Advocate for prairie, not mowed ditches

Mowing roadside ditches creates a hazard to our watershed and has a negative impact on flooding, water quality, and wildlife. The visual benefit to a mowed and chemically treated ditch doesn't compare to the lasting harm created.

Rather than advocate for mowed ditches, we believe the community should advocate for replacing the weeds and invasive species with native prairie.

Pre-settlement Iowa was covered with over 30 million acres of prairie which provided natural flood protection and wildlife habitat. This landscape also hosted native pollinators, thereby supporting the food supply. Farming and urbanization have caused 99.9% of that prairie to disappear. While we do not advocate for decreasing development, we believe that Iowa must commit to protect and restore available land. Ditches are a great place to begin.

Prairie plants grow roots up to 20 feet below the surface, compared to weed roots which typically grow just 1-3 feet deep. Deep prairie roots serve as a natural flood mitigation tool. They hold moisture and soil, preventing erosion and unnecessary water from entering the watershed. They also act as natural filters capturing and removing dangerous chemicals and road runoff that would otherwise enter our waterways. This is one of the main reasons that Iowa has wisely implemented a ban on mowing ditches for part of the year.

Numerous native species important to our environment live in prairie. Bees, monarch butterflies, and many others need this habitat to survive. These species don't just provide beauty, but many of them are critical to our nation's food supply by pollinating crops. The economic impact of the loss of these insects could be devastating as our fruits and vegetables would quickly disappear.

Just drive by Indian Creek Nature Center on Otis Rd SE to see the beauty of prairie. Established in 1979 as a restoration project, these native plantings are unique and highlight the many benefits of prairie. We are continuing our restoration efforts and have been working to restore a wooded ditch on our property into prairie. Water runoff from this area feeds our wetlands and ultimately connects to the Cedar River.

We are not alone in our efforts. Linn County government actively strives to plant prairie along their roadsides in an effort to maintain a healthy environment. Prairie plantings enable them to be responsible with taxpayer money by limiting the amount of manpower and equipment needed for mowing and snow removal, while maintaining a beautiful and responsible interaction with nature.

Each year Indian Creek Nature Center partners with the City of Cedar Rapids and invites the public to a prairie seed harvest day on our property. By sharing seeds with the community, we can directly impact the amount of wildflowers blooming in parks, backyards, and neighborhoods.

We should all be thankful for the thick, long prairie plants filling ditches and advocate for more. Not just because they provide natural beauty, but because of the beneficial impact they have on our food, flooding, and water quality.

' John Myers is executive director of Indian Creek Nature Center. Comments: jmyers@indiancreeknaturecenter.org.