Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Maple 5 team protects the prairie in Minnesota

Reilly rolls up fencing at Chippewa Prairie.

An after-shot of land at TNC’s Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie after Maple 5 removed invasive brush.

By Akari Iburi

AmeriCorps NCCC’s (National Civilian Community Corps) Maple 5 is serving with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Minnesota. The team is helping TNC restore their lands throughout South Dakota and Minnesota to support a healthy ecosystem and promote biodiversity.

Maple 5 is tackling the tasks of installing fence posts, installing an electrical system for fence gates, cleaning up old fencing and removing and using herbicide on invasive plants at the Chippewa Prairie in southwestern Minnesota. The team is also helping on TNC’s Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie site, where they are removing invasive plants to restore the natural prairie and collecting native prairie seeds to spread in the corrected areas.

TNC is a non-profit organization founded in 1951 on the principles to conserve and protect the waters and land. Since then, they have internationally protected over 119 million acres of land and thousands of miles of rivers. TNC works in all 50 states and over 35 countries.

The Minnesota chapter of TNC works to protect the lands of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The team is currently stationed in South Dakota serving with the South Dakota staff for their first week with TNC, and will serve with the Minnesota staff during their second week.