photo by: Parks and Recreation Department screenshot

Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department staff unveiled this management plan for the native prairie remnant near Prairie Park Nature Center Monday, July 10, 2023.

The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department has unveiled its management plan for the damaged prairie remnant behind Prairie Park Nature Center through the rest of this year.

At Monday’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, board members learned more about the plan, which calls for a number of actions this summer — such as designing and installing educational signs about the prairie and removing invasive species — ahead of further restoration efforts later this year.

“After this fall and this winter, then we’ll assess what came back next spring,” said Mark Hecker, one of the Parks and Recreation department’s three assistant directors. “Then we know if we have to put more plant materials in. Native Lands (Restoration Collaborative) has talked about we can go out and collect seeds from other remnant prairies and bring them back, but (when) we actually know what damage was done we may not need to pay for that and it may come back by itself.”

As the Journal-World has reported, city employees erroneously sprayed herbicide on the 5-acre prairie remnant about two months ago. In June, Parks and Rec staff notified the board that the department was working with ecological experts to properly assess the damage and felt encouraged by their early diagnosis.

Those experts include the Kansas Biological Survey and ecologist Courtney Masterson of the Native Lands Restoration Collaborative, which both are set to play a role in the plan. Staff with the Kansas Biological Survey, for example, will continue to monitor plant species and health on the prairie; it launched a website to post updates about that work last month. And Native Lands will lead a volunteer effort to handcut sumac — considered an invasive plant species capable of overtaking a prairie in some circles — and treat the stumps to prevent regrowth, plus continue with its ongoing prairie restoration project at Prairie Park.

Native Lands has already scheduled four work days for that sumac removal, the first of which is taking place Tuesday, July 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The others are set to take place throughout August. Native Lands confirmed on a social media event page that no experience is needed for folks who are interested in lending a hand, and its team will provide education, tools and gloves.

“It’s going to be a huge commitment on their part,” Hecker said. “We’re actually paying them to run that for us … The sumac removal is going to be big, because if you go over there there’s a lot of sumac everywhere.”

Hecker said Parks and Rec staff would be getting more involved outside of the existing prairie remnant. North of the nature center, they’ll be working to remove invasive species like honeysuckle and dogwood, ensuring that the prairie itself can be clearly seen from the building. Similar work will be taking place to the south, he said, to remove additional species encroaching on the prairie. Some of that removal will wait until the fall or winter, while other spots will be addressed this summer.

Staff at the nature center has also been directed to erect signs that help visitors understand that they’re viewing a prairie remnant.

As for how all this work’s being funded, Hecker said the money’s coming from a variety of sources. Haskell Indian Nations University is partnering with the Parks and Recreation department on some portions of the management plan, for example, and is contributing some USDA funding. Hecker said the department is also exploring some corporate sponsorships and other grant opportunities.

Hecker said Haskell seemed interested in contributing some funding for multiple years, but it’s hard to tell what the department will need to pay for beyond when it assesses the prairie’s health next spring.

“I think that (partnership) has potential,” Hecker said. “A little bit of it is what are we going to need? If we’re going to need seed collection, that’s a big volunteer effort again. If we’re going to ask the volunteer groups for help with removing invasive species, huge volunteer dollars that it takes to coordinate all that. So we’re not really paying for the staff, we’re paying for the coordination efforts and the expertise.”