Outdoor classrooms underway at Ames
High
Students at Ames High School have spent the past year preparing a
variety of sites on their school grounds for prairie plantings. Some of
the areas were planted this spring. As these “outdoor classrooms”
mature, they will provide educational opportunities for students, their
families and visitors to the Pohl Preserve, a native prairie remnant
located on campus.
The Living Roadway Trust Fund encourages the
use of outdoor classrooms and provides funding for their establishment.
Ames High School received an LRTF grant for their project in 2012.
|
|
|
|
Roadside Opportunities
The native grasses and wildflowers of Iowa's original prairie landscape are well-adapted
for use on roadsides. Hardy and beautiful, native roadsides offer aesthetic, economic,
environmental, and educational opportunities. Establishing prairie plants in roadside
rights-of-way:
- provides low-maintenance weed and erosion control
- reduces surface runoff and erosion by improving infiltration
- reduces snow drifting and winter glare
- ensures sustainability by increasing species diversity
|
- enhances wildlife habitat
- beautifies the landscape by providing
ever changing color and texture
throughout the year
- preserves our natural heritage
|
|
Support Iowa's Resource Enhancement
and Protection (REAP) program
 The state of Iowa
invests in the enhancement and protection of its natural and cultural resources
through REAP. The annual REAP appropriation is set by the legislature, and is supplemented
by sales of natural resource license plates. The Living Roadway Trust Fund is one
of many beneficiaries of the program. Iowa citizens are the biggest beneficiaries,
and have several opportunities to ensure REAP's success. Visit
REAP
to learn more, or click the license plate for information about purchasing natural
resource plates.
|
|
|
|
|
|