Neal Smith NWR to mark Earth Day with service project

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is planning a service project on Saturday, April 19, to celebrate Earth Day.

Attendees will join millions of Americans across the country in taking a day to focus on our environment.  Volunteers of all ages and experience are needed from 9 a.m. to noon to help collect, remove and pile up brush and logs from an oak savanna restoration site.

The morning will begin with a ranger-led welcome and instructions and will conclude with a free lunch provided by the Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.  Advance registration is required; sign up in advance by contacting Megan Wandag at (515) 994-3400 or Megan_Wandag@fws.gov.

Volunteers will meet at the Prairie Learning and Visitor Center at 9 a.m. to check in. Volunteers will then head to the oak savanna restoration site to help with stewardship activities.

This past winter, Refuge staff cut and removed trees in the oak savanna to open up the canopy in the habitat and to remove tree species that are not native to the habitat. The goal of this work was to set up conditions where an understory of fine grasses and flowers would grow and eventually allow fire to be carried through the ecosystem.

Oak savannas are fire-dependent ecosystems.  In the process of cutting and removing the trees, a lot of logs, sticks, branches and debris fell off and are now blanketing the floor of the oak savanna.

This accumulation could prevent future plant growth in the habitat, thus preventing fire to be carried. Therefore, volunteers are needed to pick up the debris and stack them it into burn piles.

All work will take place outdoors and participants should dress for the weather with long pants, a long sleeved shirt, hat and boots or sturdy shoes.  Please also bring leather work gloves and a reusable water bottle, if possible.