The prison, located in Appleton, Minn., began growing native prairie plants from seeds provided by the Refuge in its greenhouse and outdoor garden area within the prison two years ago. Refuge staff have worked closely with the prison staff and inmates to establish plots containing a variety of native prairie plants, where quantities of seed can be harvested by the inmates on an annual basis. The seeds are then provided to the Refuge for incorporation into seeding mixtures that are being planted within native prairie restoration sites.

Northern tallgrass prairie is one of the rarest and most fragmented ecosystems in America. The orginal northern tallgrass prairie encompassed millions acres. However, almost all of these orginal prairie lands have been lost due their conversion for agricultural and other land use practices. Less than one-tenth of the original northern tallgrass prairie remains in Minnesota and Iowa. The remaining northern tallgrass prairie lands provide extremely valuable habitats for wildlife resources. For example, over 40 percent Minnesota's 287 state-listed rare plant and animal species are endemic to northern tallgrass praiire habitats. Ten federally listed species are presently known to occur within the remaining northern tallgrass prairie habitats of Minnesota and Iowa. The remaining tallgrass prairie habitats are threatened by lack of fire, intensive grazing regimes, gravel mining, conversion to agricultural row crops, and invasion of exotic plant species.

Big Stone NWR, which is located proximal to the South Dakota border in west-central Minnesota, is situated in the heart of the original northern tallgrass prairie area of the upper Midwest. When this approximately 12,000 acre Refuge was acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1975, it contained approximately 4,300 acres of agriculture and degraded pasture lands. All of these lands originally consisted of northern tallgrass prairie habitats. During the past 23 years since the Refuge was established, Refuge staff have worked diligently to restore native prairie habitats within these areas. The Refuge has been successful in restoring about 65% of these former prairie areas to native plant communities consisting of four to eight different grass species. Restoration of these areas has been highly beneficial for a myriad of wildlife resources. However, the diversity of the native plant community structure in these areas is deficient. Remnant native prairies normally consist of at least 30 plant species and sometimes diversity levels reach over 100 species.

Refuge staff have recognized for along time the deficient level of species diversity being planted within prairie restoration sites located on the Refuge. However, it has never been possible for them to obtain the amount or variety of different seeds that are necessary to restore vegetative diversity resembling a native prairie. Mechanical harvest of seeds from existing native prairies has not been practical due to a their lack in abundance and vegetative diversity in the area, and the sites they occupy (mostly steep hillsides and areas documented by large rocks). The purchase of seeds for use in restoration sites has been cost prohibitive. The cost of native wildflower seed normally averages about $200.00 per pound. Therefore, the Big Stone NWR and CCA-PCF came together to form a partnership that helps contain these costs by growing the plants for seed inside the prison fence. This program allows the inmates in the Horticulture Class to gain knowledge about native prairie plants and practice conservation techniques by growing, caring for, and harvesting seeds for planting on the Refuge. This gives the Refuge an excellent cost effective source of seed and provides the inmates a chance to something back to society while learning valuable skills as part of their rehabilitation.

The inmates have exhibited outstanding initiative and interest towards their work on this project. They are readily acquiring the knowledge and skills that are necessary to grow native prairie plants and collect seeds from them. The garden plot that they have established in the prison yard contains approximately 17 different species of native prairie plants and plans are currently being made to expand and increase the diversity of this area. The partners are hoping that in the coming years, seed will be able to be obtained from up to 30 different native prairie plants for introduction into Refuge restoration sites.

The partners are looking forward to working together for many years to incrementally improve the diversity of native prairie habitats on an annual basis at Big Stone NWR. The enhancement of the native prairie habitats will be highly beneficial for native plant and animal populations, some of which are very rare. The project will also substantially improve wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities available for the visiting public at the Refuge. Overall, the partnership that has been established will provide for the establishment of diverse native prairies on the Refuge, which will enhance conservation efforts to preserve one of America's most critically endangered ecosystems, northern tallgrass prairie.