MISSOURI
Eye on the Prairie Looking out over the tallgrass at Dunn Ranch Prairie is a magical experience. Sweeps of wildflowers, morning birdsong medleys and the sight of bison ambling across the horizon recall a landscape that has largely disappeared from the country’s plains. For those who cannot be there in person, The Nature Conservancy is installing a new prairie camera to replace an earlier version that did not survive its close-up with a curious bison (worth a watch on TNC in Missouri’s YouTube channel). The popular portal will stream the sights and sounds of the prairie through the seasons.
Shoal Creek is an important part of life in the Ozarks. © Dan Zarlenga
Shoal Creek Support The crucial watershed is a Missouri priority There is a lot to keep track of along Shoal Creek. The 66-mile-long waterway flows west through the southwestern Missouri Ozarks, traversing the state’s highest-producing landscapes for livestock. It’s the primary source of drinking water for Joplin and Neosho, and its watershed is one of the only places in the world where a freshwater mussel called the Neosho Mucket and other endangered species live. So, when The Nature Conservancy launched its Western Ozarks Waters initiative in 2015, Shoal Creek was a priority. Drew Holt, who became TNC’s coordinator for the initiative, has worked in the watershed for more than 15 years. He pulled together nearly two dozen conservation partners, neighboring ranchers and other key stakeholders six years ago to discuss what had been done in the past and how they could work together strategically to protect the watershed. Partnerships have grown over time, resulting in an array of projects that are striking in their variety: In 2022, students helped sample water, and volunteers planted thousands of trees. TNC finished a three-year project over the summer to stabilize streambanks in three spots and restore riparian buffers in four locations along Shoal Creek’s headwaters. In November, Neosho officials and partners celebrated the replacement of a dangerous dam in Lime Kiln Park with rocky rapids—a nature-based solution that opened the stream for kayakers and fish. More projects are coming in 2023, but Holt says the most exciting part is seeing the collaboration of conservation-minded landowners, public agencies and other key stakeholders who are prioritizing the watershed. “We’ve got many great partners, but more are needed to optimize Shoal Creek’s conservation future,” he says.
Watch the greater prairie- chickens dance and sing during their mating rituals in the spring, flowers bloom through the summer and coyotes hunt along the snowy ridges in winter. Or just enjoy the meditative view of wind pushing through acres of native grasses. You never know who or what will show up. A deer joins the star cast of our Dunn Ranch Prairie camera stream. © The Nature Conservancy
TUNE IN by going to nature.org/dunnranchlive
The Nature Conservancy P.O. Box 440400 St. Louis, MO 63144
facebook.com/natureconservancymissouri twitter.com/nature_mo Instagram.com/nature_missouri
Missouri missouri@tnc.org nature.org/missouri
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online