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DMACC Offers Prairie and Savanna Restoration Class
Posted 3/31/08

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 working in on a partnership with the Polk County Conservation Board to offer, once again, this national award winning class.  The Prairie and Savanna Restoration class, also known as ENV 160–Restoring Native Plant Communities, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning May 29 and ending on July 1. This is part of the five week summer session. The “classroom” will be natural areas within the Polk County Conservation park system. Classes will most likely be staged from Jester Park and move throughout the conservation park system.

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 Ankeny Campus Biology Instructor Danielle Wirth. In 2005, this class received a first place in the Department of Interior’s, Take Pride in America® National Award in the Post-secondary school division for restoring oak savanna in central Iowa.

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.

Since 2002, participants have included professional park management staff, freshman and sophomore students intending to advance to four year programs in resource management, interested landowners, retired citizens interested in life long learning, as well as students who prefer experiential learning to a classroom.

For more information, contact Danielle Wirth at (515) 979-8360 or dmwirth@dmacc.edu.

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