Grassland Heritage Foundation preserves prairies in eastern Kansas through education, stewardship, and land protection.
Tallgrass Prairie Facts
Prairie arose in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, and once covered 400 million acres over the center of the U.S. from Saskatchewan to Texas. Prairies are diverse communities dominated by grasses and wildflowers.
Tallgrass prairie, with three-fourths of its biomass
underground, created some of the most productive
soils in the world. Prairie thrives amid drought, fire,
and grazing due to root systems up to 15 feet deep.
Only 1% of the native tallgrass prairie remains today due to fire suppression and intensive crop production, making it a globally endangered ecosystem. Remaining prairies now include the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma and small remnant prairies, such as The Prairie Center in Olathe, Kansas and GHF's Snyder Prairie, Leadplant Prairie, and Roulund-Wagner Prairie.
Only 1% of the native tallgrass prairie remains today. . .
News
The Seed Cleaning Party has been moved to Saturday, Feb. 1
The Winter newsletter is available now
2020 Snyder Scholarship applications are available. Apply by Feb. 29
Visit The Raven Book Store in Lawrence to browse GHF-curated native plant gardening books
Join a community of prairie protectors
You can directly support prairie land management, land protection, and education in northeast Kansas as a GHF member and donor.
GHF provides hands-on prairie restoration opportunities, academic scholarships, and workshops on prairie management, native plant gardening, and prairie ecology.
Members receive the GHF newsletter, discounts on fee workshops, discounts at GHF's annual native plant sale, and workshop & event notifications.
What you can do to protect prairie
Visit and enjoy prairies with friends.
Add native plants to your garden. They are needed by native pollinating insects, they reduce erosion, and they use less water.
Apply for a scholarship to advance our understanding of prairie ecology and restoration.
Encourage your city, county, and state to include prairie remnants and native plants in park and landscaping plans.
Keep exotic invasive plants out of your yard, parks and plant nurseries.
Events
February 01, 2020
3-5 PM, Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. Lawrence, Kansas
Seed Cleaning Party for GHF's Leadplant Prairie Restoration
Update! The weather on Saturday, Jan. 11 looks dangerous, so we will postpone the seed cleaning gathering until Saturday, Feb. 1. See you then!
Cleaning native plant seeds is a fun way to spend an hour or two on a winter weekend! We'll prepare seeds collected from native prairies for use in restoration work at GHF's Leadplant Prairie.
February 08, 2020
9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Douglas County Fairgrounds
Kaw Valley Seed Fair
Attendees are invited to bring saved seeds or packaged seeds to share at exchange tables. Vendors and organizations, including GHF, will bring information about native plants, vegetable gardening, and seed starting.
Contact Grassland Heritage Foundation
PO Box 394
Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66201
Send us a message