The place I am working as a professor doesn't pay me very much. However, UW-Green Bay does have a beautiful campus. Circling around the campus is a 6-mile long walking, bicycling or cross-country-ski trail. I was too busy to visit them during my early career at this campus. After experiencing long illness in the last year, I realize everyday's life is God's gift and I need to find time to appreciate God's creation of nature and bauty.
This 6-mile long trail winds through a 16 acre grassland of the so-called Keith White Prairie. This prairie was established in 1972 under the guidance of Professor Keith White, who continued the site even after his retirement in 1989. Professor White's students assisted with site preparation, planting, and burning, a tradition that is continued today by faculty and students at UW-Green Bay.
Early explorers called the vast North American grasslands "prairie" after the French word for meadow. Prairies were once home to bison, elk, wolves and badgers. They extended from central Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, through part of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.
The dominant grasses at the Keith White prairie are big blue stem, switch grass, and Indian grass. They develop enormous root systems, sometimes growing as deep as 3 meters. Prairie plants are well adopted to fire, drought, and grazing.
Pictures show summer and spring view of the Keith White prairie.
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