The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s mission is to protect and restore prairie and other native grassland communities through acquisition, management, education and research.  Following our Strategic Plan over the next five years, MPF will:
Educate all Missourians about our prairie heritage through a comprehensive communications strategy.
MPF publishes the Missouri Prairie Journal to provide the best possible information about prairie protection and restoration in the Midwest.
  • Our website provides frequent updates between Journal issues, and we are developing an interactive web log, or blog.
  • MPF has developed a brief visual presentation, with music and narration, for use at events in the St. Louis region. Contact Us for a copy.  Similar presentations will be developed for other areas.
  • MPF will develop materials for use in schools or by scouts and other youth groups.
  • We hold four board meetings per year, typically with a public event the night before or after each meeting. Board meetings are often held on native prairies or at prairie restoration sites, such as the one at Shaw Nature Reserve.
  • MPF hosts Volunteer Work Days on its properties.
  • MPF provides information at the Prairie Jubilee at Prairie State Park, Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve and various other public events.
Demonstrate the best land protection, management and restoration strategies to encourage private landowners, other non-profit organizations and government agencies to improve grassland health and biodiversity
Large prairie fires and bison grazing shaped the tallgrass landscape before European settlement. MPF uses prescribed fires and cattle grazing to mimic the former natural processes. Late summer or fall burns encourage forb (broadleaf plants and wildflowers) regrowth, and a well-designed grazing regime provides a variety of grassland structure so that habitat is available for all the lifecycle needs of ground nesting birds, such as the state endangered Greater-prairie chicken.
  • Over the years MPF has used a strategic yet opportunistic acquisition strategy to protect more than 4,000 acres of native prairie or restorable grassland.
  • A few properties have been acquired and sold to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) for permanent management and protection.
  • MPF and MDC have a cooperative management agreement that covers five of MPF's properties and another agreement for the restoration of Prairie Fork.
  • At Golden Prairie, MPF has developed a cooperative arrangement with a neighboring landowner to increase the acreage under management there to 1,100.
  • By improving boundary fences, removing all cross fencing and ensuring a water source, MPF plans to implement patch-burn grazing at several sites.
  • Each summer, MPF leads a Summer Work Crew that aggressively treats the invasive plant sericea lespedeza, removes brush and conducts prescribed fires.
  • Through an agreement between MPF and MDC's Private Lands Division, MPF has improved hundreds of acres of private prairie property in key Focus Areas.
  • The Missouri Prairie Journal provides MPF members with practical restoration advice.
Motivate the Grasslands Coalition and other conservation partners to increase the pace of prairie protection
  • MPF founded the Grasslands Coalition in 1998.
  • As active members of the Federal Farm Program State Technical Committee, MPF ensures that program rules benefit grasslands and wildlife.
  • For the past four years, MPF has participated in the "National Fly-In Day" where grassroots groups from all over the country come to Washington in support of the State Wildlife Grants program, which is used to protect prairie and other rare natural resources in Missouri.
  • MPF is an important partner in the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative Council, which brings together many partners to help achieve "all bird conservation."