Volume 3, Issue 1

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Text Box: vegetative component of a prairie, wet or dry. Many animals concentrate their foraging on sedges at certain times during the year. You can sometimes find green sprigs of sedge under a covering of snow. So many species and varieties of sedge exist that they are often only identified to the family level. It is here that they are relatively easy to identify . If you feel the stem and it is triangular in shape, the chances are it’s a sedge: “sedges have edges.” No matter your focus in conservation, the role of cool seasons should not be ignored. Get to know your native cool season plants and their uses. You will have more knowledge to support the use of native plants in all scenarios.

Abbie Meyers position has recently been filled by a new member of the Mills and Pottawattamie county Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Dustin Farnsworth is the new Private Lands Conservationist for Mills and West Pottawattamie counties. Dustin is an Iowa native and an Iowa State University Alumnus. He has experience with multiple agencies throughout the Midwest, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Missouri Department of Conservation. He recently conducted vegetation research for an Iowa State University study involving patch burn grazing in Southern Iowa. Dustin has wildland fire experience as an intitial attack engine crew member with the Fish and Wildlife Service and prescribed fire experience with multiple agencies. While Dustin’s focus has been tallgrass prairie restoration and reconstruction, he has also dealt with quail management in South Central Missouri. Anyone interested in restoring their property to its native state or just wanting to talk prairies can contact Dustin at the Mills County NRCS office: 1-712-624-8606 ext. 305.

Meet the new Private Lands Conservationist

Sedge

Carex spp.

Wild Rye

Elymus spp.

Panic Grass

Dicanthelium spp.