Volunteers harvest prairie wildflower seeds

Volunteers spent several hours earlier this month collecting wildflower seeds at Touch the Sky Prairie northwest of Luverne.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Kim Emerson supervised the harvest, which yielded nearly 25 pounds of seed from nearly a dozen different species. Wildflower seeds are expensive to buy in seed mixes, and native seeds have a better survival rate.
The seeds will be tested for viability and will be used to restore land recently acquired by the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation. Touch the Sky Prairie now comprises roughly 1,200 acres is part of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie.