Prairie
Plant native wildflowers and grasses for pollinators and songbirds. Reinvigorate your prairie with prescribed fire, mowing, and invasive species management.
Forestry
Manage your woodlands for wildlife habitat, recreation, and profit. Restore an oak savanna, plant a windbreak, remove invasive species, or grow an edible landscape.
Water
Improve water quality and create habitat for turtles, frogs, dragonflies, and other wildlife. Restore a stream, construct a wetland, grow prairie strips, or plant cover crops.
Land Walks
Explore your land with an ecological interpreter. Define your vision, investigate new opportunities, and create a plan of action to meet your objectives.
Featured Stories
Ecological Significance
At Four Mounds, just north of Dubuque along the Mississippi River, a mature white oak has been witness to dramatic landscape changes. The 60-acre site pivoted from the Indigenous ecological stewardship to cultural and historic site tourism management. When a tornado or flood quickly tears through an Iowa woodland, what remains is almost unrecognizable from…
A Culture of Collaborative Conservation Management
Since 1987, the Four Mounds Foundation has stewarded 60-acres as a city park, bed and breakfast and event venue. Situated just north of Dubuque, Four Mounds attracts over 25,000 visitors annually and is Iowa’s last remaining gentleman’s farm. For decades, the woodland and prairie were viewed as peripheral to the historic architecture and manicured landscaping….
Protecting an Urban Woodland from Erosion with Ecology and Engineering
Jeanette LaGrange almost lost her garage to stormwater erosion before finding a long-term solution that improved wildlife habitat, water quality, and access to her backyard forest. When a large tree came crashing down last spring, Jeanette knew the erosion problem had gotten serious. Her house rests at the summit of a steep hillside overlooking a…