KCPL Kids - Stilwell Prairie Returns to Natural State

Stilwell Prairie Returns to Natural State

When Washington Irving rode through Stilwell in our country's earliest days, natural grasses grew so tall they blocked his view, even when he was seated atop his horse.

Volunteers work at Stilwell Prairie

Today, work is under way to restore at least some of what Irving saw during his exploration. The Stilwell Prairie includes 376 acres of land that used to include trash dumps and abandoned cars, even an old and leaking gas well. In June 1994, the Missouri Prairie Foundation began Purple Coneflowers clean up of the prairie site. Since then, volunteers have cut several acres of brush and recent growth trees, adding fuel for the fire and opening prairie vistas only recently closed after hundreds of years of awe-inspiring expansiveness.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation believes the restoration began just in time. The invasion of trees into the prairie site is now controlled, and the native grasses and flowers are beginning to return. Ongoing maintenance of the site will involve cutting back trees, pushing back non-native grasses and restoring overgrazed pastures to native grasses.

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