grassland restoration network

I used our Terex P110 skid loader with a Fecon flail brush head to open up an old fire break that had not been touched for perhaps a decade.  Below is the photo before and then about 30 minutes after.  Now, if I did this work myself, by hand with a chainsaw, it would take me a few full days.  So brush mowers do quick work.   But follow up is important:  Next May I need to go to this fire break and spray the re-sprouting brush with our basal bark herbicide mix.   This would be when the honeysuckle re-sprouts are maybe a foot tall, showing off to me where they had been hiding under the mowing slash.  The oil based herbicide sprayed direct down on the sprouts is very effective at killing them.   The prescribed fire regime these breaks support will help to bring back this rare community of savanna and wet prairie.

About 100 attended our recent workshop in the Platte River area of Nebraska.  Thank you to Mardel Jasnowski, Chris Helzer, Bill Whitney and their peers for hosting us.  For two days we were outside hiking around prairie restorations, and sharing stories of success and defeat. I went home ready for more.

Our 2017 GRN workshop we think will be at Konza Biological Station in Manhattan Kansas.  We are working on a date.  Stay tuned.

Below, Bill Whitney sharing ideas with colleagues.

2016GRN_Agenda

The 2016 Grassland Restoration Network Workshop will be in Aurora and Wood River, Nebraska on September 13-14. This year’s workshop is hosted by The Nature Conservancy and Prairie Plains Resource Institute, with additional funding assistance from Pheasants Forever. The workshop agenda (along with other logistical information) is attached.
Please fill out the registration information below and email it to Mardell Jasnowski (mjasnowski@tnc.org). You are welcome to participate in one or both days. Be sure to note which meals you will be present for. After you have registered, we will send you more detailed information with directions to the sites, etc. Registration is free for the first 75 people we hear from. There will be a cost of $35 per person for any additional registrants.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 19, 2016

Please fill out the information below.
Name
Organization/Affiliation
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Will you take part in the optional Tuesday morning tour in Aurora?
Will you be eating Tuesday evening supper?
Will you be eating Wednesday lunch?
Do you have any dietary restrictions? If so, list them here:
Thank you to Pheasants Forever and the Nebraska Environmental Trust for helping to cover the costs of registration for this conference.

Preliminary Agenda

Grassland Restoration Network- 2016 Workshop

September 13-14, 2016 – Aurora/Wood River, Nebraska

Co-Hosted by The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies
and Prairie Plains Resource Institute

September 13
9am-11:30am – Optional walking tours of prairie restorations in Aurora, Nebraska by Bill Whitney of Prairie Plains Resource Institute. Bill planted these diverse prairies in the early 1980’s through the 1990’s along what is now the Lincoln Creek Trail. He will discuss how the prairies established and changed over time, along with the history of Prairie Plains Resource Institute as an educational land trust.
12:30pm – 5:30pm – Tours of Prairie Plains Resource Institute’s Gjerloff Prairie north of Aurora, including various restored sites, remnant prairie on loess bluffs along the Platte River, fire and grazing management, and seed storage/processing facilities.
6pm – Catered supper at the Prairie Plains Education Center
7pm – 9pm – Social time
Lodging on your own at nearby hotels in Aurora and Grand Island, Nebraska. Consider Holiday Inn Express in Grand Island, Ken’s Motel in Aurora, or other options.

September 14
8:30-11am – Field sessions on evaluation and research results at The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies south of Wood River, Nebraska. Topics will include: long-term monitoring of mean floristic quality in restored prairie, impacts of soil texture/nutrient levels on prairie restoration establishment, response of grassland birds to patch-burn grazing of restored prairie, results of overseeding projects in degraded remnant prairie, and the response of small mammals, bees, grasshoppers, and ants to attempts to enlarge and reconnect prairie remnants through prairie restoration.
11am-Noon – Tour and group discussion of a restored wetland/stream (former sand and gravel mining ponds). The site was restored in stages between 2003 and 2013 and has established well, but is threatened by a number of invasive plants that are well-established upstream of the site.
12pm – 1pm – Catered lunch
1pm – 3:30pm – Tours of cropland restored to high-diversity prairie/wetland habitat in 2013 and 2016 and field sessions on research results from the Conservancy’s Diversity Research Plots – a series of ¾ ac replicated plots planted with various levels of plant diversity. Ongoing and completed research has focused on the impact of plant diversity on invertebrate communities, resistance to invasion, soil properties, and drought response and other aspects of ecological resilience. Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kansas State University will discuss their projects.
3:30pm – Depart

Our annual Nachusa Grasslands fire report where we have lots of photos, maps and lessons learned is available at:

Click to access 2015-2016_nachusa_fire_crew_annual_summary_report_b_kleiman.pdf