The ridge-top prairies were converted to farm fields. Two of these have been “restored”. The prairie in the North Unit of the Monument was replanted using inter-seeding strategies with no chemicals or tilling. The prairie in the South Unit was cleared of brush and trees, burned, and allowed to return to its natural state. Today, 20 years later there is little difference in the two prairies.

Interesting enough, these prairies also appear to be associated with the moundbuilder activities. Many of the mounds are found adjacent to these open areas. There also appears to be connectivity between the mounds and the Mississippi River and the Yellow River as most are within the view of the rivers and oriented toward them suggesting that during the time of the moundbuilders the area was much less forested than it is today.

Effigy Mounds National Monument is located just 3 miles north of Marquette, IA, on State Highway 76.
For more information on Effigy Mounds National Monument click here.

Email: Denise_Boudreau@nps.gov, Rodney_D_Rovang@nps.gov

Phone: 563.873.349

North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station
Friday, 6 August
The morning after the NAPC, you are invited to tour the facilities and field plots of the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station (NCRPIS), near the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. The NCRPIS is a key part of the US National Plant Germplasm System, focusing on ex situ conservation of agronomic and horticultural crops and their wild relatives (including many prairie species), with an emphasis on seed production of outcrossing species through the use of insect and hand pollination. Participants will be able to tour our evaluation and caged-regeneration plots, facilities for seed drying, processing, imaging, testing, and cold storage, and view a wide range of equipment for plant cultivation and insect-pollinator management. The tour will begin at 9:30 am on Friday and should take approximately two hours. We will meet at the NCRPIS farm, which is located in the southwest part of Ames, about 100 miles from Cedar Falls. Your own transportation to Ames is required, as is an RSVP (see below).

From the south side of Cedar Falls, take US 20 west to Interstate 35, then south on I 35 to US 30 (just southeast of Ames at exit 111B). There take US 30 west to University Drive, and exit (at exit 146) onto University Drive north to the first stoplight (Mortensen Parkway). Then turn right at the light onto Mortensen Parkway and drive west to the first 4-way stop sign at State Avenue. Turn left onto State Avenue and drive for about 100 yards to the big red and yellow sign marking the entrance to the NCRPIS farm. Turn right at the sign and follow the asphalt to the parking area.

The staff of the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames will be conducting this post-conference field trip. To ensure your place on the tour, please RSVP to Rachael Beyer no later than 23 July 2010. (Tour will be limited to 30 NAPC registrants.)

For more information on NCRPIS click here.

For more information on US National Plant Germplasm System click here.

Email: Rachael.Beyer@ars.usda.gov

Phone: 515.294.2250

If you have questions about this tour or need more information, please contact:
Dr. Mark Widrlechner, NCRPIS Horticulturist at Mark.Widrlechner@ars.usda.gov

Rochester Cemetery
Thursday, August 5, 4PM
A tour of Rochester Cemetery, with Diana Horton & Stephen Longmire See this 13-acre remnant sand prairie and white oak savanna, a cemetery in continuous use since the 1830s, with the botanist who has inventoried over 400 species there, 336 of them native, and the photographer and writer whose book on the cemetery, "Life and Death on the Prairie," will be out this fall--including a comprehensive flora of the cemetery. This tour will highlight the site's rich natural and cultural histories, side by side.
For further details, see the description of the symposium at which both tour leaders are presenting, Weds. at 3PM.
Thurs. Aug. 5th, 4 PM Meet at the cemetery, in Rochester, IA, 3:45-4 PM Cemetery Rd. runs for just under a mile between the Hoover Highway (Cedar Cty. F44) and IA 38. If traveling on I-80, take the Tipton exit (#267), roughly 25 m. E. of Iowa City, head north towards Tipton on route 38 for roughly a mile, then turn left on the gravel Cemetery Rd. If traveling from Iowa City on the Hoover Highway, cross the Cedar River roughly four miles after passing through Springdale, then take the second right turn onto Cemetery Rd. Approaching from either direction, the cemetery is roughly half a mile down Cemetery Rd., on both sides of the road. Please park off the road beyond the SE edge of the cemetery to avoid disturbing other visitors. Please do not drive cars into the cemetery. We will begin at the SE corner, opposite the outhouse.

Tour leaders: Diana Horton, Emeritus Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Iowa
Stephen Longmire, photographer and author