MISSOURI
Grasslands Matching Gift Program Since The Nature Conservancy’s first controlled burn in Missouri 40 years ago, fire has played a big role in our efforts to conserve healthy grasslands. It is crucial that we continue to build our capacity for prescribed fire and other conservation strategies as we work to protect and stimulate diversity in these vulnerable ecosystems. Native prairies are the landscape of America’s heartland, but today fewer than 1 percent remain— making these habitats the most endangered on Earth.
TREX participants Shawna Gorman and Christopher Kopek (left) take a break at the Camp Arrowhead rifle range after a day of training on controlled burns. © Doyle Murphy/TNC
Boy Scouts administrators, staff and volunteers spent time with the TREX participants, trading information about prescribed fire and Camp Arrowhead. As the fire team ignited a corner of a wooded section of the campgrounds, they followed the low flames creeping across the forest floor. Fire can be misunderstood, but it’s necessary, says Mark Peterman, who leads the Camp Arrowhead Ranger Corps, a group of retired volunteers who meet weekly at the camp to help maintain the grounds and facilities. “We’re burning it to make it better, to help the plants that were meant to be here, to help the flowers that were meant to be here.” In the coming weeks, Russell, who teaches college courses in wildland fire and forestry, will photograph specific plots in the forest, tracking the progress as the ash gives way to a resurgence of native plants, for use in future scouting lessons. “This is a good thing,” he says. “We’re not destroying anything. The system needs this type of disturbance to stay healthy and sustainable.”
It is more than a good location, within driving distance of an array of public and private lands where land managers are eager to take advantage of the extra manpower to burn off overgrown parcels; Martin sees potential to introduce new generations of outdoors-minded youths to an industry badly in need of an expanded workforce. “We need more and more people to say, ‘This is a job I want to do,’” she says. Tim Russell, the Boys Scouts of America Outdoor Ethics and Conservation Advocate for the Springfield-based Ozark Trails Council, says hosting the TREX not only helps with conservation, it educates more people in the organization and the public about the benefits of controlled burns. “Here in our council, it’s really a win- win,” says Russell, who retired in 2022 from MDC as the Southwest Regional Wildlife Manager. “We get some prescribed burning done the right way and gain some knowledge with the volunteer base we have.”
A controlled burn at Dunn Ranch Prairie © Tom Fielden
The Grasslands Matching Gift program was created by an
anonymous donor to inspire new support for TNC’s grassland work, including at our flagship site: Dunn Ranch Prairie in northwest Missouri. First-time gifts of $1,000 to $10,000 will be matched dollar-for-dollar. To learn more about becoming a new champion of our grassland heritage through this matching opportunity, contact Mona at mona.monteleone@tnc.org or call 314-968-1105 for more information.
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The Nature Conservancy P.O. Box 440400 St. Louis, MO 63144
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