On January 23, the Missouri House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee held a public hearing of HB 2412 Invasive Plant Bill, at which the chair and vice chair of the Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP), which MPF administers, were among those who provided testimony in favor of the bill.

HB 2412 aims to prohibit future sales and intentional distribution in Missouri of five invasive plants: burning bush (Euonymus alatus), Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana and its cultivars, including Bradford and Chanticleer), climbing euonymus (Euonymus fortunei; also known as wintercreeper); Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata). 

St. Louis Public Radio KWMU aired this story on the bill last week.

MPF and MoIP encourage you to become familiar with the bill, and, if you haven't already voiced support for committee approval of the bill, please contact the committee members and urge them to vote yes. A date has not yet been set for a committee executive session during which the committee will vote on the bill.

Email addresses for the committee members are here. Thank you for taking action!

Photo above of Japanese honeysuckle with ripe fruits, often seen in winter.

The Native Grassland Summit Planning Committee is accepting nominations for a Lifetime Achievement

Award to recognize an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the cause of prairies, prairie flora and fauna, and/or expanding native grassland plantings in Missouri. Nominations must be received by the Awards Committee by midnight, February 20, 2024. The award will be presented during the Missouri Native Grassland Summit evening dinner on April 9, 2024, at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City. Based on nomination submissions the Awards Committee may, at its discretion, present more than one award. Find the nomination form here.

2024 Missouri Native Grasslands Summit: April 9, 10, & 11

The Missouri Department of Conservation, CFM, and the Missouri Natural Resources Conservation Service are spearheading this statewide event in Jefferson City, designed for attendees to take a collective look into Missouri's native grassland ecosystems, from remnant prairies to working lands establishment and management, and collaborate with ideas and solutions to reverse the current trend in habitat loss. Register here.

January 31: Grow Native! Webinar: In Bloom: Successional Native Plantings for Continuous Blooms

It is arguably every gardener's dream to have plants in bloom from spring through fall in their native gardens.

Presenter Cydney Ross will share her knowledge and expertise on how to keep native wildflower blooms popping through the growing season.

Wednesday, January 31 at 4:00 p.m. This free, 30-minute presentation will be followed by a question/answer session. A link to a recording of the webinar will be emailed to registrants. Register here.

February 14: Missouri Prairie Foundation Webinar: Native Grassland Birds: Population Trends and Conservation with Dana Ripper and Ethan Duke

The Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) has been tracking populations of native grassland-obligate birds in Missouri since 2012.  

Study sites include MPF properties and many state-owned grasslands. 

In this webinar, MRBO Co-founders Dana Ripper and Ethan Duke will discuss the need for bird population monitoring, how exactly it’s done, and MRBO’s decade of data. They will also address how anyone can contribute to the conservation of declining species restricted to native grassland habitat.  

Wednesday, February 14 at 4:00 p.m. This free, 30-minute presentation will be followed by a question/answer session. A link to a recording of the webinar will be emailed to registrants. Register here.

Photo of Henslow's sparrow by Noppadol Paothong

February 15: Winter Ecology Hike with Jeff Cantrell

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

―John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Whether you are a warm-weather person or embrace winter, you will be sure to spend an agreeable afternoon during this winter ecology hike with MPF Technical Advisor Jeff Cantrell. The prairie may appear to be sleeping, but signs of life are not hard to spot.

Meet at MPF's Pleasant Run Creek Prairie in Vernon County (southwestern Missouri) for a crepuscular walk. If you wish, bring binoculars. Dress for the weather.

Thursday, February 15, 4:30 p.m.

Registration is required for this free event. To register, email Jeff at [email protected]. Limited to 12 participants.

Photo of frost on prairie grass over a mammal burrow by Bruce Schuette

February 18: Winter Birding with the Great Backyard Bird Count in Pettis County

Join MPF member and bird enthusiast Veronica Mecko Sunday, February 18 for an introduction to and participation in the citizen-science project the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) at three MPF prairies in Pettis County, south of Sedalia. Veronica will guide participants in how to identify birds commonly seen during winter on prairie landscapes and report findings to the GBBC. No birding experience is necessary.



This birding outing will include stops at three MPF prairies: Friendly, Drovers’ & Lordi Marker. Please dress for walking outdoors in cold weather and bring a water bottle and binoculars. Additional information on the meeting location and parking details will be sent to registrants prior to the outing.

Sunday, February 18, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Minimum participants: 5; Maximum participants: 15

Registration is required and accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Please email [email protected] to register. Deadline to register is Wednesday, February 14.

Photo of red-tailed hawk at MPF’s Carver Prairie by Hayley Howard

February 23: Grow Native! Southwest Illinois Workshop - Register by February 9

To register for the workshop, use the registration link below. For landscape architects who participate in LACES, this event counts as 3.25 PDH. 

To learn more about invasive plants and the work being done to control their spread in Missouri, read the Winter 2024 issue of the MoIP newsletter, State of Invasives, produced four times a year. In the current issue, you will find information on invasives that are ideally treated in winter, including Japanese honeysuckle. MoIP is administered by MPF.

Earlier this month Dr. Matthew Albrecht, conservation scientist and interim director of the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at Missouri Botanical Garden, was interviewed on KWMU St. Louis Public Radio's St. Louis on the Air discussing his work in saving endangered plant species from extinction. Albrecht also shared details of this important endeavor in an MPF webinar in December 2023.

Listen to the KWMU interview here and watch a recording of the MPF webinar here.

World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on February 2, aims to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and the planet. 

Nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s, and the planet is losing wetlands three times faster than forests. Yet, wetlands are critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies, and more.

Wetland communities in Missouri include not only marshes and swamps, but also bottomland prairies, upland prairie swales, and fens—providing habitat for many plants and animals that can live nowhere else. Learn more about the natural history of wetland prairies in this special wetland prairie issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal. Learn more about fens from this recorded MPF webinar.

Currently, a Missouri House of Representatives bill (HB 1691) and a Missouri Senate bill (SB 981) would, if passed, remove wetlands from protection as waters of the state, unless a connection to surface water can be determined. Learn more at the links above and at this Missouri Streams Teams United webpage.

MPF President David Young took the photo above of a prairie swale at MPF's Noah Brown's Prairie in Newton County.

Place Orders Now for Grow Native! 2024 Resource Guides

If you would like a free copy of the printed 2024 Grow Native! Resource Guide to suppliers of native plant products and services, please provide your postal mailing address by clicking the button below. The 16-page publication will be printed and shipped in February.

In the meantime, check out the Grow Native Resource Guide webpage to find native plant professionals in the lower Midwest.

If you are a business/organization requesting multiple copies for groups or events, email us at [email protected].



MPF’s Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow is a tract of 302 acres with 190 acres of an original, unplowed prairie in Barton County and the site of the 2024 Prairie BioBlitz scheduled for Saturday, June 1.

This highly diverse, upland dry-mesic chert prairie with a prairie swale provides important breeding and migration stopover habitat for various grassland birds. Winter visitors to this prairie at dawn or dusk might observe a short-eared owl on the hunt, flying low over the ground and hovering just before dropping on its prey. Among other grassland birds documented here are upland sandpipers, Henslow’s and grasshopper sparrows, Bell’s vireos, and northern bobwhites.

Wildflower enthusiasts will undoubtedly enjoy the sights of Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow during the growing seasons. A floristic survey of the site has recorded many special species including narrow-leaved milkweed (Asclepias stenophylla), prairie hyacinth (Camassia angusta), American bluehearts (Buchnera americana), and downy gentian (Gentiana puberulenta).

Learn more about and find directions to this prairie pearl here.

Photo above of MPF's Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow in early May with paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) blooming in the foreground and photo at right of American bluehearts (Buchnera americana) by Bruce Schuette; photo of upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) by Noppadol Paothong.