Man of the prairieBy Sara Shahriari Clair Kucera was born on an Iowa farm in 1922. The Depression was crushing farmers in the 1930s when Kucera's father gave him money to go to college and to choose a career that would lead to something other than the farm life that had become harsh for his parents. He earned his doctorate in ecology at Iowa State University in 1950 and came to MU the same year as a botany professor. Kucera learned about Tucker Prairie from colleagues and became interested in what he could learn from it. The land was then owned by the Tuckers, a family of Missouri homesteaders who had been land-grant recipients in the 1800s. Though most of the prairie was used for grazing and hay, the family had decided to preserve some of its land, which has remained undisturbed as neighboring fields were turned by plows. The family was friendly toward the university and allowed classes to study their land "between the cows' legs," Kucera said. The Tuckers decided to sell their farm in 1958, but they didn't want to abandon the prairie to the plow. When Kucera learned of the sale, he approached Ellis, who was enthusiastic about the purchase. Kucera secured a grant from the National Science Foundation that provided 50 percent of the money; private donations and university funds were used to secure the rest. Kucera said MU's acquisition of Tucker Prairie is the highlight of his 58-year professional life. Unbroken prairies are small pieces of an almost vanished past. According to Kucera, of the 15 million acres of prairie that existed in Missouri at the time of European settlement in the early 1800s, only 0.5 percent remains. "The significance of having some relic here is a lesson for present-day students," Kucera said. "The prairie is really part of Missouri's identity," said Justin Johnson, executive director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. Formed in 1966 by a group of conservation professionals and prairie enthusiasts, Johnson said the foundation has more than 4,000 members statewide and manages more than 3,000 acres of prairie. Johnson points out that Tucker is the only large piece of prairie left near Columbia. |
JIM BUELL/Missourian
JIM BUELL/Missourian |
