TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT - The local chapter of the Prairie Enthusiasts is in the thick of the seed-collecting season and staying busy since acquiring Muralt Bluff Prairie from Green County in September.
Prairie Bluff Chapter has conducted several seed-collecting events at Muralt this year and to date has collected more than 100 pounds of seeds from various prairies in the stateline area since May, secretary Tom Mitchell said.
Just a few weeks after the group received Muralt, the group welcomed international students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Area Technical College to the property to help collect seeds Saturday, Sept. 28.
"It was a lot of fun. We had two young women - one from China and one from Taiwan; we had one (student) from India, one from Pakistan," Mitchell said. "We had a great time.
"Many of (the students) don't get an opportunity to get outside, away from traffic," Mitchell added, "away from buildings and that kind of an environment, so they were all marveling at how quiet it was, how far you could see and how peaceful it was out there."
James Urban from the Department of Natural Resources' State Natural Area program invited the students to join PBC at Muralt, which had already been maintained by PBC for about two years. The property, located along County F outside Monticello, consists of two parcels of land totaling about 75 acres and is home to numerous rare plants and animals.
PBC has been collecting seeds from the property's dominant prairie grasses, which include Drop-seed, Little Bluestem, Side-oats Grama and Lead Plant.
On Thursday, Oct. 10 the group collected seeds at Rock River Prairie in Beloit with about a dozen home-schooled students. Urban's recruitment of local volunteers to help manage State Natural Areas has been a big help to PBC, Mitchell said, who added that "many hands collect many seeds." Mitchell said PBC and volunteers will continue collecting into November before planting much of the seeds at Stauffacher Prairie, located along Wisconsin 59 between Monroe and Albany.
"We'll move around so we have genetic diversity," Mitchell said. "So we collect seeds from various places, usually within 40 miles of where we're going to put them. But rather than collect from one population, we collect from various prairies so there's diversity in genetics, which is important."
One might say the group's involvement with Muralt Bluff Prairie has come full circle, Mitchell said. A certain event in 1975 made the property "a special place" for TPE, he said, after two individuals from Albany - Gary Eldered and John Ochsner - independently discovered the prairie on top of a bluff owned by the Muralt family.
"They put their heads together and realized these were in fact prairie plants - unusual grasses, flowers you don't find along roads and ditches," Mitchell said. "Together with a few other people, (they) decided what prairies need and evolved with was prescribed fire. They organized a small party one autumn day, got up there and lit a match."
Mitchell said tools used to put out fires then consisted of gunny sacks and snow shovels, and it didn't take long before the group had to call the local fire department. "Fortunately the fire eventually consumed all the fuel and went out by itself. But from those two events - discovering the prairie and lighting it off - that next growing season saw all these flowers and grasses come back with a vengeance."
Muralt Bluff Prairie was later designated a State Natural Area in 1977. The Prairie Enthusiasts formed in 1986. Mitchell said today the group is 1,100 members strong in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota with assets of about $6 million.
Muralt Bluff Prairie becomes the fifth property owned by PBC, joining Butenhoff Prairie, Vale Prairie and Iltis Savanna in Green County and Briggs Wetlands in Rock County. PBC also maintains about 20 other properties, Mitchell said.
"For us to acquire Muralt Bluff, which is sort of where it all began - the real prairie movement, I think in (Wisconsin) and our part of the Midwest - makes it a special place," Mitchell said.
The prairie is one of the largest prairie sites left in Green County and provides habitat for grassland birds like meadowlarks, bobolinks and grasshopper sparrows, Mitchell said. Muralt Bluff Prairie is also home to an endangered butterfly, the Regal Pritolary.
"By maintaining and restoring these prairies, we're providing habitat for these grassland birds plus a whole number of insects and amphibians that are poorly understood. Many of these prairie plants have insects that need that one particular plant to survive; so if the plants disappear, obviously insects disappear, too."
Prairie Bluff Chapter has conducted several seed-collecting events at Muralt this year and to date has collected more than 100 pounds of seeds from various prairies in the stateline area since May, secretary Tom Mitchell said.
Just a few weeks after the group received Muralt, the group welcomed international students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Area Technical College to the property to help collect seeds Saturday, Sept. 28.
"It was a lot of fun. We had two young women - one from China and one from Taiwan; we had one (student) from India, one from Pakistan," Mitchell said. "We had a great time.
"Many of (the students) don't get an opportunity to get outside, away from traffic," Mitchell added, "away from buildings and that kind of an environment, so they were all marveling at how quiet it was, how far you could see and how peaceful it was out there."
James Urban from the Department of Natural Resources' State Natural Area program invited the students to join PBC at Muralt, which had already been maintained by PBC for about two years. The property, located along County F outside Monticello, consists of two parcels of land totaling about 75 acres and is home to numerous rare plants and animals.
PBC has been collecting seeds from the property's dominant prairie grasses, which include Drop-seed, Little Bluestem, Side-oats Grama and Lead Plant.
On Thursday, Oct. 10 the group collected seeds at Rock River Prairie in Beloit with about a dozen home-schooled students. Urban's recruitment of local volunteers to help manage State Natural Areas has been a big help to PBC, Mitchell said, who added that "many hands collect many seeds." Mitchell said PBC and volunteers will continue collecting into November before planting much of the seeds at Stauffacher Prairie, located along Wisconsin 59 between Monroe and Albany.
"We'll move around so we have genetic diversity," Mitchell said. "So we collect seeds from various places, usually within 40 miles of where we're going to put them. But rather than collect from one population, we collect from various prairies so there's diversity in genetics, which is important."
One might say the group's involvement with Muralt Bluff Prairie has come full circle, Mitchell said. A certain event in 1975 made the property "a special place" for TPE, he said, after two individuals from Albany - Gary Eldered and John Ochsner - independently discovered the prairie on top of a bluff owned by the Muralt family.
"They put their heads together and realized these were in fact prairie plants - unusual grasses, flowers you don't find along roads and ditches," Mitchell said. "Together with a few other people, (they) decided what prairies need and evolved with was prescribed fire. They organized a small party one autumn day, got up there and lit a match."
Mitchell said tools used to put out fires then consisted of gunny sacks and snow shovels, and it didn't take long before the group had to call the local fire department. "Fortunately the fire eventually consumed all the fuel and went out by itself. But from those two events - discovering the prairie and lighting it off - that next growing season saw all these flowers and grasses come back with a vengeance."
Muralt Bluff Prairie was later designated a State Natural Area in 1977. The Prairie Enthusiasts formed in 1986. Mitchell said today the group is 1,100 members strong in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota with assets of about $6 million.
Muralt Bluff Prairie becomes the fifth property owned by PBC, joining Butenhoff Prairie, Vale Prairie and Iltis Savanna in Green County and Briggs Wetlands in Rock County. PBC also maintains about 20 other properties, Mitchell said.
"For us to acquire Muralt Bluff, which is sort of where it all began - the real prairie movement, I think in (Wisconsin) and our part of the Midwest - makes it a special place," Mitchell said.
The prairie is one of the largest prairie sites left in Green County and provides habitat for grassland birds like meadowlarks, bobolinks and grasshopper sparrows, Mitchell said. Muralt Bluff Prairie is also home to an endangered butterfly, the Regal Pritolary.
"By maintaining and restoring these prairies, we're providing habitat for these grassland birds plus a whole number of insects and amphibians that are poorly understood. Many of these prairie plants have insects that need that one particular plant to survive; so if the plants disappear, obviously insects disappear, too."