Websites That Address Iowa Conservation Issues:

General Prairie Information:

http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/ Iowa Prairie Network homepage

Iowa conservation events:

http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/calendar.htm Iowa Prairie Network list of events

http://www.inhf.org/upcomingevents.htm Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation upcoming events

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~herbarium/inps/trips.htm Iowa Native Plant Society excursions

http://www.iaenvironment.org/ Iowa Environmental Council news bulletin

http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/otherevents.htm Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Preserved Iowa prairies and other native lands:

http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/iowa/preserves/index.html The Nature Conservancy in Iowa projects

http://www.inhf.org/landprojects.htm Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation projects

http://www.iowadnr.com/preserves/index.html Iowa Department of Natural Resources State preserves

http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/ppd/parkrec.htm Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Parks

http://www.iowadnr.com/forestry/forests.html Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Forests

Prairie restoration and management:

Prairie restoration is the process of returning a degraded prairie to (or close to) it’s original condition. This is NOT starting a planting from seed on bare ground, that is called prairie reconstruction (see next heading). Many websites confuse the two terms.

http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/mgmt/mgmtguide.htm

http://www.inhf.org/prairiemgmt.htm

http://www.crk.umn.edu/research/pubs/LandownersGuideSved.pdf

Prairie reconstruction:

A reconstructed prairie is one that was started from seed on bare ground, as opposed to a restored prairie, which is the original, historic vegetation on a site that has never been plowed. Prairies often become degraded by invasive species and/or overgrazing; when returned to the original condition they are considered “restored”. Many websites confuse the terms restoration and reconstruction when applied to prairie.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/prairierestoration/goingnative.pdf Minnesota DNR

http://www.bellmuseum.org/mnideals/prairie/build/

http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/mgmt/planting_guide.htm Iowa Prairie Network

http://www.inhf.org/prairiemgmt.htm prairie installation and management instructions from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

http://www.prairienursery.com/Prairie_Guide/pra_estab_guide1.htm#Site%20Selection overview of prairie reconstruction from Prairie Nursery, Inc., a Wisconsin plant sales company

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG6748.html University of Minnesota “planting a prairie garden”

Savanna restoration:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/conserve/wildlife_management/oak_prairie/

Invasive species:

http://www.invasiveplants.net/ Cornell University site

http://www.invasivespecies.gov/ federal website on invasives

http://www.invasive.org/ from the Bugwood Network in Georgia

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/ National Park Service

http://contaminants.fws.gov/Issues/InvasiveSpecies.cfm US Fish & Wildlife Service

http://www.nybg.org/bsci/hcol/inva/ NY Botanical Garden catalog of invasive species

http://www.mobot.org/invasives/codesN.html Missouri Botanical Garden site, has “codes of conduct” for professionals and home gardeners in relation to invasive species

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/invasive/ Wisconsin DNR, has any other links

Native Landscaping:

http://www.hort.iastate.edu/graves/IowaCityLandscapingList.pdf

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/polk/water/learning/edmenu.html#native

http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/ Environmental Protection Agency greenscapes

http://www.for-wild.org/ Wild Ones Inc.

http://www.for-wild.org/weedlaws/weedlaw.html weed control laws that may affect native landscaping efforts

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairieplants.html photos of many species from dry prairies

Raingardens:

Watch out for non-Iowa sites, the construction information is fine, but plant recommendations may not be suitable for Iowa. See recommended raingarden plants on this site for native Iowa plant list.

http://www.raingardens.org/Index.php A Michigan-based website, some plants inappropriate for Iowa

http://www.mninter.net/~stack/bassett/raingard/raingard.pdf Minnesota area

http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring2001/raingardens.html Grays Lake, Illinois

http://www.vdof.org//rfb/rain-gardens.shtml

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/nps/rg/RaingardenPlantList.pdf watch out on this site, it has many dry prairie species listed that would quickly drown in a rain garden.

Land Trusts and Easements:

http://www.lta.org/ Land Trust Alliance

http://www.farmland.org/ American Farmland Trust

http://www.tpl.org/ The Trust for Public Land

http://nature.org/joinanddonate/giftandlegacy/support Iowa Nature Conservancy chapter

http://www.inhf.org/landprotection.htm Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation