Author: MCCBNaturalist

Friday:
9:00am - 12:00pm - G.R.A.S.S.
Pre -Seminar Activity - Iowa DNR
5:00pm - Registration
6:00pm - Loess Hills Updates
Children’s Programs
Evening Speakers
9:00pm - Campfire Program
Saturday:
6:00am - Birding Walk
7:00am - Breakfast
8:15am, 10:15am, & 1:15pm -
Field Sessions
Children’s Programs
12:15pm - Lunch
1:15pm - 4:00pm -
Field Sessions
Children’s Programs
4:30pm - Evening Banquet
6:00pm - 8:30pm -
Children’s Programs
Evening Speakers
Entertainment
9:00pm - Campfire Program
Sunday:
6:00am - Birding Walk
7:00am - Breakfast
8:15am - 10:15 am -
Field Sessions
Children’s Programs
10:15am - Raptor Program &
Release
11:15am - Lunch

Sponsors:
Monona County Conservation
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Major Support:
Iowa Living Roadway Trust Fund
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
Iowa Native Plant Society
Iowa Prairie Network
Loess Hills Alliance
The Nature Conservancy of Iowa
Additional Support:
Center for Prairie Studies at Briar Cliff University
Izaak Walton League -West Central Iowa Chapter
Loess Hills Audubon Society
Sierra Club - Northwest Iowa Group
SILT- Sustainable Iowa Land Trust
Woodbury County Conservation Foundation

Loess Hills Prairie Seminar Monona County Conservation Board
318 E. Iowa Ave
Onawa, IA 51040
Phone: 712-433-2400
E-mail: mccbnat@mononacounty.org
website: www.loesshillsprairieseminar.com

Loess Hills
Prairie Seminar

May 29th - May 31st, 2020

“Back to Nature “
Website: www.loesshillsprairieseminar.com

What is the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar?

The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar began in 1977 with a group of approximately 25 people who wanted to study the unique characteristics of this special area. To get an accurate feeling of the “Hills,” and
preserve the delicate ecology the group backpacked into the interior for the first seminar. Since then the increased number of participants has necessitated a more convenient location. The original idea of
preserving the “back to nature” concept of the
seminar however, is still a major goal.

Loess Hills? What Are They?...

The major reason Carolyn Benne founded the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar was to foster recognition, appreciation and the educational use of these natural wonders found within eyesight in our
communities. Although we hear that natural wonders are elsewhere, when we take the time to discover what is found in our own
backyard, we often come to realize our values are close at hand and that they distinctly shape our lives and culture.

The Loess Hills are a geological formation created
thousands of years ago during the glacial periods. The
Missouri River Valley flooded with the ice melt from these glaciers. During the cool months, however, the flows declined, creating expansive mud flats. Winds dried and picked up this soil causing huge dust storms. Much of the wind-blown soil or loess was dropped near the mud flats in “drifts” exceeding 200 feet in depth.
There are several reasons why the Loess Hills are unique. The soil itself is composed of “silt-sized” particles. This
allows water to rapidly pass, which creates an arid or dry condition. South- and west-facing slopes of the Hills are baked in sunlight, while slopes facing north and east are more shaded. These shaded slopes are often wooded with relatively young stands of Burr Oak.
The sunny, steep slopes have remained in native grasses and flowers, genetically tied to the same vegetation that was here before European settlement . The combination and quality of both timber and prairie make this ideal for study.

Iowa certainly owes much to its
prairie heritage—probably as much
as any state—for its strengths, highly admired educational achievements and rich culture. But our prairie heritage can easily get lost or forgotten as we rush to the future. This seminar offers a measure of protection for our heritage. Through its many interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
educational offerings, it instills in all, a sense of place.
Larry Benne, Retired LHPS
Coordinator

G.R.A.S.S. - Great Race Against Shrubs & Shade

Friday Pre - Seminar Activity - 9 am to 12:00 pm Assist Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation & The Nature Conservancy Interns, AmeriCorps crew, Dept. of Natural Resources staff and volunteers
Think energy and impact! This event is dependent on volunteers like you for the removal of brush that is considered invasive. Bring loppers if you have a pair (also supplied), water bottle, sturdy boots or shoes, hat, gloves, safety glasses, and sunscreen.

Getting people—getting
children—acquainted with what’s out here will make people concerned about what is happening here. If we get acquainted with natural communities, we feel at home. Any place we feel at home, we feel like protecting.
-Sylvan Runkel

http://iowaee.org

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