Prairie Creek WMA, Grassland Mgmt

The site for this project is Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA), a 460 acre WMA located in Rice County containing several rare habitat types, including a large native Dry Hill Prairie of approximately 130 acres, rare Dry Hill Oak Savanna, and Maple-Basswood (Big Woods) Forest. In FY 2015 the applicant received a $47,405 CPL Grant to enhance the prairie and savanna sections that constitute by far the largest portion of the WMA. Funds from that grant have been fully applied 2015-2016 to achieve goals of controlling invasive non-native herbaceous species and collecting native grass seeds to establish on-site seed plots, future seed from which will be used to restore other areas of the WMA. The goal of this application is to continue the restoration and enhancement of the project acres addressed in the 2015 CPL grant by targeting tree removal and woody encroachment management on both savanna and prairie habitats, as well as beginning the restoration of cropland within the WMA by planting native grass seed raised in the on-site nursery plots as well as grass seed and prairie flowers collected on the WMA. Control of other non-native herbaceous species will be targeted as well in follow-up to the work completed under the 2015 Grant as part of a 5+ year plan to exhaust the on-site seed bank and reduce/eradicate these invasive species. The applicant together with a partner organization and volunteers, and prior to State ownership, the private land owners have a history of significant conservation projects done on the site including biomass removal, prescriptive burns, and spray/hand pull of invasive herbaceous species. The funds received through this grant application are critical to continuing these efforts to preserve and enhance Prairie Creek WMA.