Planning is underway for the site’s scheduled burn in spring 2006. Personnel from the Windom office of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will be visiting the PrairieU remnant prairie in the next coming weeks to gather information about the site and how the burn will be performed.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Natural Resources are teaming up to provide a grant that will support the burn of this site and others throughout southwest Minnesota in the spring of 2006.

Establishing a burn regime at the PrairieU site will enable researchers to determine which native grasses and forbs exist and the site, as well as which areas will benefit most from reseeding native species.

Representing SWROC and PrairieU, Sue Anderson, Education Specialist with the University of Minnesota College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, recently attended a workshop about environmental education The Field Museum in Chicago, Ill. Ann Warner, a fifth grade science teacher with the Redwood Area Schools, accompanied Anderson to the regional conference. Participation was by invitation only and included teachers and other education professionals from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.

The conference focused on developing educational resources for teaching environmental science by identifying primary needs for teachers and facilitating idea exchange among those in attendance. Anderson and Warner presented information about their efforts to enhance the way environmental science is taught in the secondary level classroom. Anderson highlighted the work of PrairieU and the way that it offers educators an opportunity to teach in a hands-on environment and use the program as an effective resource.

Eighteen students from Deb Reinart’s junior and senior ecology class visited SWROC and the PrairieU native prairie site on Friday, Oct. 28. Dr. Milt Haar led them on a visit to the prairie and talked about the current research activities taking place at the site. He showed them the rare side-slope fen, explained the importance of prescribed burns, identified native plants and gave them a first-hand look at the erosion occurring along the Cottonwood River, which is located just north of the prairie site.

The students also visited the plots used for SWROC’s Variable Crop Management Study on the Elwell Agroecology Farm and learned about crop rotation and management. SWROC faculty member Dr. Jeff Strock spent some time with the class explaining soil research; students participated in a lab session, which allowed them to view and analyze various soil properties.