Prairies

Since 2000, a small team at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has been collecting, cleaning and distributing seeds to reconstruct prairies across the state. One of their longest running partners to help fill orders is Iowa’s Department of Corrections.

The Mann family in Marshall County has created a lasting legacy by transitioning the family farm to public land, restoring it to its native wetland ecosystem.

While corn and soybeans dominate the Midwestern landscape today, some farmers are integrating strips of native prairie back into their fields. This conservation practice has expanded to more than a dozen states.

Justin Roberts didn't set out to be a children's musician, but his tunes and inventive lyrics brought him success and national attention.

Less than 0.1% of Iowa's tallgrass prairie remains today, which once covered 85% of the state's land prior to European-American settlement.

Host Charity Nebbe and wildlife biologist Jim Pease observe the prairie chicken mating dance and discuss the species' precarious situation in Iowa on this encore episode.

Tall grass prairie once covered about 85% of the land we now know as Iowa. It now makes up less than one-tenth of a percent.

Prairie and savanna biologist Pauline Drobney and horticulturist Kelly Norris offer advice on planting and maintaining native plants and grasses.

Iowa’s prairie has dwindled to a tiny fraction of its original size, but some Iowa gardeners are trying to change that — and so can you.

Land that was once purchased for a nuclear power plant is now 6,000 acres of restored prairie at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Jasper County. One day, it hopes to reach 8,650 acres.