"In our best dream come true, we can't ask for a better situation," said Inger Lamb of Polk City, president of the Iowa Prairie Network.
Madison Township trustees announced in November their intention to expand Polk City Cemetery. The project would have encroached on three acres of native plants.
"There are not very many areas like it in the whole state," Polk County Conservation Board Director Ben Van Gundy said. "It's how Iowa used to look everywhere."
Prairie grass covered the state before settlers came to Iowa. Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of virgin prairie grass is left in the state, said John Pearson, plant ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources.
Lamb's group headed a campaign to preserve the cemetery's prairie-grass area. She and other residents were upset that the grass had been mowed and that the land might be used for grave sites.
Van Gundy said he met with Madison Township trustee Alvin Lund on Monday, and they decided the board will coordinate efforts to preserve the grassland. Lund declined to comment Tuesday.
Lamb said her organization will help clean and restore the prairie.
Maintaining the land will require little effort, Van Gundy said. It needs to be burned periodically to rid it of woody plants, which is healthy for the prairie.