Audubon Delta's NATIVE Project had another productive season. Across 9 seed collection events during July-November volunteers put in a collective 256 hours alongside staff from Audubon Delta and project partners Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and Ozark Ecological Restoration Inc. We hand-harvested native grass and wildflower seeds from remnant prairies in four prairie regions across the state. Many thanks to all our volunteers including those from Master Naturalists, Hendrix College, and the Little Rock Zoo.

Some of the seeds collected last year were germinated into plugs by Roundstone Native Seed Company and planted in production plots on farms in Jefferson and Arkanas Counties. After one growing season a few of those plants already flowered and produced seed. In a few more years we will begin to efficiently and exponentially increase the supply of seeds needed for prairie restoration, ultimately benefiting pollinators, songbirds, and game species like the Northern Bobwhite.