GC1TF52 Searles Prairie (Traditional Cache) in Arkansas, United States created by Penguin

This cache has been archived.

Penguin_ar: Went to do maintenance on this cache today, and it is missing. Due to ongoing issues with this location, I am forced to archieve this geocache.

GC1TF52 ▼

A cache by Penguin_ar Message this owner

Hidden : 6/8/2009

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is placed on the last natural prairie land in Rogers. The largely unknown 10 acres of Searles Prairie Natural Area in Rogers is home to 192 different native plants and represents the last bit of natural tallgrass prairie left in the Springfield Plateau.

This cache is a small tupperware container with a blue lid. It hold the log and pen as well as small swag (the swag starting off includes pathtags, silly putty, dice, baseball cards and pins), and has space for travellers. ***** Congrats to THE V TRIBE on FTF! ***** I got the inspiration for this cache when reading our local newspaper, the Daily Record, this morning. Here is the article: ************************************************************* At one time, a 75,000-acre tallgrass prairie covered much of the Springfield Plateau area of the Ozark Mountains. Now, there's only 10 acres left. Responsibility for protecting it rests with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the daughter of a woman who knew the importance of that little patch of prairie on the northwest corner of Hudson and Dixieland roads. In 1988, Anna Mae Searles donated a conservation easement to the people of Arkansas. Her daughter, Mary Ann Hoppe, still lives next door to the prairie named for her mother. If land is plowed even once, non-native plants appear, Hoppe said. Although there are other prairies in the state, Searles Prairie is the only piece left from the Springfield Plateau. As natural lands go, Searles Prairie is very small, explained Doug Fletcher, chief of stewardship of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. He oversees 65 natural areas in the state, including caves that are home to the Ozark blind cavefish. While Searles Prairie is small, it's still maintained by the state on a regular basis. Even though, he admits, it's sometimes difficult to see that maintenance. "We're a natural resource preservation agency, not a state park," Fletcher said. "In a natural environment, grass doesn't look like a golf course." He often fields calls from area residents who want to know why the area at Hudson and Dixieland roads hasn't been mowed, he said. Someone is at the area 15 to 20 times a year, Fletcher said. Either a state employee or a volunteer stops by to pick up trash and check on plants. The fence around the prairie has to be repaired on a regular basis because of damage from car accidents. One thing that people will notice is a prescribed fire, Fletcher said. That's how non-native plants are discouraged from encroaching on the prairie. Searles Prairie was burned in 2002, 2004 and February this year, Fletcher said. A plan to have the local fire department conduct a prescribed burn in 2006 never happened, but the five years between burns isn't too much time, he said. Before prescribed burns, fires came along during droughts, not on a regular schedule. There could easily be five years between fires. Studies of longterm data shows fires probably happened twice in six years, he said. "Burning is not something you can put on a calendar," Fletcher explained. The conditions, including the wind direction, have to be right for a proscribed burn. In spite of the protection provided by the state, the prairie is changing, Fletcher said. Because of its location at the intersection of two busy roads, it's impossible to maintain natural water flow and drainage. But there are still 192 different native plants on the 10 acres. Hoppe has seen some changes over the years. At one time, there was abundant milkweed on the prairie, but it's gone now and so are the Monarch butterflies that depend on milkweed. Hoppe was following in her mother's footsteps when she stopped a telephone company work crew from burying a fiber optic cable on the property, she said. A sewer line inspired Searles to donate the conservation easement in 1988. She and her late husband had already vowed to keep the land natural when representatives of the Rogers Water Department tried to buy the rights to install a sewer line. She won that fight by enlisting friends who were well known conservationists, including Neil Compton, Hoppe remembered. Before she died in 2005, it was Searles, a former teacher, who organized school field trips and kept local botanists interested in the area, Fletcher said. Although he wants to see people enjoy the area, they have to remember that it's a sensitive area. The area is open to the public, but not very well used, Hoppe said.