Audubon Dakota is celebrating National Prairie Day on Saturday, June 4, 2022. North Dakota’s prairies provide critical habitat for North America’s most imperiled species of birds, grassland birds, including North Dakota’s state bird, the Western Meadowlark. National Prairie Day, established by the Missouri Prairie Foundation in 2016 as the first Saturday in June, is a time to honor the role of the prairie in the lives of birds and people. 

“Honoring National Prairie Day brings awareness to the immense importance of these ecosystems as not only bird and wildlife habitat, but as irreplaceable resources to indigenous peoples, ranchers, and the broader North Dakota community”, Sarah Hewitt, Director of Conservation.  

North Dakota prairies contribute to environmental health by providing ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and soil stability. Restoring and enhancing prairies in North Dakota is essential to Audubon Dakota’s  mission of protecting birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Successfully achieving this mission means collaborating with partners across the state such as private and public landowners to restore and enhance the prairie through working lands and bird friendly communities' initiatives. 

Volunteer with us!

In honor of National Prairie Day, Audubon Dakota is hosting a volunteer event on Saturday, June 4 at Orchard Glen Nature Park from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Help Audubon Dakota and the Fargo Park District clean-up and plant native wildflowers and grasses at the Orchard Glen Pollinator Garden.  To sign-up to volunteer please email Meghan Carter-Johnson, Senior Coordinator of Engagement at meghan.carter@audubon.org.