The Missouri Prairie Foundation invites all to recognize and celebrate prairies in Missouri and throughout the nation on National Prairie Day.
Prairie is a defining landscape of the United States. From the prairies of the Great Plains and Midwest to the glades, coastal grasslands, and other related communities throughout the country, grasslands have benefited Americans in countless ways.
Today, our native grassland legacy has been dramatically reduced to scattered remnants of its once vast 160-million-acre domain across North America. These remnants, from pocket prairies with their beauty and diversity of plants, insects, birds, and other grassland wildlife, to the larger tracts that support cattle ranching, antelope, bison, and other large animals, remain vitally important to people for their contributions to water quality, soil health, carbon storage, forage protection in drought, and wildlife and pollinator habitat.
In 2016, the Missouri Prairie Foundation established National Prairie Day, registered on the National Day Calendar as the first Saturday in June. The goals of this special day are to enhance public awareness of what prairie is, educate about its value, and motivate and inspire all to support prairie conservation, restoration, and enjoyment. This year, National Prairie Day is Saturday, June 5, 2021.
Spend National Prairie Day in a Missouri Prairie Foundation Prairie with one or more field trips on June 5:
· Herpetology and native plant hike at Golden Prairie with MPF board member Brian Edmond, 9 a.m. to noon.
· Missouri Bumble Bee Atlas survey at Drovers’ Prairie and Lordi Marker Prairie with MPF board member Doug Helmers, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
· Birding and iNaturalist walk at Runge Prairie with Missouri River Bird Observatory’s Zeb Yoko, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
· Bird walk at Drovers’ Prairie with Missouri River Bird Observatory’s Paige Witek, 7:30 to 9 a.m.
Learn more about National Prairie Day and how you can be a part of this special day across the nation at nationalprairieday.org.
The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 55-year-old conservation organization and nationally accredited land trust that protects and restores prairie and other native grasslands through acquisition, management, education, and support of prairie research. The organization owns 25 properties totaling 3,700 acres of prairie across the state and works with partners to inspire conservation of thousands more. The Missouri Prairie Foundation is also home to the 21-year-old Grow Native! native plant education and marketing program and administers the Missouri Invasive Plant Task Force.