A Prairie Reborn
These rambling acres of grass and greenery might not look like a carefully planned landscape. Yet they are part of an ongoing restoration effort begun in 1939 to undo the effects of 76 years of farming, restoring agricultural fields to a diverse collection of native plant species that represent the vegetation the first homesteaders encountered.
Prairie ecosystems once spanned 140,000,000 acres. Today, less than one percent remains. Restoration and research at Homestead National Monument of America help us to understand and manage these vanishing environments.
…it would seem desirable to make an effort early in the program to restore some of the more prominent spring, summer and fall flowers to show a part of nature which no doubt gave some cheer to the first settlers.
Adolph Murie
Restoration of Native Grassland at Homestead National Monument, 1938
Courtesy hmdb.org
