MDC will offer free Prairie Day event Sept. 17

Visit Wah'Kon-Tah Prairie near El Dorado Springs for tours and exhibits  

El Dorado Springs, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will host a free Prairie Day event 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie near El Dorado Springs. Tallgrass prairie is a diverse ecosystem of native grasses, wildflowers, upland streams, insects and wildlife. Prairie Day will offer wagon tours of the prairie, wildflower walks and conservation exhibits.

Co-host for the event is The Nature Conservancy. Much of the Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie Conservation Area is owned by the Conservancy but managed by MDC in a partnership. The St. Clair County Cattlemen’s Association will provide food concessions.  Representatives of the Osage Nation will discuss the tribe’s historic ties to the Upper Osage Grasslands.

MDC staff will discuss the role prairie plays today, whether it’s preserving the iconic grassland birds like the prairie chicken, conserving plant diversity, boosting wildlife habitat or providing a place to learn how conservative grazing can be used to improve wildlife habitat.

Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie and the nearby Taberville Prairie hold remnant flocks of prairie chickens, which are endangered in Missouri. But the key to those flocks surviving is the native grasses and wildflowers that provide food and good places to nest, raise broods, hide from predators and survive winter. The same warm-season grasses and forbs also can provide summer grazing forage or winter hay for livestock. Bobwhite quail and other ground-nesting birds also benefit from prairies or the use of native grasses and forbs in pastures.

Prairies are also simply beautiful to look at, either across the open horizons, or by observing the plant diversity during a hike. Prairies also harbor wildlife such as songbirds, deer and turkeys.

For information about Prairie Day, call 417-876-5226. Information and a map for Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie Conservation Area is available at https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/wahkon-tah-prairie. To learn about prairie in Missouri, visit http://mdc.mo.gov.

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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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Wildflower Hike at Prairie State Park June 14

As summer gets started, the prairie is ablaze with color. Join a park naturalist on Saturday, June 14 at 10

a.m. at the Prairie State Park Nature Center in Mindenmines for a walk among green grasses and colorful flowers to learn more about the amazing prairie ecosystem.

It is suggested that visitors dress for the weather and hiking across the prairie. Long pants and sturdy shoes are recommended as well as insect repellant. The hike will last about two hours covering one and a half to two miles.

Prairie State Park is located at 128 NW 150th Lane, Mindenmines. For more information about the event, contact Prairie State Park at 417-843-6711. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Missouri Prairie Foundation BioBlitz June 7 & 8

Outdoor enthusiasts of all ages are invited to enjoy a weekend on an original American landscape—the tallgrass prairie—at Gayfeather Prairie in Vernon County on June 7 and 8. At

this free event organized and hosted by the Missouri Prairie Foundation, adults and children with enthusiasm for the outdoors will team up with biologists to explore and document plants and animals of this 116-acre prairie, owned jointly by the Missouri Prairie Foundation and the Missouri Department of Conservation. In addition to the plant and animal fieldwork, there will be a potluck picnic dinner, stargazing, nocturnal insect observations, and free tent camping on the prairie.

“We are in our 5th year now of the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz,” said Jeff Cantrell, technical advisor to the Foundation, “and it has created a ‘buzz’ among my friends and colleagues. The buzz used to be after the event—families, master naturalists, and neighbors talked about what a wonderful family-oriented learning event they had just experienced. Now, I see the buzz leading up to the weekend event on the beautiful prairie that will be our classroom and campsite. The learning is casual and fun, and I personally invite all who are interested in nature to participate. Come join us and see what the buzz is all about!”

Across the country, nature lovers and professional biologists team up at “BioBlitzes” to identify as many species as possible (the “bio”) in an area over the course of 24 hours (the “blitz”). The Foundation’s version will begin June 7 at 2:00 p.m. and end the afternoon of June 8.

“Ecologists consider temperate grasslands to be the most endangered, least conserved of any major terrestrial habitat on earth—so Missouri’s tallgrass prairies have global conservation significance,” said Carol Davit, the Foundation’s executive director. “Collectively, our remaining prairies in Missouri support up to 800 plant species, dozens of vertebrates and thousands of invertebrates, but there is still much to learn. We want to see how many species we can find at Gayfeather Prairie, and BioBlitz participants will help in that effort.” Participants at past BioBlitzes at other Foundation prairies have documented blooming orchids, dozens of butterfly species, rare fish, and much more.

On the afternoon and evening of June 7 and the morning of June 8, biologists who study ants, bees, birds, butterflies, insect coloration, fish, moths, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, and soils will lead groups across the prairies to survey and inventory as many species as possible. Biologists with the Missouri Department of Conservation—Fisheries Biologist Tom Priesendorf, Natural Areas Coordinator Mike Leahy, Heritage Zoologist Debby Fantz, and Naturalist John Miller—will be group leaders. Other leaders include entomologists Dr. James Trager and Richard Thoma; botanists Darin Banks, Nels Holmberg, and Dr. John Atwood; ornithologists Dana Ripper and Ethan Duke of the Missouri River Bird Observatory; lepidopterist Phillip Koenig; and soil scientist Dr. David Hammer. In addition, Dan Johnson with the Astronomical Society of Kansas City will provide telescopes and interpret the night sky.

“We are thrilled that so many biologists are giving their time to help uncover the plant and animal treasures of this prairie,” said Davit. “If you love plants and wildlife, this is a great opportunity to learn from experts passionate about their given subjects, and play a role in much-needed data collection as well.”

Gayfeather Prairie includes 76 acres purchased by the Missouri Prairie Foundation in 1976 and 40 acres purchased by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1984. A total of 305 native plant species has been documented from this high quality prairie, named for its high numbers of blazingstar or gayfeather wildflowers. The prairie is about seven miles east of Milo.

The Prairie BioBlitz is free, but participants must RSVP. For a detailed schedule, directions to the prairie, and to RSVP, visit www.moprairie.org, email info@moprairie.com, or call 888-843-6739.

Public input sought for Hi Ridge grasslands plan

 The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wants to know what Missourians think about its nearly 1,000 conservation areas around the state. MDC is in the multi-year processApril 1 through April 30.

of updating management plans for conservation areas and invites public comments. A draft plan for grassland conservation lands in the Sedalia and Cole Camp areas will be available for public comment

   To preview draft management plans and share comments online, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areaplans.

   The Hi Ridge Grasslands Focus Area Management Plan includes 11 conservation areas owned or managed by MDC. These areas include prairie remnants, land with restored native grasses and wildflowers, or land with cool-season grasses. The conservation areas in the plan include Bruns Tract, Bryson's Hope, Drovers Prairie, Friendly Prairie, Grandfather Prairie, Hartwell, Hi Lonesome Prairie, Ionia Ridge, Mora, Paint Brush Prairie, and W.R. Kearn Memorial Conservation Area.

   Statewide, MDC conservation areas cover almost one million public acres for the purpose of restoring and conserving forest, fish and wildlife resources, and for providing opportunities for all citizens to use, enjoy and learn about these resources. Most Missourians are within a 30-minute drive of an MDC conservation area.

   “Missourians care about conservation and use conservation areas for many different reasons,” said MDC Director Bob Ziehmer. “These areas help people discover nature through various activities, and help make Missouri a great place to hunt, fish, and enjoy other outdoor activities. We want to know how conservation areas are important to Missourians. Encouraging public comments on Conservation Area Management Plans is part of MDC’s ongoing efforts of working for and with Missourians to sustain healthy forests, fish and wildlife.”

   Conservation Area Management Plans focus on natural resource management and public use on conservation areas. The plans do not address regulations on hunting, fishing and other area uses, which are set by the Conservation Commission and enforced under the Wildlife Code of Missouri. MDC will consider all ideas received and will work to balance the issues and interests identified with the responsibility of managing areas for the present and future benefits to forest, fish, wildlife, and people. Decisions on which ideas to incorporate into area plans and on how to best incorporate them will be based on the property’s purpose, its physical and biological conditions and capabilities, the best roles of the property in its local, regional and state-wide context, and on the professional expertise of MDC staff.

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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Award $750,000 to Missouri Prairie Foundation

Prairie chicken. Photo by USFWS.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have awarded the Missouri Prairie Foundation $750,000 to purchase and protect tallgrass prairie in southwestern Missouri.

The funds are the result of a Natural Resources Damage Assessment settlement with ASARCO, a lead mining and smelting company that polluted the environment while it operated in Jasper and Newton counties over the last century.  By-products of lead and zinc mining on the landscape have degraded the environment for many years and have contaminated streams with runoff from waste. Funds recovered from Natural Resource Damage Assessment settlements are dedicated to restoring natural resources in contaminated areas as well as other affected areas nearby.

Missouri Prairie Foundation will use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funds to purchase remnant prairies from willing sellers and reconnect existing prairies, or establish wildlife habitat easements. The foundation submitted the best proposal in a competitive process, and will use the awarded funds for work in Jasper and Newton counties.

“The Missouri Prairie Foundation is extremely grateful for this funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” said Jon Wingo, President of the foundation’s board of directors. “The funding will allow us to purchase and protect perhaps several hundred acres of the fewer than 90,000 scattered acres of original tallgrass prairie remaining in the state. Our mission is to protect prairie gems that remain, which are part of Missouri’s rich natural heritage, and to reconstruct land to connect remnants, thereby building larger prairie landscapes. We invite individuals to learn more about our work and how they can contribute to the conservation of our 2,600 acres, and help us protect even more.”  

Prior to European settlement in Missouri, there were 15 million acres of prairie in the state.

The areas in which Missouri Prairie Foundation will be working to protect and restore prairie with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife award is  a focal area for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is part of the “Our Missouri Waters Initiative” for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. By protecting and restoring upland areas, downstream resources such as the Spring River will benefit.

Missouri Prairie Foundation is an established non-profit land trust that has operated in Missouri for nearly 50 years. This organization not only preserves 2,600 acres of tallgrass prairie for the benefit of wildlife and the public, but also reconstructs former prairie areas that have been converted to agriculture or other development and engages in prairie outreach and education statewide.  For more information, call Missouri Prairie Foundation at 888-843-6739, or visit their website at www.moprairie.org.

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Prairie Chickens in Missouri Making Progress

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WAH-KON-TAH PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Greater prairie chickens, missing for some years among the grasses at Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie, strutted and boomed again this spring in an eons-old mating ritual. Biologists, digging deep in grassland ecology to save the species in Missouri, brought them back. Now, they watch to see if this iconic but state-endangered member of the grouse family can be restored long-term to prairies where they once thrived.

“Hopeful is the right word,” said Max Alleger, grassland bird coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “Perhaps our biggest question is whether intensive management can in the long run balance the fact that our grasslands are limited in size. Do we have enough grasslands to support prairie chickens on the landscape?”

A five-year translocation project by MDC to help answer the question concluded in April. MDC crews trapped Kansas prairie chickens where they are plentiful in the grassy Smoky Hills. Biologists then gave the birds leg bands and tiny radio transmitters before releasing them at Wah-Kon-Tah’s native grasslands north of El Dorado Springs.

Those prairie chickens will help land managers serve the species. Observers track the birds’ movements visually or via radio telemetry. Results tell researchers how habitat management can help the ground-dwelling birds sustain populations.

“In the last five years, I’ve learned a lot about prairie chickens from this study,” said Len Gilmore, an MDC wildlife management biologist based in El Dorado. “They like hanging out in the short grasses and feeding there, and they go to our prairies with taller grasses to roost at night.”

Prairie chickens this spring used three leks – courtship and mating sites – at the 3,000-acre Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie in St. Clair and Cedar counties. Some courting males and females were hatched and reared on the area, an encouraging sign that reproduction is occurring.

“The number of leks indicates the population is increasing,” Gilmore said. “They’re breaking off and forming new booming grounds.”

Prairie chickens once numbered in the hundreds of thousands in Missouri on wide-open grasslands and areas mixed with native trees, wildflowers and grasses. But cities, farming and fire suppression during the past two centuries altered landscapes the birds evolved upon.

Today, less than one half of one percent of Missouri’s original prairie remains, and those remnants are scattered. Prairie chicken flocks endured into the late 1900s on or near native grassland remnants in northern and western Missouri. But in recent years their numbers plunged to critically low levels – dozens rather than hundreds or thousands – and some flocks vanished.

Low reproduction due to poor weather conditions for nesting, habitat decline and predators are suspected contributors to decline, biologists theorize. Prairie chickens have a high natural mortality rate, 50 percent or more annually with birds generally living only a few years. Low numbers in flocks means high risk for the species.

The flocks living in the Wah-Kon-Tah area vanished by 2004. A small flock using MDC’s Taberville Prairie Conservation Area about 10 miles away survived in low numbers.

MDC began releasing Kansas prairie chickens at Wah-Kon-Tah in 2008 to see if prairie chickens could be re-introduced to a landscape where they once thrived. This spring, 19 males and 44 females were released on the native and restored grassland, which is a partnership between MDC and The Nature Conservancy of Missouri.

The tracking study is providing answers about their habits and surprises.

A landscape with diverse heights of grasses and forbs is important, Gilmore said. Prairie chickens like to build nests on the ground in taller cover. But they don’t like to nest too far from shorter grasses where they and chicks can easily move about, feed and rest. But 50 percent or more of an area should have grasses tall enough to provide good nesting cover. A lack of large quantities of high-quality nesting cover may have led to prairie chicken declines.

The study confirms that prairie chickens have a strong affinity for “high-clipped” grasses, places where plants are tall enough for them to duck and hide in, but also short enough for them to raise their heads above and watch for predators. Public land managers now use prescribed fire, cattle grazing, mowing and haying to get the variety in grass heights that prairie chickens prefer. Prairies or pastures left to grow rank without disturbance don’t serve prairie chickens well.

A surprise from the radio telemetry tracking is how far prairie chickens move about on a landscape. They easily move 20 to 30 miles across rivers, roads and wooded fence rows. They won’t feed and roost on the ground near tree lines but they will cross them on long journeys. One bird flew to Kansas and then returned. Another spent the winter in a crop field in northwestern Vernon County and then returned to Wah-Kan-Tah for spring.

There is surprising interaction between the flock at Wah-Kan-Tah and the one at the Taberville prairie. Prairie chickens have also moved to other prairie remnants or traditional lek sites that have not had birds in recent years, Gilmore said. The movement may be a species evolutionary survival skill for mixing genetics. Their ability to navigate back and forth across the countryside and their choices to settle in at places that held prairie chickens years ago is uncanny.

One concern was that with low numbers of prairie chickens, less genetic diversity could cause fewer eggs to be laid by hens. But thus far, clutch sizes are healthy with 11 to 14 eggs in nests.

As the translocation of Kansas birds ends, monitoring results are prompting MDC biologists to provide more variation and diversity in plant species and heights than what occurred in past decades on public grasslands. Partnerships with private landowners are also an important component in prairie chicken recovery.

“It’s very important that all the habitat pieces are lined up right,” Alleger said. “Prairie chickens are a worthwhile species. We’re trying to do our level best to keep them in Missouri.”

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Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Third Annual BioBlitz set for June 9 and 10

Prairie grasses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nature lovers of all ages are invited to enjoy the biological richness and beauty of Schwartz Prairie on June 9 and 10 at the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Third Annual Prairie BioBlitz. At this free event, adults and children with enthusiasm for the outdoors will team up with biologists to explore the prairie and document plants and animals of the site.

Named for conservation pioneers Charles W. and Elizabeth R. Schwartz, the Foundation’s Schwartz Prairie in St. Clair County harbors more than 300 plant species and many prairie-dependent animals within its original, unplowed 240 acres.

“The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz is a blend of easy-going nature discoveries, fellowship with naturalists, and your favorite biology field trip all wrapped into one relaxing weekend,” said Jeff Cantrell, education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “I find folks who’ve participated in the past talking about the Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz experience for the entire year.”

Across the country, nature lovers and professional biologists team up at “BioBlitz’s” to identify as many species as possible (the “bio”) in an area over the course of 24 hours (the “blitz”). The Foundation’s version will begin June 9 at 2 p.m. and end the afternoon of June 10. In addition to plant and animal team activities, there will be a potluck picnic dinner, stargazing, nocturnal insect observations and free tent camping on the prairie. 

“Today, ecologists consider temperate grasslands to be the most endangered, least conserved of any major terrestrial habitat on earth, so Missouri’s tallgrass prairies have global conservation significance,” said Carol Davit, the Foundation’s executive director. “Collectively, our remaining prairies in Missouri support up to 800 plant species, dozens of vertebrates and thousands of invertebrates, but there is still much to learn. We want to see how many species we can find at Schwartz Prairie, and BioBlitz participants will help in that effort.”

On the afternoon and evening of June 9 and the morning of June 10, biologists who study ants, bees, birds, beetles, butterflies, true bugs, insect mimicry, moths, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, land snails, vascular plants, mosses and liverworts will lead groups across the prairie to survey and inventory as many species as possible.

Several MDC biologists will be group leaders, including mammalogist Debbie Fantz, natural history biologist Mike Arduser , wildlife biologist Rochelle Renken and naturalist Shelly Cox. Other leaders will include entomologist James Trager, botanists Justin Thomas, John Atwood, and Nels Holmberg, malacologist Ron Oesch, lepidopterist Phillip Koenig and naturalist Elizabeth Hamilton.

“We are thrilled that so many biologists are giving their time to help uncover the plant and animal treasures of this prairie,” said Davit. “If you love wildlife, this is a great opportunity to learn from experts passionate about their given subjects, and play a role in much-needed data collection as well.”

When the Missouri Prairie Foundation purchased the 240-acre Schwartz Prairie in 1991, the tract, though original prairie, was dissected by a woody draw that fragmented the native grassland habitat. The Foundation’s thorough removal of trees and brush from the draw has resulted in an unbroken prairie vista at Schwartz. Relentless annual control of sericea lespedeza and other invasive plants conserves and maintains the abundant biodiversity of the site.

Home to an impressive 337 plants species, most of them dependent on high quality prairie, Schwartz also is one of fewer than 50 locations in the world with a population of Geocarpon minimum, a tiny plant that is federally listed. A number of state-listed animal species occur at the prairie as well. Prairie mole crickets, regal fritillary butterflies and northern crawfish frogs can be seen or heard in the warm months, and short-eared owls use Schwartz Prairie regularly in the winter.

The BioBlitz is free, but participants must RSVP. For a detailed BioBlitz schedule, directions to the prairie and to RSVP, visit the Upcoming Events page at moprairie.org, email info@moprairie.com or call 888-843-6739.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 46-year-old membership organization that protects and restores prairie and other native grasslands through acquisition, management, education and support of prairie research. The organization owns more than 2,600 acres of prairie across the state and helps manage an additional 1,500 acres owned by conservation partners.

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Weather gives endangered prairie chickens a nesting boost

Courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation

Dry weather and good nesting and feeding habitat brought surge in brood counts and number of chicks reaching self-reliant size.

By Bill Graham, MDC

KANSAS CITY, Mo -- Missouri’s endangered prairie chickens got a major lift this summer from dry weather in June and continued refinement in how native grasslands are managed.

The Missouri population dipped to a critically low number of about 100 prairie chickens sighted on mating grounds this spring, in a state that once had hundreds of thousands. However, favorable weather helped hens on MDC-managed prairies hatch and rear their young this summer.

“We had an apparent nesting success of almost 80 percent, which is phenomenal,” said Max Alleger, grassland bird coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “Most studies show that nesting success in stable populations is usually 50 percent.”

Habitat loss since the 1800s reduced the state’s prairie-chicken numbers to dozens in scattered flocks as this century began. Starting in 2007, cool and rainy weather caused severe chick mortality during nesting and brood-rearing seasons, causing problems for a struggling species where adults have an average life span of two to three years due to predators and natural mortality.

In 2008, MDC crews began trapping prairie chickens in Kansas and releasing them at the Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie near El Dorado Springs. A small native flock survived at the Taberville Prairie Conservation Area to the north, but no prairie chickens remained at Wah’Kon-Tah as the translocation project began. The Kansas birds began a new flock, but torrential rains and unseasonably cool temperatures limited nesting success each spring through 2010.

Then relatively dry weather this June coupled with good variety in nesting and feeding habitat brought a welcome surge in brood counts and the number of chicks reaching a self-reliant size by summer’s end.

MDC crews located 29 prairie-chicken nests this summer at Wah’Kon-Tah and Taberville prairies in St. Clair County. Of those, they determined that hens in 23 nests hatched broods. Biologists and students from the University of Missouri-Columbia directly observed 52 chicks during field work.

“It’s encouraging,” Alleger said, “and we’ve seen the same thing with turkeys and quail. I think the dry weather helped all the ground-nesting birds.”

Three broods were raised by hens hatched at Wah’Kon-Tah since 2008. Hens from translocations in earlier years reared eight broods, and 16 hens translocated from Kansas this spring produced young.

Crews are able to monitor prairie chickens because many are outfitted with small radio transmitters. Biologists track them in the fields and chart on maps what habitat they use for feeding, nesting, loafing and roosting.

“The birds have shown a real preference for cattle-grazed areas, both on our native prairies and on neighboring private pastures as well,” Alleger said.

Prairie chickens are fast flyers but they spend most of their time walking, running, feeding and resting on the ground. Grazing opens up paths and open areas that are easy for prairie chickens to move about amid grasses and wildflowers, and they are easier places for small chicks to catch bugs while feeding. But the ground dwellers also need dense cover for nesting or to escape from predators such as hawks. The public prairies are being managed in 40-acre patches so that grazed, burned and undisturbed areas are side by side, offering what biologists call a soft edge.

“The chicks need to be able to get out in the sun in the morning and let the dew dry off,” Alleger said. “But when the hawks fly over, they also need places to hide.”

A five-year prairie-chicken restoration program at Wah’Kon-Tah with translocated Kansas birds, radio telemetry monitoring and habitat studies concludes in 2012.

This summer’s brood success is a hopeful sign that with moderate weather and habitat management such as grazing, the iconic symbol of grassland birds can rebound there and be restored elsewhere.

“If we can get two or three years in a row with drier weather,” he said, “it could make all the difference in the success of the project.”

The Prairie Chicken in Missouri

Bison hike planned July 9 at Prairie State Park

Image via Wikipedia

JEFFERSON CITY, MO., JUNE 29, 2011 – If you are interested in seeing one of the greatest symbols of the vanishing tallgrass prairie, take a guided bison hike July 9 at Prairie State Park near Mindenmines. Join the park naturalist at 10 a.m. for a trip back in time to see bison, one of our most magnificent mammals on its native prairie habitat. The event is free and open to the public. 

During the one hour hike, you will learn about bison biology, Native American uses of the bison, herd dynamics, prairies and much more. Dress for the weather and hiking across the prairie; long pants and sturdy shoes are recommended.

Prairie State Park is located at 128 NW 150^th Lane in Barton County. Call the park at 417-843-6711 for more details and to register for the hike. For more information on Missouri state parks, call the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf), or visitmostateparks.com.

Experience summer's wildflower display July 2 at Prairie State Park

JEFFERSON CITY, MO., JUNE 20, 2011 - As summer comes into it glory on the prairie, it is ablaze with color.  On July 2, celebrate the nation's birthday by experiencing summer on the tallgrass prairie at Prairie State Park near Mindenmines. The walk begins at 10 a.m. at the park's nature center and will be approximately one hour.

            The park naturalist will lead the hike as you walk among green grasses and colorful flowers to learn more about the amazing prairie ecosystem.  Dress for the weather and hiking across the prairie; long pants and sturdy shoes are recommended.

             Prairie State Park is located at 128 NW 150th Lane in Barton County. For more details, call Prairie State Park at 417-843-6711 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-379-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information on Missouri state parks, visit mostateparks.com.

Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Second Annual BioBlitz June 4 & 5

Image by ImAges ImprObables via Flickr

Nature lovers of all ages are invited to help experts discover and document grassland plants and animals from Golden Prairie, a National Natural Landmark in Barton County.

By Carol Davit, Missouri Prairie Foundation

JEFFERSON CITY Mo -- In spring and summer, Golden Prairie is often carpeted with wildflowers as far as the eye can see. An original prairie remnant owned and managed by the Missouri Prairie Foundation, Golden is a peaceful place and haven for native prairie plants and wildlife.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5, however, it will bustle with human activity as nature lovers statewide team up with biologists at the conservation organization’s free, second annual Prairie BioBlitz.

Barbara Van Vleck, a Missouri Master Naturalist from Kansas City, will definitely be there.

“MPF’s Prairie BioBlitz last year at Penn-Sylvania Prairie was the best outdoor event I have attended in 20 years,” said Van Vleck. “Cordial experts in many fields taught us at an appropriate level. A plant survey revealed blooms everywhere, including orchids! From a bat survey, herpetology talk to nighttime moth identification, it was an exciting two days. I wouldn’t miss it this year for anything.”

Across the country, nature lovers and professional biologists team up at “BioBlitzes” to identify as many species as possible (the “bio”) in an area over the course of 24 hours (the “blitz”). The Missouri Prairie Foundation is hosting its own version at Golden Prairie on Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5.

Golden Prairie is in Barton County, about three miles from Golden City. The Missouri Prairie Foundation purchased the 320-acre Golden Prairie in 1970, and since then, 310 additional acres adjoining or near the original tract have been purchased and protected. More than 300 plant species are known from the original 320 acres of the prairie, but for many other groups of species, little information is known from any of Golden’s 630 acres.

“Today, ecologists consider temperate grasslands to be the most endangered, least conserved of any terrestrial habitat on earth, and no temperate grasslands are more threatened than tallgrass prairies,” said Carol Davit, the Foundation’s director of communications and development. “Collectively, our remaining prairies in Missouri support up to 800 plant species, dozens of vertebrates and thousands of invertebrates. We want to see how many of them we can find at Golden Prairie, and BioBlitz participants will help in that effort.”

On the afternoon and evening of June 4 and the morning of June 5, biologists who study ants, bees, birds, beetles, butterflies, true bugs, moths, mammals, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, land snails, vascular plants, mosses and liverworts will lead groups across the prairie to survey and inventory as many species as possible.

Several Missouri Conservation Department (MDC) biologists, including Mammalogist Debbie Fantz, Natural History Biologist Mike Arduser, Resource Science Division Field Chief Rochelle Renken, Fisheries Management Biologist Tom Priesendorf and Naturalist Shelly Cox will be group leaders. Other leaders include Shaw Nature Reserve Biologist and Entomologist Dr. James Trager, Botanists Justin Thomas and Nels Holmberg, Malacologist Ron Oesch, Lepidopterist Phillip Koenig and Naturalist Elizabeth Hamilton.

“We are thrilled that so many biologists are giving their time to help uncover the plant and animal treasures of this prairie,” said Davit. “If you love wildlife, this is a great opportunity to learn from experts passionate about their given subjects, and play a role in much-needed data collection as well.”

MDC’s Mike Arduser, who will lead the bee group, added, “The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz brings two important things together -- scientific data collection and the opportunity of nature enthusiasts at all skill levels to participate in this work, and also interact with each other. At the end of the weekend, BioBlitz participants go away with a greater understanding of prairie then when they arrived.”

Following the afternoon activities on June 4, there will be a potluck picnic supper, stargazing and free tent camping on the prairie. The BioBlitz is free, but participants must RSVP. For a detailed BioBlitz schedule, directions to the prairie, and to RSVP, visit the Upcoming Events page at www.moprairie.org, email info@moprairie.com or call 888-843-6739.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 45-year-old membership organization that protects and restores prairie and other native grasslands through acquisition, management, education and support of prairie research. The organization owns 2,600 acres of prairie across the state and helps manage an additional 1,500 acres owned by conservation partners.