Brian Holck, Ruthton, sets fire to the strip of Blue Mounds prairie along County Road 8 north of Luverne Thursday, Aug. 23. The burn is one step in a long process of restoring that portion of the state park to its original native prairie. It was burned this spring and then sprayed with Roundup and 2, 4-D.
According to Parks Prairie Specialist David Breyfogle, that piece of the park had been planted with prairie grass seed nearly 20 years ago, but the seed came from Nebraska. Breyfogle said the grass was genetically different than native grasses on the Blue Mounds, so Minnesota's growing season prohibited reproduction. The grasses were often still flowering during the first frost.
After Thursday's burn, whatever grows this summer will be sprayed again. This fall, the ground will be tilled and planted with prairie grass seed harvested from the Blue Mounds State Park. Over the next few years, the new growth will be mowed until the prairie grasses are well established. "Probably three years from now it will start looking like a prairie again," Breyfogle said. An area north of the cliff line is in its second year of the same process.
Photo by Lori Ehde