Part 3 of 6: Many rare species that are in severe decline throughout their ranges are rebounding in the Chicago area thanks to the increase in high-quality grassland conservation efforts. Let's bring similar efforts to the SGI focal area.

Part 4 of 6: Urban or wild, either will work just fine. Efforts in the greater Chicago area prove that great grassland restoration can happen both in rural areas and in the heart of one of the nation's largest cities. SGI aims to bring similar approaches to dozens of communities across our 23 state region, including Austin, TX and Charlotte, NC.

Part 5 of 6: The sky is the limit! The Chicago-style methods of restoration can be applied to sites smaller than 1 acre or they can be scaled up to cover several square miles. It can be done in the Southeast as well and SGI will lead the way. Let's dream big and find a way to rebuild grasslands that stretch to the horizon.

Part 6 of 6: We called, you answered: At the beginning of 2018, we put out a call for volunteers to join our team and the response has been amazing. Now, six months after the official launch of our organization, it warms my heart to announce that more than 400 volunteers have pledged their support. Collectively, you represent all 23 states and more than 60 communities. Thank you for taking that first step of signing our registry. Help us recruit new volunteers by sharing our message with friends, family, and colleagues.

Listen to Roan Mountain Radio's Ken Turner interview SGI Director, Dr. Dwayne Estes, about the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative.

Although many atypical grasslands of the Southeast may not look "prairie-like" or "savanna-like" one thing that connects them is the presence of sun-loving herbaceous species, many of which often grow in typical grasslands.

This blog post is dedicated to the Highland Rim Limestone Riverscour Glade. This community is a type of glade, which is a rocky grassland/shrubland community that is found along just a few rivers in the Interior Plateaus ecoregion of central and east-central portions of Tennessee and Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Ohio (?), and historically northern Alabama. 

Most natural grasslands of the world are maintained by fire, grazing or climatic factors (e.g. lack of rainfall, persistent cold/freezing in tundra), but in the depths of some of the deepest river gorges of Southern Appalachia are poorly known flood-maintained grasslands known to community ecologists as riverscours.

Glades don’t burn? In Arkansas, we are managing glade complexes with prescribed fire. There should be grassy savanna and open woodland around the edges of glades rather than an abrupt wall of redcedar and impenetrable shrub thickets.

The Blue Ridge Montane Basins Shortleaf Pine-Post Oak Savanna (found in portions of southwestern North Carolina near Hayesville, northern Georgia, and extreme southeastern Tennessee) is extremely poorly known. One of the earliest (1818) references to vegetation from this region recorded shortleaf pine and post oak. A high incidence of shortleaf pine and post oak would suggest adaptation to fire.