DMACC Offers Prairie and Savanna Restoration Class
Posted 08/16/07

Ready for a class where you will learn as much from hands-on experiences as from a textbook? Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) is again offering this national award winning class this fall semester. The Prairie and Savanna Restoration class, also known as ENV 160—Restoring Native Plant Communities, will be held every Thursday afternoon from 12:20 to 4:20 p.m. starting Aug. 30 at the Saylorville Lake Oak Woods Learning Center in Johnston.
Students interested in natural resource management and biology will find this three credit class to be of great interest.
The class will look at:

• Native and invasive wildflower and tree identification
• How to create butterfly and rain gardens
• Urban water management
• Wildlife habitat improvement
• Wetland restoration
  
• Endangered species habitat improvement
• Grassland bird habitat enhancement
• Prescribed fire training with the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Forestry Bureau

The class is taught by Urban Campus Biology Instructor Danielle Wirth. Two years ago, this same class received the 2005 Take Pride in America® National Award in the Post-secondary school division for restoring the oak savanna at Saylorville.

Wirth said at the end of the class, students will be armed with a detailed plan to accomplish restoration work and help to identify local partners in this work. She said civil engineers might consider taking this class to fulfill CEU requirements for professional certification.
For more information, contact Danielle Wirth at 965-6010 or dmwirth@dmacc.edu.

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