In the summer of 1964, when I was a graduate student at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, I viewed my first prairie. It was love at first sight as I was taken with the uniqueness and beauty of the flowering plants. As a history buff, I was also intrigued by the concept of prairie and the amount that had been lost. I undoubtedly conjured up romantic versions of what the original prairie must have been like.
Tell us about your role as director of UNI’s Tallgrass Prairie Center.
I formulated the Tallgrass Prairie Center in about 2000 as an extension of the prairie restoration, management, and preservation work that I had begun almost 30 years earlier when I planted 8 acres of tallgrass prairie on the UNI campus. In the interim, based upon our prairie reconstruction experience, we had been asked to form a statewide program to assist counties in developing integrated roadside vegetation management programs with native prairie as a key component. To provide sufficient prairie species at an economically competitive price for roadside planting, I developed the Iowa Ecotype Project. This work formed the basis of the Tallgrass Prairie Center (initially called the Native Roadside Vegetation Center).
Beyond the tallgrass species, what other plants and animals are you especially interested in?
I am interested in many ecosystems beyond the tallgrass prairie; the ones I study and visit the most are the oak savanna ecosystem, the longleaf pine savanna ecosystem, and the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. In addition, I am interested in ecosystems where fire is essential for their continued existence.
What has changed in the outdoor world since your first days of trying to learn about it and protect it? What’s better, what’s worse?
In the 46 years that I have been studying natural ecosystems, a tremendously large percentage has been lost. Increased population, urbanization, and technology usage have all reduced natural ecosystems. Many of Iowa’s few remaining prairie remnants have been reduced or eliminated. Natural ecosystems are irreplaceable, and the loss is permanent. Since I have been working with prairie restoration and preservation, there has been an increase in awareness of the magnitude of loss of the tallgrass prairie and with that an increase in prairie reconstruction and restoration. I interpret this as a positive trend even though you cannot reconstruct or restore a prairie ecosystem to its original condition.
What advice would you give to beginning conservationists?
I would advise them to learn as much as possible about the natural systems that they are attempting to conserve or preserve. I would also encourage them to become involved with conservation organizations. I think people are more receptive to conserving or restoring ecosystems than they were when I first became involved.
What are the particular challenges of being a conservationist in the Midwest?
Loss of natural systems is one of the greatest challenges to conservation in the Midwest as it is almost everywhere else. When push comes to shove, people will almost inevitably give up a natural system for something that benefits humanity (e.g., they opt for providing food for an increasing population rather than protecting a natural system). Humanitarian or economic use of a piece of land is usually viewed as the highest and best use of that land.
What’s the main thing that you hope to accomplish with the publication of The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest?
I hope that publication of this guide will result in increased and more successful restoration and reconstruction of native prairie. In addition, I hope that it will increase awareness of the Tallgrass Prairie Center and its capabilities.
What are your favorite natural areas in Iowa and the Midwest? What areas do you return to constantly?
In Iowa, my favorite areas are Cedar Hills Sand Prairie, Hayden Prairie, Cayler Prairie, Freda Hafner Kettlehole, the northern Loess Hills, and the Paleozoic Plateau of northeast Iowa. I constantly return to Cedar Hills, Hayden, and the Kettlehole. My favorite newly visited place is Timberhill Savanna, owned by Sybilla and Bill Brown. Outside Iowa, my favorite areas are the Badlands, Wind Cave Prairie, Konza Prairie, Red Rock Prairie, the Nebraska Sandhills, and Osage Prairie in Oklahoma; I constantly return to the Badlands, Wind Cave, Konza, and Red Rock.
Daryl Smith, The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest
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