The story of Woods Prairie and OLT’s conservation efforts
By Andy Thomas, Longtime Board Member, and former President
When I learned that what is now called Woods Prairie was for sale and at great risk for subdivision and development way back about 1998, I had only been on the Ozark Land Trust board for a year.
I had moved to Southwest Missouri just two years before and quickly became enamored with Ozark prairies, exploring every prairie preserve I could find in the region (turns out –there were actually very few). I also soon learned how incredibly fragile native prairie ecosystems were –and still are.
I knew I had to act to protect this exceptional prairie, and OLT was the perfect vehicle to accomplish this daunting feat. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and I can look back proudly at what OLT(and many others) have done to protect and restore this amazing jewel.
While I may have been the Woods Prairie point person for many years, it was countless hardworking volunteers, generous donors, and risk-taking visionaries within OLT who made Woods Prairie’s permanent protection a reality.