On February 21, the first brush piles were burned on Vista Prairie. Restoration began in the fall of 2023 by hiring a contractor funded by a grant from the Natural Resources Foundation matched by funds from your donations. At that time, brush piles were made and we finally had the right conditions to burn them and open up space on the expanding prairie. Here is the prairie...small, but rich in cool species like compass plant, cylindric blazing star, and jeweled shooting star. Note the deeply eroded scars created by rogue trails. We have installed signs on the top and bottom asking hikers to refrain from using these trails, and hopefully they will vegetate in over the coming years like similar trails have done on Lookout and Zoerb Prairies if hikers stay off of them. To visit Vista Prairie, access it from the top via Vista Trail and a short side trail to admire the prairie and take in the fantastic views!
Here is a photo of one of the brush piles being burned. Note the lack of snow around the burning pile- we were only able to burn because there was little grass and other fuel around these piles, but we expect that to change in the coming years as the sparse prairie begins to fill in this newly opened territory. Also note how steep the terrain is where these piles were burned- no wonder they call them "goat prairies"!
Al Hecht has led the way as site steward of this prairie and we hope that it continues to thrive with further restoration and maintenance. Maybe one day it will be as big as it was in 1938:
Further work in the next few years will include cutting and treating the inevitable resprouts and maybe enlarging it into the red area in this photo:
It will be fun to watch this and other restored prairies evolve over the coming years. And remember that the 8 individual prairies that have been worked on don't always follow conventional math- 1 + 1 + 1+ 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 does not necessarily equal 8. When grouped together into a collection of side-by-side prairies like these, their habitat value for plants and animals that call them home is often more valuable than their sum alone!
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