Interested in Iowa’s enduring landscapes? Join us at Cayler Prairie and Preserve on Saturday, June 27th at 6:00PM to learn from Drake University Professor Dr. Thomas Rosburg as he guides a walking tour of Cayler Prairie. As this event will be outdoors, attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately for weather.

Cayler Prairie is a 160-acre native prairie on the western edge of the Des Moines Lobe landform region. It is located three miles west of West Okoboji Lake in Dickinson County. In 1944, botanist Ada Hayden visited the prairie, which was then being used as a hayfield and pasture, and recommended that it be preserved. In 1958, the Iowa Conservation Commission purchased the property from the Cayler family, who had owned the tract since settlement of the region in the 1860s. Cayler Prairie was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1966 and was dedicated as a state preserve in 1971. An additional 385 acres of former pasture and cropland to the north and east were purchased by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in 1998.

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