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Find a Prairie

 

It is estimated that less than 0.1% of Iowa's original prairie remains. A majority of Iowa was once covered with prairie. The few scattered remnants left are often overlooked in the vast sea of row crops and non-native species that have been planted everywhere. Some remnants exist in pastures that have never been plowed, some in road ditches, and some in pioneer cemeteries. Work is ongoing to identify, and hopefully protect, those few remnants that remain.

This site is offered to help people get in touch with their environment. In order for people to care about preserving what's left, they must first know what they have. If people are to care about the plight of the prairie, they must be able to see, and if not understand it, at least revel in its' beauty.

Remember to ask permission if a remnant is on private land. Prairie plants are wonderful to view in the wild. Removing them from their native habitat robs all of us of their beauty and our natural heritage. They are also hard to transplant, and most often die. Therefore, they are best left in their native state for all to enjoy, so please don't remove any plants from a remnant.

Do you own, or have located a prairie remnant? Would like to showcase that special place to the people of Iowa? Contact us and we will add it here.

Iowa Prairies by Agency or Organization

 

Not all of these areas are prairies, but all harbor some of Iowa's rarest plants and ecosystems.

Prairies Listed by Iowa County

This is a list of prairies that have a webpage.

Adair County

Adams County

Allamakee County

Appanoose County

Audubon County

Benton County:

Black Hawk County

Boone County

 

Bremer County

Buchanan County

Buena Vista County

Butler County

 

Calhoun County

Carroll County

Cass County

 

Cedar County

 

Cerro Gordo

 

Cherokee County

Chickasaw County

Clarke County

 

Clay County

Clayton County

Clinton County

Crawford County

 

Dallas County

Davis County

Decatur County

Delaware County

Des Moines County

Dickinson County

 

Dubuque County

 

Emmet County

Fayette County

Floyd County

Franklin County

Fremont County

Greene County

 

Grundy County

 

Guthrie County

 

Hamilton County

Hancock County

Hardin County

Harrison County

Henry County

Howard County

 

Humboldt County

Ida County

Iowa County

Jackson County

Jasper County

Jefferson County

Johnson County

Jones County

Keokuk County

 

Kossuth County

Lee County

Linn County

Louisa County

Lucas County

Lyon County

Madison County

Mahaska County

Marion County

Marshall County

Mills County

Mitchell County

Monona County

 

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Muscatine County

O'Brien County

 

Osceola County

Page County

 

Palo Alto County

Plymouth County

 

Pocahontas County

 

Polk County

Pottawatamie County

Poweshiek County

Ringgold County

Sac County

Scott County

Shelby County

Sioux County

 

Story County

 

Tama County

Taylor County

Union County

Van Buren County

Wapello County

Warren County

 

Washington County

Wayne County


Webster County

Winnebago County

Winnshiek County

 

Woodbury County

Worth County

Wright County

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