Kasota Prairie Conservation Area

Kasota Prairie Conservation Area - most commonly called simply Kasota Prairie
Kasota, Le Sueur, MN
90 acres; Dry Sand - Gravel Prairie (Southern); small pond; forested river bluffs

Kasota Prairie is a private preserve owned and managed by a silica mining plant in cooperation with Save the Kasota Prairie, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. It is one of the few remaining areas in Le Sueur county of tall prairie grasses that are now surrounded by large scale silica mining. Though these properties have been fiercely protected by naturalists, the impact of the mining on these small patches are yet to be fully understood.

This preserve is just a half mile north of (and should not be confused with) Kasota Prairie SNA. That location has its own journal post.

Park Notes
The land contains virgin prairie, previously grazed and now restored prairie, forested river bluffs, and shoreline of the Minnesota River. There is a mowed path that slopes down from the multi-car gravel parking lot toward the river valley.

There is a low stone wall at the entrance to the prairie that is suitable for sitting and one stone bench not far from the parking lot. I can't speak for any other benches that might be on the property since we didn't hike far. There are no facilities here.

Birds found here include Eastern Meadowlark, Dickcissel, Baltimore Oriole, Great Crested Flycatcher, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, and Turkey Vulture.

Wildflowers include Hoary Puccoon, Prairie Blue-eyed Grass, and Prairie Violets.

We didn't experience any flying nuisance insects (flies, gnats, mosquitoes) but it was early in the season, it's been dry, and we didn't hike to any bodies of water. Having a mowed path reduces exposure to ticks but one should conduct a tick-check after hiking and, if there is a desire to leave the path, have tick protection in place.

Visits
Mid-May 2021
This was the third location we had visited in the day and we were a bit fatigued so we didn't hike far. On the low stone wall, I found two species of spiders - both were the first documented record for that county. There were also a lot of small bees swarming the dandelions growing next to the wall. I would imagine the combination of grassland and water from the river and lakes would encourage lots of summer insects.

There were a lot of Tree and Bank Swallows - all seemed to be more concerned with defending territory than catching insects. They were flying close to the ground and calling incessantly. We also heard a persistently calling Field Sparrow. There were no wildflowers blooming close to the parking lot but that may have been a factor of timing.

On one hand, the landscape seemed a bit empty especially considering our lack of desire to hike far and the time of year we visited. But the opportunity to see the Bank Swallows (which are hard to find in our residential location) and the discovery of those two spider species made me glad we had stopped.

We combined our trip to Kasota Prairie with a stop at Kasota Prairie SNA (.5 miles south) and Chamberlain Woods SNA (15 miles north).

Mid-August: We made another trip to Le Sueur County and wanted to see how the prairie was progressing into summer. There were lots of grasshoppers seen and heard. We found a small patch of Hemp (Cannabis sativa). Other insects: Alydus (bug), Eastern Tailed-Blue, Common Wood-Nymph, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Widow Skimmer, Thread-waisted Sand Wasp, Dark Paper Wasp. Other plants: Cylindrical Thimbleweed, Prairie Onion, Great St. John's Wort, Carolina Horsenettle. I didn't make a note of birds seen other than a couple of flocks of Canada Geese that flew over the prairie.

Useful links/info
parking lot address: 36312 468th St Kasota, MN - although it is not accessible via 468th St which has been subsumed by the silica mine. Instead, one must travel north on Township Road 140 / 357th Ave to its terminal end at the parking lot. Some older travel directions that can be found online say to travel west on 468th St. That route will no longer work.

Mankato Life: Kasota Prairie
MinnesotaSeasons.com webpage
Save the Kasota Prairie Facebook page

silica mining in regards to natural habitat
When I realized that this site (and the nearby Kasota Prairie SNA) were in the midst of large scale silica mining, my heart sunk. How much of nature would be left? How would our experience be impacted by potential mining noise and trucking?

It seems the fight to preserve this bit of land was hard fought. Ultimately an agreement was reached that the mining company would set aside and be responsible for maintaining land for prairie preservation and restoration. But it wasn't known what long term impacts the extensive mining would have on this prairie land and the nearby (abt .5 miles away) state-owned Kasota Prairie Scientific and Natural Area.

In June of 2020, the mining company filed for bankruptcy which further puts the future of Kasota Prairie in question. We can't replace the land that was lost to those extensive county-wide areas of silica mining. If mining resumes, surely more land will be lost. If it is abandoned, what happens going forward. One thing I was grateful for, there was no noise or incessant trucking going on during our visit. And I suspect we were seeing the Bank Swallows because of the slopes of open sandy soil with no human presence to disrupt their nesting.

I found this book to be really informative and it's available to read online

Two Prairies, One Place
A Historical Geography of the Kasota Prairie
by Bob Douglas
https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/twopraries/
Chapters 7 and 8 deal with silica mining.

more info on the bankruptcy situation and its potential impact on Kasota Prairie:
Mankato Free Press: Unimin/Covia bankruptcy puts Kasota Prairie future in jeopardy (18 Aug 2020)
MPR News: Supporters worry mining company’s bankruptcy filing could leave fate of prairie undecided (27 Aug 2020)

Posted on May 14, 2021 08:35 PM by