changed land uses. 

   Prairie Days, however, will give visitors a look back in time and an update on what public-private partnerships are doing to preserve and restore grassland ecosystems. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will host the free event on Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27. Activities will begin at 8 p.m. Friday with asocial and movies at TNC’s Dunn Ranch, 16970 W. 150th St., Hatfield, Mo. On Saturday, birding hikes will be offered 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. at MDC’s Pawnee Prairie, which is northwest of the ranch. Then Saturday’s activities will shift to Dunn Ranch from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. for bison herd tours, wildflower identification, grazing sessions and presentations on prairie critters and ecology.

  Camping will be available at Dunn Ranch without hookups. Harrison County Lake offers camping with some hookups and primitive sites. Motel lodging is available in Eagleville and Bethany. Booths or demonstrations will be offered by Missouri Prairie Foundation, Missouri River Bird Observatory, Pure Air Natives, Inc., Missouri Master Naturalists and Hamilton Native Outpost.

   Prairie Days will also showcase the public-private partnerships in the Grand River Grasslands. The cooperative effort spanning the Missouri and Iowa state line helps private landowners with grassland management for better production returns and in ways that help grassland species, such as Missouri’s endangered prairie chickens.

   Harrison County’s earliest settlers might be surprised to learn that prairie chickens and the grasses that supported them became scarce.

   “Originally about three-fourths of the land of Harrison County was prairie and one-fourth timber, according to the “History of Harrison County" published in 1921. "The timber was generally along the streams of water, and some on hilly tracks roughened and divided by ravines.”

   The book describes extensively tree species and uses in the woodland areas. Incredibly diverse native wildflowers and grasses that dominated the landscape did not get a similar description. Only in a maturing conservation movement in recent decades has the rich productivity and beauty of prairie plants and wildlife become appreciated.

   Pioneers did value wild game for food and for money from the fur trade.

   “When the county was first being settled game was plentiful, such as deer, turkeys, prairie chickens, quail and there were some elk,” according to the history. “It was reported about this part of the county that David Travis was one of the best hunters among the early settlers and in addition to other game occasionally killed an elk.”

   Bison were found in Missouri prior to the arrival of European trappers and settlers, but apparently not in large numbers, according to “The Wild Mammals of Missouri,” by Charles W. and Elizabeth R. Schwartz. But MDC’s Pawnee Prairie and TNC’s Dunn Ranch were in their final range.

   “By 1840, only remnants of this magnificent animal were found in the northwestern and southeastern sections of the state,” the Schwartz’s wrote, “and these soon disappeared.”

   TNC has restored a bison herd to a fenced range at Dunn Ranch. Studies at the ranch include how the bison and prairie species interact on an ecological basis. MDC conducts research and restoration for prairie species on both public and private lands in the Grand River Grasslands.

   Late June is a pretty time to visit Missouri’s prairies as many flower species are in bloom, such as coneflowers.   For more information about Prairie Days, visit http://mdc.mo.gov/NWprairiedays, or call T.J. Peacher, MDC conservation education supervisor, at 816-271-3100.

    Information about Pawnee Prairie and maps are available at http://on.mo.gov/1LlXs50. Dunn Ranch information is at http://bit.ly/1ellp2i.

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MDC to co-host Prairie Days June 26 & 27 at Dunn Ranch

Free event showcases grasslands with bison, birds, wildflowers and native grasses

Eagleville, Mo. – A free Prairie Days event on June 26 and 27 will celebrate Missouri’s rich grassland heritage at Dunn Ranch Prairie and Pawnee Prairie Natural Area in Harrison County. Sponsors are the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other conservation partners. Visitors can enjoy grassland birds and butterflies, wildflowers blooming on remnant prairies, and bison grazing on native grasses. Experts will discuss conservation efforts for species such as prairie chickens and the value of upland streams with fish such as the endangered Topeka shiner minnow.

   

Prairie Days will kick off on Friday, June 26, with an 8 p.m. social gathering at TNC’s Dunn Ranch headquarters, 16970 W. 150th St., Hatfield, Mo. The headquarters is west of Eagleville, Mo. Biologists will talk about prairie history, grassland management and projects such as prairie chicken restoration. Movies about prairie will be shown at dusk including “Blooming Secrets” and “Missouri’s Tallgrass Prairie: An American Original.”

   On Saturday, June 27, the day will begin 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. with birding hikes at MDC’s Pawnee Prairie Natural Area. Participants should bring their own binoculars, cameras and field guides. This prairie is rich in native wildflowers and grassland birds.

   Activities will shift to Dunn Ranch morning and afternoon. A highlight will be tours of TNC’s bison herd and discussions about their role in prairie ecology. Educational conservation sessions will be offered including plant identification, grazing nutrition, prairie headwaters, rare prairie species, pollinators, reptiles and amphibians, fire ecology and mammals of the prairie.

   Camping will be available at Dunn Ranch without hookups, or visitors can camp at Harrison County Lake with some hookups and primitive sites. Motel lodging is available in Eagleville and Bethany. A local non-profit group will operate a food concession. Booths or demonstrations will be offered by Missouri Prairie Foundation, Missouri River Bird Observatory, Pure Air Natives, Inc., Missouri Master Naturalists and Hamilton Native Outpost.

   Prairie Days will also highlight the conservation efforts underway in the Grand River Grasslands, a partnership between MDC, TNC, Iowa conservation agencies, private landowners, and private, non-profit groups. MDC’s Pawnee Prairie and TNC’s Dunn Ranch offer high quality habitat in the heart of the Grand River Grasslands. MDC and partners are working to restore a functional grassland ecosystem over a broad geography that supports both production agriculture and nature. The goals include restoring Missouri’s endangered prairie chickens. An overview is available at http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2010/10-0/grand-river-grasslands.

   For more information about Prairie Days, visit http://mdc.mo.gov/NWprairiedays, or call T.J. Peacher, MDC conservation education supervisor, at 816-271-3100.

    Information about Pawnee Prairie and maps are available at http://on.mo.gov/1LlXs50. Dunn Ranch information is at http://bit.ly/1ellp2i.

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