Grassland Coalition
Will Missouri lose its last prairie chickens?
Not if we can help it! We're the Missouri Grasslands Coalition, a partnership of 20 agencies and groups focused on conserving Missouri grasslands. Please join one of our partners' habitat recovery efforts. To help fund our work, call Prairie Chicken Recovery Leader Max Alleger at 660-885-8179, ext. 247.
Before European settlement, greater prairie chickens numbered in the hundreds of thousands on native prairies that covered more than one-third of Missouri. Since that time, changing land-use patterns on our prairie landscape caused prairie chicken populations to plunge. Today, as few as 500 birds remain scattered in isolated flocks. Extirpation of this species from Missouri seems certain without immediate, significant and sustained action.
Who can help? Prairie landowners are key
Because 93 percent of Missouri's land is privately owned, prairie chickens and other grassland birds won't stay on our state's landscape without landowners' help. If you own land that once served as habitat for prairie chickens, we'd love to hear from you. Education, technical support, cost-share and other incentives are available for those whose lands qualify for grassland conservation programs.
Call Prairie Chicken Recovery Leader Max Alleger at 660-885-8179, ext. 247 for details.
Who's Leading the way? A coalition of concerned partners
The Missouri Grasslands Coalition , a partnership of 20 agencies and groups focused on conserving Missouri grasslands, recognizes the prairie chicken as a symbol of healthy grassland ecosystems. In 1999, the same year that the prairie chicken was added to the state endangered species list, Department of Conservation biologists and GC partners cooperatively identified nine Grasslands Coalition Focus Areas (GCFAs) as the most promising geographies for future native grassland and prairie chicken recovery efforts. The ultimate goal of Missouri’s Greater Prairie Chicken Recovery Plan is to de-list the species after a population of at least 3,000 birds is maintained for 10 years.
Patch-Burn Grazing For Fat Cows and Booming Chickens
Cattlemen usually manage forage with fences and livestock. But Department scientists have been testing a forage system that relies on fire to produce fat cows and healthy grasslands. With “patch-burn grazing,” cattle graze heavily on the most recently burned patch--usually about one-third of the pasture. While the herd is gaining on prime-quality forage, the ungrazed plants rest and build up root reserves. Managers who have tested this method on CRP fields and native prairie believe it will prove exceptional for summer weight gains and better wildlife habitat. Stocker calves in the study gained an average of 1.6 pounds per day through the summer months. Habitat results included nesting cover, open brooding areas and escape cover beneficial to quail and other grassland birds. In fact, no other grazing method is as beneficial for both cows and grassland birds.
