Prairie Restoration on Iowa Public Land

Collaborators: Iowa Sportsmans Club, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Iowa DNR

Project Objective: To restore native prairie ecosystems to a new piece of Iowa public land.  This property was recently acquired by the state of Iowa and is already home to dozens of wildlife species.  On the property there is 26 acres of prairie in need of invasive species removal.  In addition there is a 48 acre block of prairie reconstruction that is in it's second growing season.  Two years ago this was a crop field but now it's in the early stages of becoming a diverse native prairie.

Project Description:

*From Heath Van Waus.  He's the Natural Resource Biologist for the Iowa DNR who oversees this area.

Management of grassland ecosystems for a diverse wildlife has its many challenges. Among the most difficult to manage are the encroachment of woody or undesirable plants. Typical methods of woody species removal are the combination of fire, mechanical removal – forestry mowers, mowers, chainsaws, etc… and chemical application (either stump or foliar). This public land unit is extremely diverse in habitat types.

Ecosystems that are present on the area consist of: Oak/hickory woodland, riparian woodlands, streams/rivers, established native seedings, new native seedings, deep
and shallow wetlands, natural oxbows and remnant prairie. Much of the remnant prairie has been neglected over the years and is becoming increasingly over run with undesirable woody species. In order to speed up the process we propose the hiring of a contractor to remove the woody vegetation. With this grant we would be taking the initial step in restoring the remnant and established native prairie seedings.

Project Area:

The Rathbun Wildlife unit (5 staff) currently manages over 30,000 acres in 6 counties. The sheer size and diverse habitat types of the Rathbun Wildlife has drawn many different types of outdoor enthusiasts. Something that the Rathbun team is continuing to increase and improve on is different management tools to enhance our grasslands, especially our remnant prairie. The percentage of remnant prairie left in the state of Iowa is less than 1/10 of 1%. We would like to do everything we can to increase the health and diversity of those acres remaining while at the same time benefiting many of the grassland dependent species. These species come from many different suites including: Ring-necked pheasants, Northern bobwhites, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, northern harrier, henslow sparrow, dickcissel, bull snakes, regal fritillary, and many more. The project area would consist of enhancement of remnant and established prairie by removing undesirable tree/woody species: Eastern Red Cedar, Honeysuckle, Autumn olive, Elm, Cottonwood, etc… Many of the native grass
species are negatively impacted by trees and other woody encroachment, either directly or indirectly. This comes in the form of habitat fragmentation, predation, loss of habitat, and other similar impacts. 

Doing this project would also help the DNR to lead by example in best management practices for habitat management and grassland maintenance. It may be used to show neighboring landowners and other conservation organizations the benefits of active grassland management.

Procedures:

Woody encroachment removal is ongoing/increasing habitat management activity at the Rathbun Wildlife Unit. Utilization of a contractor will expedite the process of improving new and old Wildlife Management Areas. Older WMA’s that have been overrun by undesirable trees and brush will be able to be moved up the long list of projects. The completion of this project will allow for the expansion of desirable native vegetation, especially with reinvigoration of remnant stands. After the completion of
the brush/tree removal project another tool used for grassland management (prescribed fire) will be conducted the following year to give the remnant a much needed boost. Both of these proven management tools will create better flow and connectivity between different parcels or grassland, allowing for the much needed habitat requirements of many grassland dependent species. The measure of the success of this project will be visible by the reduction of undesirable woody species prevalent on publicly managed wildlife areas and the increased species richness of both the flora and fauna that inhabit this area.

Cost Breakdown:

Funds received from The Habitat Association, Iowa Sportsman's Club, and USFW will be used to pay the hourly wage of the contractor tasked with removing woody or undesirable plants from the prairie.

Total Cost: $5,000