The Kansas River (known locally as the “Kaw”) in the northeastern part of the state is actually an axis of waters. The longest sand bed prairie river in the world, it provides drinking water for 600,000 people and drains more than 53,000 square-miles of agricultural land. Its main uses are irrigation, municipal drinking water and wastewater, industrial discharges, and sand and gravel...
Grantee: Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center
Partner Organization: Doane College, Crete Public Schools Special Programs
Denton, Nebraska
Grant Amount: $45422
Year: 2011
Prairie Stewards
Creating Young Stewards of the Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem
Do you remember the opening scene of Little House on the Prairie? Laura, Mary and Carrie running down a slope through grasses? If you can imagine grasses like big bluestem, and flowers such as prairie sunflowers, standing over 5 feet tall - far above the sisters - then you have a more accurate image of the tallgrass prairie in which the Ingalls family lived. Although the Ingalls would have been able to see miles and miles of tallgrass prairie (in 1869), such prairie is now hard to find amidst the corn and bean fields of Nebraska. Between 1862 and 1900, nearly all of the tallgrass was converted to farmland. Today, less than 2 percent remains in North America.
For the past twelve years, Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center has been working on tallgrass prairie conservation, including restoring and preserving its 808-acres of remnant tallgrass prairie. With an Innovation Grant, they reached out to the nearby town of Crete, Nebraska, to establish a tallgrass prairie club to foster prairie stewardship and produce on-the-ground conservation results. In partnership with Crete Public Schools Special Programs and Doane College, Spring Creek Prairie recruited 40 participants for a intergenerational and multi-racial club. (In 20 years, Crete's population has gone from less than 1 percent to more than 35 percent Hispanic/Latino.) A mentoring component of the club helped draw even more community members into the project.
Furthermore, Spring Creek Prairie collaborated with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska to implement a prairie-focused youth summer camp. (The Ponca tribe is one of the four indigenous tribes of Nebraska.) This project was an opportunity for tribal youth to forge a stronger connection to their heritage. These youth helped create a willow blind (for wildlife-viewing) and enhanced wetland habitat that has been degraded by willow intrusion.
Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center's Innovation Grant resulted in new, local, dedicated prairie stewards - of many ages and many races. With their help, we can preserve this rare ecosystem for generations to come. Perhaps then, the children of the tallgrass prairie will have a better chance at knowing, experiencing and loving the tallgrass prairies.
Featured Current Grant
Featured Past Grant
Columbus, Ohio
With a 2009 Innovation Grant, Grange Insurance Audubon Center addressed social and environmental issues in downtown Columbus, Ohio, through job training, environmental education, and hands-on habitat restoration. They educated 1300 residents of downtown Columbus about invasive Amur honeysuckle; helped 60 residents remove invasive honeysuckle and plant native plants; and trained 15 students from a...
Grant Amount:
$50,000
Year:
2009