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Byway Buzz

Celebrating 100 Years of Reed/Niland Corner on the IA Lincoln Highway

by Lincoln Highway National Heritage Byway CoordinatorJeanie Hau

In 1923, a soft-spoken, kind-hearted, generous man, Charlie Reed needed to supplement his small farming income to support the farm and his mother, whom he cared for until she passed away at 95. He saw an opportunity where the Lincoln and the Jefferson Highways meet, which happened to be at the SE corner of his property. Charlie started selling gas to travelers and set up a small gas station on his property. The corner or, “the operations on the triangle,” as Des Moines Tribune Writer Herb Owens called it, is now known as the Reed-Niland Corner.

Conservation Connections

North American Prairie Conference Draws A Group of Over 600 Scholars, Naturalists, Conservation Professionals & Enthusiasts

Hosted by Prairie Rivers of Iowa and the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Conference Chair Thomas Rosburg, Ph.D. - Professor of Botany; Curator, Drake University Herbarium

Watch the video for the highlights!

(6 min) Stay till the end for the awards!

The conference is now over but here are some great locations for viewing self-guided field trips that were highlighted during the conference you can take anytime!

I’m a goldenrod gall fly (formally, Eurosta solidaginis). Have you ever seen flower stems with an odd, ball-shaped growth? These round growths are called galls, and if you’ve seen one on goldenrod, I may have been the architect that created it.

Tallgrass Prairie, A Bird’s Eye View

by Water Quality Specialist Dan Haug

Hi, I’m an eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna). I was the most common bird in Iowa for a century after the prairie sod was broken, making a good living in hayfields and hedgerows. Things didn’t get really bad for me until the second half of the twentieth century when most Iowa farms dropped alfalfa, hay, and small grains in favor of corn and soybean production at ever larger scales. That conversion is also the root of the nitrate problems in Iowa’s rivers.

Tallgrass Prairie, A Butterfly’s View

by Water Quality Specialist Dan Haug

The tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres, and at the 2023 North American Prairie Conference, I was reminded of that continental scale. The following are a few insights I picked up from the conference - from a butterfly’s perspective.

The white-lined sphinx moth can play tricks on the eyes! These thick and fuzzy moths work their wings into a blur to stay aloft, making them look like hummingbirds! They are mostly nocturnal but can be seen during the day visiting bright flowers. Their caterpillars use a variety of host plants, including evening primrose, four o'clock, and even apple trees. There are many other sphinx moths in Iowa, and with National Moth Week approaching, now is the perfect time to appreciate these beauties and keep these flying gems nearby!

How to Start Caring About Pollinators: A Guide for Iowans

by Pollinator Specialist Jessica Butters

Now that the City of Ames has its own Pollinator Plan, we know how the city feels about Iowa’s native pollinators. But what about individual Iowans? We asked 3 central Iowans about how they 1) came to appreciate pollinators and wildlife, 2) what catalyzed their appreciation into action, and 3) how they stay energized and hopeful for the future of pollinators and our natural environment as a whole.

States have oversight of federal dredge & fill permits, and some states have passed laws protecting wetlands where federal agencies don’t have jurisdiction.

Good water quality at Hickory Grove Lake but the streams in Story County all have E. coli exceeding the recreation standard.

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 mkellner@prrcd.org