Iowa volunteers are invited to celebrate Earth Day by joining a prairie rescue event. Volunteers of all ages can help restore prairie at approximately 20 sites throughout Iowa. Tasks vary by site and range from cutting out invasive brush to hand-planting native seed. This is Iowa's 9th annual Prairie Rescue Event.

Not only is citizen involvement beneficial to the community, it is crucial for the land upon which the people live. More than 150 years ago, prairies covered 80 percent of the land in Iowa. Today only 0.1 percent of native Iowa prairies remain. In order to save what is left, humans must now manage these prairies by removing invasive species and performing other jobs once handled naturally by prairie wild fires and grazing bison or elk.

In the words of Aldo Leopold, "The first precaution of intelligent tinkering is to keep all the parts." The prairie rescue gives Iowans an opportunity to help save the remaining pieces of our prairies.

Children and adults, individuals and groups can get involved at one of many Prairie Rescue sites across the state. Each site is sponsored by public and private conservation groups, including the Iowa Prairie Network, Loess Hills Preservation Society, several Iowa County Conservation Boards, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.