Iowa’s vanished prairie heritage

(Above) A bumblebee collects pollen from a stand of purple prairie clover. -Photo by Lowell Washburn.

by Lowell Washburn

“There was nothing to see but prairie, green stretches of grassland rolling quietly outward ‘till lost in the haze that trembled on the horizon.” – 

Those words are excerpted from the 1870’s logbook of Norwegian immigrant, Laurence Larson upon his arrival in Winnebago County, Iowa.

For contemporary Iowans, it would be hard – if not impossible -- to imagine such a scene.  An undisturbed, seemingly endless natural paradise bursting with summer color, stretching as far as the eye can see.  But such was the prairie landscape that greeted Larson and other European immigrants upon their arrival into what is now Northern Iowa.  

As wondrously complex as it is beautiful, Iowa’s tall grass prairies contain more than 400 species of flowering plants and grasses.  Growing to heights that tickled the leggings of horseback explorers, prairie grasslands were Iowa’s most dominant land feature, covering around 80 percent [30 million acres] of the state when government land surveys were conducted during the 1850s.

Prior to settlement, the diversity of Iowa’s prairie ecosystem was further enriched by the presence of an 

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additional 4 million acres of shallow wetlands.  Entering a wonderland that was as productive as it was beautiful, pioneering homesteaders encountered an astounding variety of wildlife that included nesting whooping cranes, wild swans, bison, elk, prairie wolves and unfathomable numbers of migratory waterfowl and native prairie chickens.

Pioneers were quick to capitalize on Iowa’s agricultural potential, rapidly converting prairies into a patchwork of family farmsteads – most less than 100 acres in size.  Civilization rapidly advanced as more and more immigrants continued to arrive.  

Today, only one tenth of 1 percent of Iowa’s native prairies remain.  Iowa’s once dominate landscape has all but vanished.  The good news is that surviving prairie remnants, though barely a glimmer of their former glory, have retained the ability to spark our imaginations and provide a glimpse into the rich natural heritage of Iowa’s past.  Equally noteworthy, is the fact that government and private conservation organizations as well as a growing number of private landowners are working to restore portions of this vanished ecosystem.  Although free roaming herds of elk and bison will remain a thing of the past, reestablished [replica] prairies lend much needed color and biological diversity to modern-day landscapes.  Restored prairies support native forbs which in turn provide forage for everything from migrating monarch butterflies to rare and endangered pollinators.  Meanwhile, a healthy interspersion of grasses such as Indian grass, big and little bluestem, switchgrass, and others offer critical habitat for native bird species like dickcissel, mallard, and meadowlark.   Diversity is further enhanced by programs aimed at restoring vanished species.  Limited numbers of greater prairie chickens are becoming reestablished in southern Iowa while families of wild trumpeter swans once again grace the skies above northern Iowa’s prairie wetlands.

On public lands, along quiet country roadsides, and in the forgotten corners of pioneer cemeteries, Iowa’s prairie remnants are currently in full bloom.  There will never be a better time for Iowans to catch a living glimpse of our colorful prairie heritage.

   Enjoy more outdoor tales online at Washburn’s Outdoor Journal at iawildlife.org/blog

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