Platte River Prairies Field Day – August 6, 2016

Our next Field Day at The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies will be Saturday August 6.  We hope that by making it on a Saturday we will make it more accessible to families and people whose bosses don’t let them out of work on weekdays just to go hike around in prairies.  I hear there are jobs like that…

Bill Whitney (Prairie Plains Resource Institute) and his combine - harvesting grass seed at The Nature Conservancy's Derr Tract - Central Platte River, Nebraska.

We’re proud that Bill Whitney (Prairie Plains Resource Institute) will be on hand to talk about prairie restoration.  He is the godfather of prairie restoration in Nebraska and can tell you anything you want to know about the methods, history, and philosophy of restoration.

Please come out and join us.  We’ll have hikes and presentations on prairie ecology and management, prairie restoration (with Bill Whitney of Prairie Plains Resource Institute), prairie plant identification, and gardening with prairie plants.  You can also look for monarch butterfly adults and caterpillars and catch/learn about prairie insects.  Over lunch, I’ll give a brief presentation on prairie ecology with lots of photos.

There is no cost to attend – just bring your own lunch, bug spray, and sunscreen.  We’ll provide some snacks to eat and lots of wildflowers, insects, and birds to look at.

Click here to see the agenda and more information on the day.

Platte River Prairies Field Day – THIS WEDNESDAY

This Wednesday (June 22) is our next Platte River Prairies Field Day.  Admission is free, and there will be several hikes/presentations to choose from during each of the four session periods during the day.  Come learn about prairie plants and insects, prairie restoration and management, edible wild plants and native plant gardening.  You can also learn about monarch butterfly conservation and find out how you can help collect important data to help monitor their recovery.

You can see the full agenda for the day HERE.  Directions to the site are HERE.

Wildflowers and grasshoppers.  TNC Platte River Prairies.

Wildflowers and grasshoppers. TNC Platte River Prairies.

This event is open to anyone, including families.  Master Naturalists and others interested in learning about (and helping with) ecology and conservation are particularly welcome.

I hope to see you Wednesday.