Nature walk at Wah'Kon-Tah Prairie © Dave Bryan
Focus on Osage Plains Once the defining landscape of North America, native prairies have disappeared from all but a few pockets of the country. The Nature Conservancy in Missouri recognized early on the need to safeguard and restore what was left. Our Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie, pieced together through more than four decades of work, is now the largest protected prairie complex in the Osage Plains. Spanning 4,040 acres outside of El Dorado Springs in eastern Missouri, Wah’Kon-Tah is a model of the stunning biodiversity of tallgrass prairies. You might hear prairie mole crickets trumpeting courtship calls at twilight or see Upland plovers, Henslow's sparrows and scissor-tailed flycatchers grace the airways. Deer, coyotes, fox and the eastern cottontail forage among the asters, goldenrods, gentians, coneflowers, big bluestem and little bluestem. We work with the Missouri Department of Conservation to keep this remnant of our natural landscape in balance. That includes collecting thousands of pounds of seeds used to restore parts of the Osage Plains each year. Regular prescribed burns prevent invasive shrubs and trees from taking over. In their place every spring, you’ll find sprays of wildflowers.
Left: Sensitive briar, Right: Meadowlark © Dave Bryan
nature.org/mobiodiversity v1.25.23
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