Event information
Date
Time
Central time
Location
Olmsted County Parks
5731 County Rd. 105 NW
Byron,
MN
55920
Minnesota Master Naturalist: Prairies and Potholes
Olmsted Parks
Spring is a great time to study nature in Minnesota, and Olmsted parks have a range of lands, plant communities and waters that we will visit during this class. Besides a range of woodlands and restored prairies, Oxbow County Park has an excellent zoo with many of the animals of our area, so we will not only see them but learn about their lives and care.
The extensive natural and planted prairies and woods at Chester Woods County Park will allow us to see the effects of management and restoration. Two required field trips will take us to other special areas to learn about the amazing and wide-ranging habitats in Southeast Minnesota.
All course participants will contribute to a capstone service project with a small group.
This class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m., with all-day field trips on Saturdays, April 27 and May 11.
Audience
Potential and current Master Naturalist volunteers.
Cost
$295. Includes manuals and supplies.
If you would like to receive a scholarship do not register now. Instead, complete this scholarship form and wait to be contacted before enrolling.
Registration
Cancelation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $20 processing fee. Cancelation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus $50.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this course material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to Julie Larson, larso143@umn.edu, at least two weeks in advance of the course start date.
About the Prairies and Potholes course
The official name for the ecological province called the Prairies and Potholes by the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program is the Prairie Parkland Province. This biome was historically composed mainly of tallgrass prairie. Today it is used for agricultural purposes. The glaciers deposited between 100 and 600 feet of drift over the entire region. The Prairies and Potholes biome covers just over 16 million acres on the western edge of the state.
The biome is a hot and dry place, where evapotranspiration is annually higher than precipitation. In the northern portions of the biome, glacial kettles have filled with water and form the "potholes" that dot the landscape. These bodies of water are important for migratory waterfowl, and waterfowl production. The Minnesota River now flows through the old channel carved by Glacial River Warren, an outlet for Glacial Lake Agassiz.
Participants must complete the full 40 hours of training to become a certified Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer.
Each participant must complete a group capstone project. Participants will choose a capstone that they can complete before finishing the course.