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Prairie Appreciation Day is held annually at Thurston County’s Glacial Heritage Preserve about 12 miles south of Olympia, WA. It consists of an approximately four mile self-guided trail around the perimeter of the preserve and an “Activity Trail” comprising a series of stations that discuss various aspects of prairie/oak ecology and what is being done to restore them.

Due to an aging volunteer pool and natural movement of people, we are in need of people who are knowledgeable about various aspects of the ecology and/or restoration of the prairie/oak ecosystem and interested in creating a station to discuss those aspects. Since this is very much a family event, we also try to develop some kind of activity to pull in the children at each station.

We have stations covering: Geology, Butterflies, Pollinators, Plant Identification, Prairie Restoration, Ethnoecology, Gardening with native plants, Birds, Oak Galls, and Bats. We also have stations devoted to some of the partners involved in prairie restoration.

The areas where I think we need help in developing new/improved stations are: Geology (particularly the Mima mounds), Garry Oaks, Mammals, Reptiles/amphibians, insects other than pollinators, and mosses/lichens. I’m sure there are other areas I’ve neglected here that would be of interest.

If you have an interest in joining us, please send me an email at: prairieappreciationday@gmail.com.