Progress Report on Native Prairie Restoration Ruckman Project - Grand River Conference

Presenters: David Wolf, The Environmental Defense Fund; Conner Woods and John Murphy, Roeslein Alternative Energy; Jordan Giese, Iowa State University
“We are starting in the uplands by trying to affect the Highly Erodible Land in those portions of the watershed with productive prairie that meets all three objectives of the vision: Ecological services, wildlife habitat benefits and biomass yield for energy production,” Murphy said.
The Grand River conference was organized by St. Louis-based Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) and hosted by Smithfield Foods at their regional office in Princeton, Missouri on May 17, 2018. RAE is in engaged in a large project to capture methane from hog manure at Smithfield’s nine northern Missouri farms and convert it to renewable natural gas using anaerobic digestion systems.
“Through this initiative, multiple partners are coming together to improve the local landscape and waterways,” said Rudi Roeslein, President and Founder of Roeslein Alternative Energy. “Together, we’re creating a pathway that works; a market-based solution around nutrient losses, water quality, and clean air.”
Originally from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, John eventually moved to central Ohio where he earned a B.A. in Biology from Cedarville College. It was also there that he began work for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, in public land management. From Ohio, John moved to Northern Missouri, where he earned a M.S. in Biology from Truman State University. John worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation in a diverse array of jobs prior to being hired as a Private Land Conservationist (PLC) in 2000. Although not simultaneously, through the span of John’s work as a PLC, he had responsibilities in Worth, Gentry, Harrison, Mercer, Putnam, Sullivan, Schuyler, and Adair Counties. His passion in those counties was fire ecology and the restoration of natural communities, especially prairie and savannas.
Since March of 2017 John has been a part of the RAE team, continuing to work on solutions to positively affect natural resources. He and his wife, Sharon, reside just outside of Kirksville, Missouri with their five children.
David Wolfe (B.S. and M.E. Agricultural Engineering, University of Florida and M.S. Ecology, University of Georgia) is Director, Conservation Strategy with Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Wolfe began his conservation career as a field ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in 1992. In 2000 he began working as a scientist with EDF to implement incentive-based programs for conservation of endangered species on private lands. This work involved the development and implementation of safe harbor and Farm Bill conservation programs to benefit endangered species, including the golden-cheeked warbler, black-capped vireo and ocelot. Mr. Wolfe is currently taking a leadership role in development of the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange. He drafted a proposal to the Smithfield Foundation that led to the funding of the 1,000-acre Missouri prairie restoration project, which is a collaboration amongst Smithfield Foods, RAE, Missouri Prairie Foundation and several other partners.