APSU and SGI Celebrating 5 Years of Saving Southeastern Grasslands
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 The Southeastern Grasslands Initiative (SGI) is celebrating its fifth anniversary. As part of that celebration, SGI announced that it is changing its name from the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative to the Southeastern Grasslands Institute. However, its mission of saving the forgotten grasslands of the Southeast hasn鈥檛 changed.
On Oct. 5, 2018, SGI was officially formed as a branch of the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. Its formation was made possible by a generous donation from the BAND Foundation.
鈥淕rasslands in the Southeastern U.S. harbor vast amounts of biodiversity as compared to other ecosystems, yet they receive far less funding and conservation attention. We support the SGI because it is addressing this critical gap in the conservation landscape,鈥 said Clark Mitchell, BAND Foundation Trustee.
鈥淎PSU is proud to be SGI鈥檚 home and to see all of the valuable scientific research, conservation, restoration, and educational work they are doing to protect one of our nation鈥檚 fastest disappearing ecoregions,鈥 said APSU President Michael Licari.
Over the last five years, SGI has worked tirelessly to conserve, restore, and promote native grasslands throughout the Southeast. This work is critical because less than 1% of Southeastern grassland communities remain, and they are home to some of the most imperiled plants and animals, including monarch butterflies, American bumble bees, and northern bobwhites.
Senator Bill and Tracy Frist, longtime supporters of SGI, said they are excited to see the continuation of grassland conservation.
鈥淭racy and I have worked closely with the SGI team on multiple grassland and nature-centered initiatives over the past four years,鈥 Frist said. 鈥淲e highly value SGI鈥檚 disciplined science-based approach that integrates cultural history and are excited to continue working with SGI to raise the profile of Southeastern grasslands conservation nationally and globally.鈥
To make the situation even more difficult, Southeastern grasslands began disappearing long before the camera was invented, and have virtually vanished from the collective memory. That means that the existence of Southeastern grasslands and their ecological importance has often been overlooked.
鈥淥ne of our goals is to give grasslands an equal seat at the conservation table, and I think we鈥檙e getting close,鈥 said Dr. Dwayne Estes, co-founder and executive director of SGI. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not there yet, but we鈥檙e closer than we鈥檝e ever been.鈥
鈥淭wo of our other goals are to work on large scale grassland conservation projects, and to buy and protect small, unique, grassland remnants that are often overlooked by other conservation organizations,鈥 said Theo Witsell, co-founder and chief ecologist for SGI. 鈥淭hese ancient remnants are the last refuge for some of our most imperiled biodiversity.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very proud that we are beginning to achieve both goals. We鈥檝e worked on large scale grassland conservation projects in multiple states, and we are in the final stages of purchasing an approximately 5-acre remnant of a globally rare grassland community,鈥 Witsell continued. 鈥淏uying and preserving sites like that is one of the most critical things we can do.鈥
Looking forward both Estes and Witsell are excited about scaling up SGI鈥檚 activities and replicating across the Southeast some of the successes they鈥檝e had at a local level.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of why we鈥檙e changing our name from the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative to the Southeastern Grasslands Institute,鈥 Estes said. 鈥淲e feel like we鈥檝e gotten our feet under us and proven that we can do what we set out to do. Now it is time to grow and scale up. For example, we鈥檙e about to embark on a 500-acre prairie, savanna, and wetland restoration project 30 minutes outside Nashville, inspired by The Nature Conservancy鈥檚 Nachusa Prairie in Illinois.鈥
鈥淲e are excited to commit 500 acres of our farm to restoring native grasslands, to dreaming with SGI on how to grow that to 10,000 acres in the surrounding region, and helping this great organization scale up to eventually restore 100,000 acres across the Southeast,鈥 said property owner Whitfield Hamilton.
As part of their fifth anniversary celebration, SGI is having a fundraiser from Oct. 5 through Oct. 19, 2022. Their goal is to raise $25,000 for the Robert C. and Deborah B. Hulse Prairie Acquisition Fund which is dedicated to purchasing small, fragile prairie remnants that are often hard to protect through other means because of their size.
If you would like to help SGI make a difference and protect these ancient grasslands, you can make a donation through Austin Peay State University at . All donations are tax deductible.
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