Lordi Marker Prairie

About Lordi Marker Prairie

MPF purchased this 400-acre tract of a Missouri Century Farm in December 2020, thanks to a generous donation from Susan Lordi Marker and Dennis Marker, for whom the property is named. The tract includes nearly 100 acres of original, unplowed prairie.

The Lordi Marker Prairie is located in Pettis County, linking two MPF properties—the 40-acre Friendly Prairie, and the 80-acre Drovers’ Prairie—creating 520 acres of prairie and native grassland habitat just 14 miles south of Sedalia, MO and 100 miles southeast of Kansas City, MO. The Lordi Marker Prairie is within a Missouri Conservation Opportunity Area and the Cole Camp Important Bird Area—a key region for landscape-scale prairie and native grassland conservation.

The original prairie at Lordi Marker is mostly dry-mesic chert prairie with some hardpan prairie. MPF’s planned restoration work at this property includes removal of encroaching trees on the remnant prairie, conversion of tall fescue to native prairie plantings, restoration of a riparian corridor, and creation of small ephemeral wetlands to support grassland amphibians and migrating shorebirds. MPF is also planning to establish wildflower plots on a portion of the property for seed collection, to support restoration efforts throughout the Conservation Opportunity Area. MPF may also establish native pastures to demonstrate conservation grazing. 

Fishing is allowed in the ponds on the property.

2021 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2021 Floristic Integrity Report: Carver (plot 1), Lordi Marker, and Schuette Prairies by the Institute of Botanical Training, LLC.

Dedication of Lordi Marker Prairie article from the Missouri Prairie Journal, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2022.

Directions

Lordi Marker Prairie is located in Pettis County on NW 101 Road, about 12 miles south of Sedalia. From Highway 65, take Highway 52 west 1 mile to Hoffman Road (NW 101 Road).

38.535412, -93.290527