CERA (Conard Environmental Research Area) & Center for Prairie Studies Contact: Larissa Mottl, Manager, office: 269-4717, cell phone: 990-3109, mottll@grinnell.edu

Specific tasks/projects for volunteers may include assisting with environmental education at CERA for local elementary schools, assisting with habitat restoration including seed collection, processing, and propagation, exotic species control, prescribed burning (requires some training), photographing class and outreach activities at CERA, website design, and updating a publication on trees of Grinnell.

The Tallgrass Prairie Audubon Society
Contact: Russ Tabbert, 641-236-7309, rtabbert@iowatelecom.net

Mission: The Tallgrass Prairie Audubon Society is an affiliate of the National Audubon Society. Our members are in the east central Iowa counties of Poweshiek, Jasper, Marshall, and Tama Counties. The majority of our active members are from the Grinnell area. The mission of Audubon is "to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity." Our chapter holds nature walks at various natural areas, hosts events at our preserves, and sponsors public programs. We put out a bimonthly newsletter.

Volunteers: The Sugar Creek Audubon Nature Sanctuary is five miles west of Grinnell just off Highway 6. It is a 49-acre woodland with several small prairie remnants and a small prairie reconstruction. The property is a former Camp Fire Girls camp. One ongoing task that a volunteer might be interested in is cutting small shrubs using hand tools (loppers and pruning saws). We are working on an invasive alien shrub in the woods called "buckthorn." This also involves squirting a chemical on the cut stem to prevent resprouting. There are also, from time to time, other physical labor tasks that we need to or want to do.

The Blue Point Woods Audubon Nature Sanctuary, located 10 miles southeast of Grinnell welcomes more academic activities, for example, biological research projects. Or someone might be interested in delving into the human history of one of the preserves. Species inventories would also be very useful.

Poweshiek County Conservation Board
Mark Vavroch, Director
641-623-3191
powcocon@netins.net

Rock Creek State Park
Roger Thompson, Park Ranger
641-236-3722
rockcreek@dnr.state.ia.us