Two Augustana College alums are working together to help protect the local environment and restore an endangered habitat in Iowa. Hillary (Vavra) Blevins ('00) from Girl Scouts of the Mississippi Valley and Kraig McPeek ('01) from the Rock Island Field Office, are collaborating in the project.  The goal of the project is to ensure the health and growth of a restored prairie habitat at Girl Scouts of the Mississippi Valley’s Camp Conestoga (near New Liberty, Iowa) and to develop a prairie education curriculum.

The curriculum will be delivered to nearly 1,000 girls, ages five to17, and to adults attending Girl Scout events and rtheir esident camp in the summer 2006. It will also be made available to Girl Scout troops or groups participating in year-round camping.

Through hands-on environmental education activities and service projects, girls will become leaders and stewards of conservation and natural resource issues. Through this partnership, girls will network with agency staff to explore careers in science, environmental science, and the outdoors, aalso learning to understand the importance of safeguarding native habitats.

Tall grass prairie once covered most of the Midwest, including almost all of Iowa and Illinois. As the native tall grass prairie was plowed by settlers for farmland, throughout the 1800's and 1900's, many native species of vegetation and wildlife vanished from the landscape. Nearly 99.9% of the historic prairie habitat has been destroyed in Iowa, making it the most endangered habitat in Iowa. Similar declines are known to exist throughout the Midwest.

Restoration of tall grass prairie offers an unparalleled opportunity to establish environmental education programs to impart to the public an increased awareness and knowledge of the prairie landscape, the interaction between humans and natural systems, and the value of conserving, enhancing, and restoring wildlife and wildland resources.

Instilling the importance of this habitat in the minds of American children may prove the best defense against losing the remaining prairie habitat. Ultimately, the involvement of youth in educational opportunities may increase prairie acreage in Iowa and the Midwest.

For more information, please contact Hillary Blevins at hillaryb@gsmv.org or (309) 788-0833 x 329 or Kraig McPeek at Kraig_McPeek@fws.gov or (309) 793-5800 x 210.