Center for Sustainability to host Prairie Acre Open House


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Center for Sustainability invites the public to a Prairie Acre Open House from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. The event will take place at the newly constructed Prairie Acre Demonstration Garden on the north side of Prairie Acre.

Kelly Kindscher, environmental studies professor and Kansas Biological Survey senior scientist, will speak briefly on the history of Prairie Acre and prairie restoration efforts at the site. Guest are invited to explore the prairie, and project coordinators will be onsite to answer questions. Light refreshments will be served. 

The site can be accessed from stairs at the corner of Sunnyside Avenue and Sunflower Road, or from the walkway off Lilac Lane. An accessible route is available from Parking Lot 10, south of Watson Library.

Prairie Acre was established in 1932 and is the last remaining patch of native tallgrass prairie on the KU Lawrence campus. The site is located south of Blake and Twente halls, sitting on a hillside that is roughly one-third of an acre. Over the past several decades, the prairie remnant degraded in quality, but a 2014 a capstone course in the Environmental Studies Program has revived efforts to preserve and restore Prairie Acre.

The Prairie Acre Restoration project is supported by grant funds and individual donations. Coordination of the project is currently funded by a grant from the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund, through the Douglas County Community Foundation. The demonstration garden being developed at the site is supported by donations from Douglas May and Catherine Schwoerer.

For more information about Prairie Acre and opportunities to support the restoration of this historically and ecologically significant site, visit www.prairieacre.ku.edu.

Thu, 10/19/2017

author

Jeff Severin

Media Contacts

Jeff Severin

Center for Sustainability

785-864-5804