IRALEE BARNARD WINS TOP PRAIRIE HERITAGE BOOK AWARD FOR FIELD GUIDE TO THE COMMON GRASSES OF OKLAHOMA, KANSAS, & NEBRASKA

Junction City Commissioner and Prairie Heritage, Inc.  President Jim Sands presented Iralee Barnard with the Jan Garton Prairie Heritage Book Award at the Junction City Commission meeting on December 15.     The award includes a check for $1000.00.

 

The award honors Ms. Barnard for authoring Field Guide to the Common Grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska,published by University Press of Kansas in 2014.

 

“This book helps people understand the prairie,” said Prairie Heritage board member Deliliah Hamilton.   “It makes the science of grasses accessible; it’s user-friendly,” added board member Margy Stewart.

 

Prairie Heritage, Inc., is a non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving the prairie and its stories.  Its annual book award was endowed by the estate of Kansas conservationist Jan Garton, famed for the preservation of Cheyenne Bottoms, an ecologically essential wetland in Barton County, Kansas.

 

Ms. Barnard announced that she would donate her prize money to the Nature Conservancy for the continued preservation of Cheyenne Bottoms.    “Jan Garton’s legacy continues,” she said.

 

Ms. Barnard won the award in the category of natural history.   A second award in the category of social history will be made in early 2016.

 

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