Old and New: The Prairies of FW Kent Park Rick Hollis
The Group
Last Spring Connie Mutel [Iowa Native Plant Society and presently on the Johnson County Conservation Board] and I [presently on the Board of the Friends of Johnson County Conservation] set up a tour of Cedar River Crossing. It went off wonderfully. Almost as soon as it was over we set about thinking about what we could do next. Over the next couple months we planned todays tour in which we would visit some of the older and newer prairies at F.W. Kent Park.
On June 29, 2019, three people from the staff took us around. Brad Friedhof, Dave Wehde, and Jeremy Rieck. All three are very knowledgeable. Counting everyone there were around 30 people on the tour. We rode around in hayracks [with seats] and visited 3 or 4 prairies, including Valley View, Knight, a hidden sand prairie relic, Dave spoke to use as we rode. Once we were walking , all three stopped to point out things to us. I cannot begin to mention all the plants we saw, I think as you view the images [kindly provided by Lisa Green-Douglass, Dan Mays and myself]. I think as you scroll through the photos you will get a chance to see what our prairies when you get start going off trail.
Enjoy the pictures and join us some time.
The link above opens the gallery as a slider.
Thanks again to Dan Mays and Lisa Green-Douglass for the photos.