REACT’s upcoming Tall Grass Prairie Day Saturday, June 14
In a world where native prairie is vanishing, a small patch of grassland tucked beside the Stonewall hospital is doing more than just holding its ground — it’s helping to preserve one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America.
Known as the Ruby Roe Tall Grass Prairie Patch, the two-acre site is one of the last remnants of a habitat that once covered vast swaths of the continent. It now serves as both a sanctuary for wildlife and a teaching ground for the public.
According to Winnipeg’s Living Prairie Museum, less than one per cent of native prairie remains across North America.
John Morgan, a recently retired wildlife biologist who spent four decades working to restore prairie habitats, has been involved in the care of the Ruby Roe site since it was first identified in the mid-1980s.
“That’s when a lot of development happened in that part of Stonewall. Much of the prairie was taken up by the development in the town,” said Morgan. “[The prairie] was probably over 100 acres at one point. I was concerned and other people were concerned. I talked to REACT, the town council, and the hospital board, and we were able to arrive at a point where they were able to leave about two acres of that original piece intact. They realized that it was something important and that it would be good for Stonewall and Manitoba, too.”
Morgan and his wife, Carol, started Canada’s first prairie restoration company, Prairie Habitats Inc., in Argyle in 1987. Since then, Morgan has been involved with several projects and programs that help serve his goal of restoring the prairie: developing native seed harvesting equipment that is now used all over Canada, teaching native plant landscaping at the Native Prairie Museum, and co-writing a book on restoration. He has now been an advisor for REACT on the Ruby Roe prairie for many years, helping to educate both REACT and the public on ways to manage a tallgrass prairie.
As a part of his collaboration with REACT, Morgan has been involved with the Ruby Roe Tall Grass Prairie Day for several years. Though the prairie patch is always open for the community to explore, enjoy, and learn from, this annual event invites them to learn a little bit more about what the patch really means for their town and the environment. “It’s a really great opportunity for people to learn about the plants and the animals of the prairie. Many of those are gone or endangered.”
This year’s Ruby Roe day will take place on Saturday, June 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the rain date being June 15. Attendees will have the opportunity to be taken on a guided tour through the patch to learn about local native plants, help with the maintenance of the patch, and enjoy some barbeque. Aimee MacDonald of Prairie Flora Greenhouse in Teulon will be at the event selling her native plants, and free milkweed seedlings will be up for the taking.
“I guess I was always interested in wildlife as far back as I can remember,” shared Morgan when asked about his interest in conservation. “Native prairies are very much endangered, not only in Manitoba, but across the Canadian prairies and well down into the States.”
For those that want to visit and learn from Ruby Roe outside of the special day planned by REACT, brochures are available in the box on the sign located on the north end of the patch. Morgan helped to write these brochures, which are titled “Manitoba’s Tallgrass Prairie” and contain plenty of information about the benefits of wildlife and the duty that people have to it. Planting native prairie plants that can be bought from local greenhouses such as Prairie Flora and Prairie Originals is another great way to help restoration.
“Preserving even a small part of our native prairie heritage is important. Two acres doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you consider how little there is left, that’s a pretty significant amount,” said Morgan. “Our environment has no one to speak for itself, and I always thought of my role as someone to speak for something that can’t speak for itself.”
