"EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. — This year's effort to collect wildflower and grass seeds from surviving prairie remnants has wrapped up.

The Missouri Department of Conservation said in a news release that staff and volunteers netted about 6,500 pounds of seeds mixed with chaff. The seed will be used to plant about 300 acres of native wildflowers and grasses.

Today, only small remnants of the once abundant open tallgrass prairies remain in the state. The habitat loss has harmed several species, including Missouri's greater prairie chickens."

The Associated Press had the story December 1, 2014. [2]