Mounds View Grassland is The Prairie Enthusiasts‘ largest preserve, and it’s growing. The Prairie Enthusiasts recently announced the acquisition of over 260 additional acres from a neighboring farm, adding to the existing 570 acre preserve. The new addition is home to over two dozen rare and endangered species. The land trust raised nearly $3 million to fund the purchase.
This expansion of the preserve is crucial to efforts to restore Wisconsin’s native prairie and grassland habitat. Richard Henderson, a volunteer and site steward at Mounds View Grasslands, shared his extensive knowledge.
“The prairie soil here developed over thousands of years, and it got a deep black soil a horizon built up. That’s very productive,” said Henderson. “That’s the bread basket of the U.S.”
Prairies once covered one-third of the state, but only about one-tenth of one percent of prairies remain. Efforts by groups like The Prairie Enthusiasts are vital to the plant and animal species that call these places home.
Spectrum News 1 profiled The Prairie Enthusiasts for the article, which you can read here.
Photo by The Prairie Enthusiasts.
