There are lots of opportunities to turn your prairie enthusiasm into action! If you would like to volunteer, sign up for our E-news or contact your local Chapter.

Management activities include:

Prescribed burning  – The plant communities we focused on are fire-dependent systems. The lack of fire has contributed to the loss of these ecosystems, and TPE uses prescribed fire when possible. Effects on all components of prairies should be considered when deciding if and how often to burn. See more on TPE’s prescribed burning program and some resources.

Invasive species control
Brush and tree removal – Due to the absence of management over a long period of time, brush and trees have encroached upon most remnant prairies. Fire will have limited effects on these established woody plants, and can even be problematic with some species that re-sprout after top-killing. There are several ways to remove woody species, including cutting, judicious application of herbicide, covering and girdling, or a combination of these. Many websites that cover this topic. Some include: Pleasant Valley Conservancy (TPE members Tom and Kathy Brock) and the Invasive Plant Association of Wisconsin (IPAW).

Killing unwanted forbs – These unwanted plants are primarily non-native species that are aggressive and compete with native plants. Successful eradication or reducing their impact ranges from hard to easy depending on the species. Websites with good information include: Pleasant Valley Conservancy (TPE members Tom and Kathy Brock) and the IPAW.

Organic control methods – Some methods for control do not use herbicide. Examples are: girdling can be done without herbicide, smothering, repeated mowing, severing biennials below the root crown, and pulling. Some methods do not work on some species, and some methods have some undesirable side effects (e.g., pulling disturbs the soil). Some methods are described in blog posts.

Planting prairie – Several chapters are active in planting new areas with prairie species to provide buffer zones around remnants or as replacements for lost ecosystems. To date, over 500 acres have been planted with seeds collected from local sources by TPE volunteers. Major activities include seed collecting and processing, planting, and management of new plantings.

Hunting – TPE recognizes the value of hunting as a useful management tool, and therefore we permit its use on our lands where we deem it is necessary to control overabundant or problem species. TPE also allows hunting where we deem it not to be in conflict with the goals and uses of a given property.