Prairie Restoration Is Crucial To Schools

I grew up in a small town, a very small town, with a population of around 4,000 people.  We had 2 gas stations, 2 restaurants, 8 bars, and 3 schools.  Needless to say, there was not a lot to do in town.  If we wanted any excitement, which to a child typically meant a Chuck-E-Cheese or a movie theater, we had to drive at least 25 minutes to get there.  So you can imagine that our school field trips typically included a long bus ride. All except one.
Each year we would take a walk to the prairie that sat in the middle of town.  As if the excitement of getting on our fall or spring jackets, shoes, finding our "walking partner" and lining up at the door wasn't exciting enough, we were always ecstatic about what "job" we were going to be assigned.  It is not until later in life that I realized the school basically used us as free labor, to do their prairie restoration, but that didn't matter, we looked forward to it every year.
Our teacher would first walk us around and introduce us to the variety of plants and flowers, of course to be quizzed on later!  We would also be asked to take note about the various forms of wildlife we would see, and this ranged from the variety of birds, to chipmunks and squirrels.  After this time was over, we would get to work to clean up the prairie. 
We would pull weeds, and help get rid of overgrown shrubs, we felt a great sense of accomplishment and pride.  More often then not we would drag our parents down to the prairie that night to show off our days' work. Then, we would wait until next year's field trip.
Prairies are still used for educational purposes all through school years, including college.  Many new species of plants have been discovered in prairies.  While they are a beautiful and useful learning tool, they do require a certain amount of upkeep.  It is easy for a prairie to be overcome with invasive brush and weeds, and regular controlled burns are essential in the maintenance of  a prairie.  When the labor gets to be too much for your staff, hire a company that has the experience and the reputation to give your prairie the restoration it deserves.