Community Conservation

Taking Action: Calvary Cemetery Prairie Restoration

Group featured: Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Green Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, Department of Conservation and Nature Conservancy.

Group mission: Preserve and restore the only native tallgrass prairie in the city of St. Louis.

Group location: Calvary Cemetery, located between West Florissant Avenue and Broadway in North St. Louis.

As the final resting place of Dred Scott, General William T. Sherman and St. Louis co-founder Auguste Chouteau, Calvary Cemetery paints a vivid picture of the city’s human history. As home to St. Louis’ only native tallgrass prairie, it provides wonderful opportunities to learn about our state’s natural history. Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which owns the cemetery, has made a 100-year commitment to preserve the 25-acre prairie for all to enjoy. To meet that goal the church is partnering with the Green Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, Department of Conservation and the Nature Conservancy to conduct a prairie preservation and restoration project. The coalition will remove exotic and invasive species, reestablish native grasses and flowers and create trails to enable residents to experience St. Louis as it was in its natural state. For more information on the restoration project, visit their web site.

TreeKeeper Classes

St. Louis-area course teaches community tree care.

Learn how trees benefit us and how to care for trees in your community during the six-week TreeKeeper course at the Wildwood Campus of St. Louis Community College. Classes will be held on Thursdays from 1 to 3 p.m. beginning Feb. 7. Course topics include tree identification, tree planting, pruning, insects and diseases.

The course is free. However, participants are asked to provide 24 hours of volunteer service after graduation. To register, call (314) 984-7777. For more information, call (888) 4RELEAF.

“Yes You CAN” Contest

A fun way to teach the value of trashing litter.

Missouri grade school teachers have until Jan. 31 to enter the No MOre Trash! “Yes, you “CAN” make Missouri litter free” trash can decorating contest. The contest enables students in kindergarten through eighth grade to help discourage littering by decorating a 30-gallon or larger trash can with artwork, an anti-litter slogan or message and the No MOre Trash! logo. The school submitting the entry selected as best overall will receive an award of $500. The winning entry in each of the three competition categories (K-2, 3-5 and 6-8) will receive a $100 cash prize. For entry forms and details on the contest, call (573) 522-4115, ext. 3855, e-mail nomoretrash@mdc.mo.gov, or visit their web site.