Largest Tallgrass Prairie Restoration

Volunteers, Boy Scouts and refuge personnel at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa have worked from scratch since 1992 to restore 3,000 acres of
tallgrass prairie and oak savanna in the nation’s largest tallgrass restoration project.  When completed, the restoration will total 8,600 acres.

Historically, this ecosystem spread across 14 states, including nearly all of Iowa.  Today, it is a globally endangered ecosystem—and essential habitat for the monarch butterfly.

In late August, when the monarchs are migrating through Iowa and Neal Smith Refuge, school children, volunteers and refuge staff will be capturing and tagging the butterflies. At their wintering range in Mexico, the tags will tell researchers how many monarchs survived the migration.  Neal Smith Refuge is one of five national wildlife refuges named to the tri-national Sister Protected Area Network along the monarch’s migration route.

Contact: Pauline Drobney, Neal Smith Refuge wildlife biologist, 515-994-3400