Acquisition Ensures Prairie Chicken Habitat, Links Existing Conservation Land

St. Louis, MO - An agreement between The Nature Conservancy and a private landowner to permanently protect 80 acres in Harrison County will link two existing conservation areas, creating more than 1,000 acres of unfragmented conservation land in the Grand River Grasslands, a 50,000-acre landscape on the Missouri-Iowa border. This will significantly improve critical habitat for declining grassland birds like the greater prairie chicken and will provide public access for a wide variety of uses. The project links The Nature Conservancy and the Missouri Department of Conservation portions of the Pawnee Prairie adjacent to Dunn Ranch.

“Linking more than 1,000 acres in Pawnee Prairie is a significant achievement,” said Susan Harris, State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Missouri. “This has been one of our highest priorities. This benefits prairie chickens, native grasslands, and many other grassland bird species.”

The 80-acre parcel contains rolling hills and a small pond, which has historically used for grazing operations. The property is bordered by tree lines and brushrows, which effectively fragment the grassland habitat and limit the suitability of the site for grassland birds, including prairie chickens. Conservancy staff will remove woody vegetation as part of a program of prairie restoration in conjunction with restoration work underway by MDC and TNC on existing portions of Pawnee Prairie.

“Much of the credit for this project goes to the landowners,” said Harris. “Their vision ensures future generations will be able to hear the booming of the prairie chicken each spring and see a fragment of the native grasslands that once dominated the landscape.”

Although no prairie chickens were known from Pawnee Prairie six years ago, the removal of woody vegetation and restoration of grassland habitat on Conservancy and Missouri Department of Conservation lands has resulted in the presence of prairie chickens there for the past two years. There is every reason to believe that restoration of suitable habitat on this “peninsula” separating the two tracts will facilitate continuation of that trend, and provide significantly increased habitat areas and quality for a suite of globally declining grassland species.

“This is a great compliment to the protected grasslands at Dunn Ranch,” said Keith Kinne, The Nature Conservancy’s Dunn Ranch Director. “Connecting the conservation land in this region provides a big boost to the prairie chickens.”

The project ensures public access for passive recreational uses such as hiking, bird watching and nature study.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 100 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.