Grand River Grasslands Conservation Area Expands to Include 685 Additional Acres

ST. LOUIS — The Nature Conservancy recently acquired 685 acres for restoration and protection located within the Grand River Grasslands, a 70,000-acre prairie restoration landscape that straddles the Missouri-Iowa border. The Grand River Grasslands remains the only known opportunity to restore and conserve a functional tallgrass prairie system on deep loamy soils in the Central Tallgrass Ecoregion, a region spanning six Midwest states.

The Conservancy’s 3,680 acre Dunn Ranch anchors the 70,000 acre prairie restoration site. Within the 70,000 acres, The Conservancy works closely with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Iowa DNR and other partners and area landowners to restore a functional tallgrass prairie.

As part of the Grand River Grasslands, the Pennington tract is an essential area and linkage for a suite of area-dependent grassland bird species that are critical conservation targets, like the greater prairie chicken.

“This land is part of a critical corridor, which allows us to link the high quality conservation cores of Dunn Ranch/Pawnee Prairie in the south with Ringgold Wildlife area in the north, and eventually extend to the Kellerton Wildlife area. This tract will also contribute to necessary minimum area habitat requirements for grassland species,” said Susan Harris, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Missouri.

The Pennington tract features level to rolling hills with a crest that offers a panoramic view of most of the tract. This area is particularly well suited to prairie chicken “booming” or mating grounds. Historically, Pennington has been used for grazing operations and limited row crops.

“This tract also contains remnant native tallgrass prairie, another conservation priority target for Missouri,” added Harris.

The Pennington tract was purchased from Sharyn Pennington of Scottsdale, Arizona. The land originally belonged to her grandparents, Lola and Homer Donelson. Pennington grew up in Maryville, Missouri, but spent every weekend on the farm near Hatfield, Missouri.

“I’m very attached to the area and thrilled that The Nature Conservancy was interested in the land. In addition, my grandfather would be pleased that the land will continue to be preserved,” said Pennington.
The Pennington tract will be protected through a tailored conservation easement and then sold to a buyer interested in protecting the habitat using wildlife-compatible and rotational grazing practices and continuing conservation management techniques.

As part of prairie restoration, conservation management techniques, such as controlled burning, conservation grazing and tree removal, are being used on a large scale to stop the decline of habitat caused by invasive species, such as fescue and Osage orange trees and locust trees.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.

Together with our members and conservation partners, The Nature Conservancy in Missouri has protected more than 138,000 acres of critical natural lands since 1956.