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Re: Value of prairie

Goeff, Robert and others on the list.

Here in Iowa prairie vegetation has a very important value in wildlife
management and as a soil covering on marginal or non-agricultural land
(roadsides, industrial parks, stream corridors, CRP, and DNR lands). 

We have been harvesting the seed on a virgin site for the past ten years and
believe that its economic value alone, no esthetics, or wildlife value taken
into account, is between $300 and $500 per acre per year.   With good
management it is a very consistent income.  Our reconstructed sites provide
about twice the net income of cash grain crops.  

A very important consideration of virgin prairies is that they are sources
of local ecotype seed and which is supremely adapted to local conditions. 
This makes it more desirable and of higher value.  

This is Iowa where agriculture is a big part of the economy, if a prairie
site is in an urban setting where there is high development value, then it
is a different story.  

Carl Kurtz
Central Iowa  
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