By tradition, JDCF’s annual speaker series has a theme each year – a single aspect of nature, something that is important to understand in the context of the land we conserve: so, we programmed about birds one year, insects another year, our
Driftless Area another year, and so on with other themes including water, prairies, trees, and Native American cultural sites.  This year it occurred to us: let’s make the JDCF preserves our theme. We have themed every which way around them, so let’s shine the spotlight directly.

We will start on May 3rd with DCF executive director Steve Barg sharing little known stories about how JDCF came to own and protect our first three preserves, Schurmeier, Buehler and Wapello. It’s the story about people who saw a piece of land as priceless and vulnerable. Since stewardship is such a big part of JDCF’s mission, we’re having this program at the Stewardship Shop in Elizabeth. This state-of-the-art facility houses the equipment used by JDCF’s land stewards, which they will temporarily move outside to give you plenty of space to enjoy the show. After the program, you can visit Schurmeier Forest, JDCF’s first preserve, just down the road in Elizabeth, for a guided tour of the woodland
wildflowers.

The overview program will be followed by visits to two of our newest and least known preserves. Rutherford Refuge, near Warren, is home to natural plant communities dating back thousands of years. On May 31, Randy Nyboer, botanist, ecologist and supervisor of natural area surveys will tell you about these remnants of the past and lead a trail walk of the woodland, prairie and sedge meadow habitats.

Then in June, we’ll take you to Big Sky Nature Reserve and its adjacent preserve, Valley of Eden Bird Sanctuary, near Stockton. At a combined 900 acres, they make up JDCF’s largest preserve. Valley of Eden has been designated a Globally Significant Bird Area. And visiting Big Sky feels a bit like stepping onto the panoramic set of a Western.
Depending on when you visit, you might even see horses or ride one in yourself, on specially designated trails. We’re planning a picnic lunch and talk at Big Sky’s spacious stewardship shop as well as birding for bobolinks and other grassland nesters at Valley of Eden and walking around Big Sky’s wide-open spaces.

And finally, in August, we’ll explore JDCF’s Wapello Land & Water Reserve, near Hanover. You’ll learn about archaeological research which shows evidence of a prehistoric village and of indigenous cultures that intersected on the
land that Wapello now preserves. Included will be an opportunity to take a guided walk through Wapello’s restored prairie, which has been documented as home for hundreds of insect species, including rare and even endangered pollinators.

Stay tuned on our events page for specific dates, times and logistics for these program events. And in the meantime, we encourage you to visit our website, www.jdcf.org, click on “Visit Our Preserves,” and pick one or two to
explore on your own! A new page, “This Month on Our Preserves”, will highlight activities you can do while out on the land during different times of the year.