Interested in Iowa’s enduring landscapes? Join us on Thursday, August 13th, at 6:00PM to learn from Drake University Professor Dr. Thomas Rosburg as he guides a walking tour of Steele Prairie State Preserve with Cherokee County Conservation Board Director and Naturalist Laura Jones. As this event will be outdoors, attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately for weather.

T.H. Steele Prairie consists of 200 acres of native tallgrass prairie in two tracts, both of which are located northwest of Larrabee, Iowa. This undeveloped land is owned by the IDNR, which purchased the site with assistance from The Nature Conservancy in 1986. The land is managed by the Cherokee County Conservation Board. Hunting is permitted. Vegetation ranges from upland mesic prairie to wet prairie communities. Steele Prairie is classified as a biological and geological state preserve due to the diversity of tallgrass prairie plants and wildlife present, as well as the undisturbed nature of its rolling terrain, shaped by glaciers 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Iowa’s tallgrass prairie is considered by many as one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. Others feel that due to its current fragmented nature, the tallgrass prairie is truly extinct. A visit to Steele Prairie is a step into history!

A professor of ecology and botany at Drake University, Thomas Rosburg has served as president of the Iowa Academy of Science and as a member of the board of directors for the Iowa Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Winner of the Sierra Club Environmental Educator Award, the Prairie Advocate Award, the Governor’s Iowa Environmental Excellence Award, and many other distinctions, he is also the photographer for many University of Iowa Press publications, including Trees in Your Pocket (2012) and Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie (2010). He has published over 360 images in a wide range of books, magazines, calendars, and brochures, including National Geographic, Sierra, The Iowan, and the American Journal of Botany.

Dr. Thomas Rosburg