Prairie Garden Trust
Occasional Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 1
by Henry Domke

July 2nd 2005

Beaver Update
Attempts to eradicate the beavers from East Lake have not worked yet. The Board voted at the last meeting to kill them. Despite the best efforts of Will Marshal and Andy Cave, they remain active. Their huge lodge was burned, but this week a new wooden lodge (bigger than the first) was discovered on the opposite shore between three cypress trees. Will Marshal is exploring trapping them.

Landscaping Complete
Ann Wakeman has completed her initial planting around the new PGT center. Ann picked primarily native species using Cathy Teague's design. Laura Marshal, Paula Kientzel and Jamie Coe helped with the work.

Art Exhibit to Open
The exhibit "Visions of the Prairie Garden" is set to open this coming Tuesday July 5th at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The opening reception (open to all) will by Thursday July 7th from 5:30 to 7:30. All thirty images in the show were taken at the Prairie Garden Trust. The St. Louis Post Dispatch has a short article on the show in today's paper. This exhibit was made possible due to the efforts of Warren and Susan Lammert of the Missouri Prairie Foundation.

Forest Management Plan under way
Carl Hauser, a private forester, is about half finished with his survey of the land owned by Will Marshal, the PGT and Lorna & Henry Domke. This plan will be used in our applications for Federal and State funding sources for our land management. Jamie Coe pointed out that much of our management work may be eligible for government matching funds.

Exotic Eradication
Starting next week, forester Warren Taylor will be starting an attempt to eradicate all Autumn Olive from the 600-acres under management here. Autumn Olive is an exotic species planted here in the 80s with the encouragement of the Missouri Department of Conservation. Helping him will be Laura Marshal.

Editorial by Lorna
Lorna Domke wrote the lead editorial in the front of this months issue of "The Conservationist." It ties directly to the kind of experiences we hope to create for kids at the PGT.
Here is a link to it:
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/conmag/2005/07/vantage.htm