Preserving Prairie Land

(music)

(Tallgrass prairie blowing in the wind causing the grass to roll like waves on the ocean.)

[Abby Brown] Stunning, wide open, tall grass, prairies,

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(A bunch of yellow flowers blooming close to the ground.)

[Abby] sand prairies with unique plants,

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(A cluster of small purple flowers hiding among the green prairie grasses.)

[Abby] wetland prairies bursting with life.

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(birds chirping, insect sounds) (A field of green prairie grass as far as the eye can see with purple, yellow and white flowers scattered throughout like "you are here" location dots on a map.)

[Abby] These are all amazing sights to see and lovingly taken care of by scientists like biologists and naturalists.

(music)

(birds chirping, insect sounds)

(Abby Brown, the host of FIND Iowa is standing in the prairie at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge. She is wearing a dark, pink polo shirt and her blonde hair is tied back in a pony tale at her neck. The wind is blowing her hair round like she's standing in front of a box fan.  The prairie grass is made up of all different shades of green from yellow-green to the dark green of a winter pine tree. It's  like looking at a painting made by putting small dots close together on a canvas to create a picture.)

[Abby] But what are some smaller, less noticed ways that you can help keep the Iowa prairie from becoming extinct?

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(A hill covered with late autumn prairie grass with white and golden flowers scattered throughout the hill.)

[Abby] So, Karen, what are some things that people in Iowa can do to protect and preserve our prairies?

(Karen has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing glasses with solid, dark frame. She is wear a light tan shirt with a patch on the upper left arm. The patch reads "US Fish & Wildlife Service Office of the Interior". In the center of the patch is a crane flying out of a breaking ocean wave. Karen is in dark brown pants.)

[Karen Viste-Sparkman, Wildlife Biologist] Well, one of the things that farmers can do is prairie strips. We have some prairie strips at Neal Smith.

[Abby] Okay.

[Karen] And they are strips of prairie in a farm field. So the prairie plants help slow down the water. So that reduces erosion. It also helps with pollinators and wildlife that can live in those little strips of prairie in the middle of a farm field.

(A cluster of bright purple flowers with an bee buzzing around the flower.

A prairie in front of a farm field.)

[Abby] And all of those things really do support the crop as well, right?

[Karen] Yes, it helps keep the topsoil from eroding away, and it also helps keep the water clean in our streams by preventing some of the chemicals from getting into the streams.

(insect sounds)

(A cluster of  flowers that have pom-pom like tops at the end of the stems with monarch butterflies flying throughout.)

[Abby] What can families do?

[Karen] Families. Anyone who has a little piece of land, or a flower pot can grow some prairie plants, so you can just grow plants that will help pollinators and other insects. It'll also help keep the plants alive.

(music)

(A field of yellowish-green prairie grass with yellow and black flowers speckled throughout.)

[Abby] So what will people do when they visit Neal Smith?

[Karen] Oh, there's all kinds of things to do when you visit. Just walking the trails and watching the wildlife. One thing that we have volunteers help with is collecting seed to help us grow more prairie.

[Abby]  What's involved in collecting seeds?

(Several wooden boxes and deep aluminum cooking pans full of prairie soil and prairied grasses. Three of the aluminum pans have a paper strip lying on top as if the grass has been identified and classified.)

[Karen] We go out and just find some of the seeds of the native prairie plants that are ready to pick.

(A person who works for the US Fish & Wildlife is using a tool to collect seeds from a square, metal dish in a lab.)

[Abby] And then they'll get replanted right here at Neal Smith, right?

(On the left, a volunteer in a dark blue long-sleeved shirt holding a white bucket, walking through a field of prairie. On the right, a close up of purple, yellow, red, and white prairie flowers.)

[Karen] Yes, we plant them here. That's where we get the seed to plant farm fields.

(On the left, a red and white motorized seed scatter. On the right, a green and yellow tractor in a harvested farm field.)

[Abby] If you want to make a difference in preserving Iowa's prairies, keep learning about them. Feed your curiosity by exploring a prairie near you close up. Stopping, observing and caring. These are the keys to a future full of healthy Iowa prairies.

(music)

(insect sounds)

(A hill covered with late autumn prairie grass with white and golden flowers scattered throughout the hill.)

[Announcer] Funding for Find Iowa has been provided by the following supporters.

(text on the screen) FIND Iowa, The Coons Foundation, Pella, Gilchrist Foundation

(text on the screen) Iowa PBS Education