The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest

1. Preparing and Planning for a Reconstruction

Preparing฀and฀Planning for฀a฀Reconstruction daryl฀smith Overview Prairie reconstructions should be modeled after remnant prairies. Before beginning a reconstruction project, become familiar with local prairie remnants and available information on prairie reconstruction. A well-designed and wellexecuted plan is crucial to a successful reconstruction. Components of the plan should include goals and objectives, timeline, budget, site description, designated reference site, description of tasks necessary to complete the project, postplanting management, and monitoring protocol. A successful prairie reconstruction contains many different species of wildflowers, suites of grasses, and sedges that create a panorama of changing colors and increasing heights throughout the growing season. Preparing฀for฀a฀Reconstruction฀Project฀ Reconstructing a prairie is a unique opportunity to return a piece of the tallgrass prairie to the landscape. The original tallgrass prairie was so complex, variable, and diverse that an exact replica is not possible. Prairie reconstruction projects should strive to emulate prairie remnants as nearly as possible within the constraints of budget, site limitations, past land use, adjacent land use, availability of seed, climatic conditions, program requirements, and our limited understanding of the original prairie. Reconstructions can range in size from fifty to a hundred square feet of lawn to tens or hundreds of acres of a conservation planting to thousands of acres in a major landscape reconstruction. Reconstructing a good-quality prairie requires a long-term commitment. Take time to become knowledgeable about prairie and the process of reconstruction . Read books and other written materials on the topic, examine field guides to become familiar with local prairie plants, peruse native seed and seed- 4฀ reconstruction฀pl anning ling catalogs, visit with people who have had prior experience in reconstruction , and, if available, enroll in workshops on topics related to reconstruction. If possible, visit local prairie remnants to observe their overall appearance and species composition. They may contain invaluable information for your reconstruction project and serve as a reference site or source of seed. Become familiar with as many species as possible, note where they are located within the prairie, and consider their potential for inclusion in your reconstruction project. Developing฀a฀Reconstruction฀Plan Develop a reconstruction plan after you become familiar with local prairies and have an understanding of the process. A successful prairie reconstruction is the result of a well-designed and well-executed plan. The plan will serve as a guide for decision making during the reconstruction process and as a useful reference document for managing the site and future planning. A brief discussion of the components of a reconstruction plan follows. goals฀and฀objectives Prepare a statement of your goals and objectives for the reconstruction project. These goals and objectives will guide your reconstruction activities and determine your final product. Prairie plantings can serve a multitude of functions; however, the intended purpose of the completed prairie reconstruction is the primary consideration for determining your goals and objectives. The following are examples of possible goals for reconstructing different types of prairie: to replicate as nearly as possible the prairie that originally occupied the area, to create a prairie with diverse vegetative composition and structure to enhance native wildlife, to develop a prairie for use by a biology class or student ecology projects, or to develop a prairie to provide forage for grazing cattle. Obviously, the objectives and design considerations will differ considerably for each type of prairie. Information regarding the historical vegetation of the area will be helpful in preparing goals and objectives. The information can be secured from a variety of sources. Examine the General Land Office (GLO) public land surveys for your county. Surveyor notes and township plat maps of GLO surveys are one of the best, if not the best, sources of information regarding the location of presettlement prairies. A copy of the GLO survey for your county should be available at the courthouse or one of the county offices. In Iowa, the GLO surveys were conducted from 1832 to 1859 as the state was being settled. Paul Preparing฀and฀Planning฀for฀a฀Reconstruction฀ 5 Anderson and his colleagues (1996) used the surveyors’ field notes and plat maps to produce digitized maps of original vegetation for each county in Iowa. A county soil survey may also provide useful information regarding soils and original vegetation. Additional information to supplement these documents may be obtained from diaries and journals of early prairie travelers, explorers, and settlers; locally written county histories and historical accounts from...