PROGRAM: Jason Taylor on Bur Oak Land Trust: Protecting Iowa's Most Vulnerable Species
Rtn. David Bright introduced speaker Jason Taylor, Executive Director at Bur Oak Land Trust Iowa City. Bur Oak Land Trust is a non-profit in Iowa City founded in 1978. There are six land trusts in Iowa that protect over 176,000 acres, with Bur Oak currently protecting over 800 acres. Their focus is on perservation, habitat management, community involvement, education. There are several partnerships they are involved with, one being with the AmeriCorps. The focus is on habitat restoration and conservation education with the idea of sharing the outdoor world with the community in a way they feel comfortable exploring.
Bur Oak Land Trust main focus is on managing the land that they are in charge of, in Iowa, that consist of Prairie and Oak-History Savanna Restoration and Management. Their goal is to enhance vegetation, identify and catalog native and non-native species, manage invasive species, manage for the most vulnerable species and restore the fire regime.
Jason explained that Land trusts are important because plant species are going extinct 500x faster than what they expected. A UN report said that over 1 million specics are threatened with extinction. Another report said that there has been a net loss of 3 million birds in North America since 1970. This is happening because of habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. In Iowa, we currently have 500 species that are listed as endangered, threatened and special concern.
If the land is managed properly, things will grow back. For example, Iowa has 36 orchid species, with Bur Oak Land Trust’s work, 86 different orchid specimens came up last year and even more this year. Another project that they worked on was the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Habitat Restoration. There was a 87% population decline in 20 years and only present in 0.1% of historic range. Bur Oak Land Trust were able to locate this bee on five of their properties and were able to have the properties listed as zones for the bees.
If you want to explore some properties, Jason recommended that you Turkey Creek Preserve is a great property to start with, you can find the trail map at
www.buroaklandtrust.org. Also, during the pandemic they hosting 1:1 tour of the properties, please reach out to Bur Oak Land Trust for more information.
Jason gave a great suggestion that you plant Bergamot and Joe Pye Weed in your yard to help with Pollinators, such as butterflies and bees. They grow really well and don't require much maintenance.
The meeting ended at 12:58 PM as President Barb led the assembly in reciting The Four Way Test.
MEETING:
Visiting Rotarians included: None today
Guest of Rotarians: Deb Bell and Molly Daum (guest of Rtn. Ryan Bell); Bill Precil (guest of Rtn. Barb Prucil)
Program: Devin van Holsteijn; Attendance: Devin van Holsteijn
Please forward any newsworthy items and/or photos to Jon Brown or Janice Baldes to include in the weekly slide decks emailed to members prior to each meeting and shown just before Rotary meetings at the Club. You can send information to: Janice Baldes janicebaldes@gmail.com or Jon Brown at mjonBrown@taxesplusiowacity.com
It is our policy to have all members silence their cell phones before the meeting and refrain from answering their cell phones during the meeting out of respect to the speaker and fellow members.