Long-term project is bringing prairie back to remote places of the Loess Hills in Iowa

“Limb’n and chunk’n in pieces your swampers can move,” yelled Doug Chafa in what sounded like secret code known only to the 30 or so select people who happened to be dressed in chainsaw chaps, long sleeve shirts, hard hats and gloves. Today’s project was to clear cedar trees off a portion of Turin Wildlife Area east of the RT Reese Homestead that would allow the native remnant prairie to return to the hills. Here, work is done by hand – it’s labor intensive and slow – the goal is to clear an acre, maybe two, before noon.