Alan Branhagen holding the Native Plant Pioneer Award with Missouri Prairie Foundation board chair David Young on his left and Executive Director Carol Davit on his right.
Congratulations to our Executive Director!
Natural Land Institute’s Executive Director, Alan Branhagen, received the Grow Native! 2025 Native Plant Pioneer Award on August 16, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri while attending the annual dinner for the Missouri Prairie Foundation, which administers the award and Grow Native! program. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the program.
The Grow Native! Native Plant Pioneer Award recognizes individuals whose work was foundational to the native landscaping movement anywhere in the lower Midwest (Missouri, eastern Kansas, northern Arkansas, and southern Illinois). Alan Branhagen has been promoting native plants all of his life and the integration of them into landscaping his entire career. He is author of two native plant books: Native Plants of the Midwest and The Midwest Native Plant Primer. Alan continues to promote the use of native plants in the landscape and is in the process of rewilding his home in Rockford. Also, Alan’s history with the Grow Native! program is noteworthy. “This is a great honor,” said Alan. “When I worked as Director of Horticulture for Powell Gardens (1996-2017) I helped with the program from its start. Then it was part of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.” In 2012 Missouri Prairie Foundation took over Grow Native!, the native plant education and marketing program, and expanded it across statelines.
The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s annual dinner featured keynote speaker Jessie Nippert, Kansas State University, on the topic of “Managing for healthy tallgrass prairies during an era of woody plant encroachment.”
It’s a Small World
Alan was delighted to meet and sit next to Mike Saxton during the dinner. Mike will be the new and first Executive Director for Friends of Nachusa Grasslands (Franklin Grove, IL). He starts in January 2026. Mike also received an award at the ceremony.
It was a pleasure for him to also meet Rick Thom and his wife who attended the dinner. Rick worked for George Fell and NLI many years ago.
Missouri Prairie Foundation Presents 2025 Award to Alan Branhagen of Rockford, Illinois
The 59-year-old prairie conservation organization and land trust honored champions of prairie and native plant conservation on August 16 during its Annual Dinner in Columbia, Missouri. Awardees hail from Kansas City, Jefferson City, Steedman, Columbia, St. Louis, Trimble, Eureka, Lebanon, Missouri and Rockford, Illinois.
Columbia, MO (August 19, 2025)—The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Annual Dinner, this year held on August 16, is a celebration of Missouri’s prairie legacy. During the event, the 59-year-old prairie conservation organization and land trust paid tribute to six awardees.
“Missouri’s remaining prairies are rare and priceless treasures,” said David Young, Missouri Prairie Foundation President. “Protecting and promoting them requires dedication and commitment from many people. Our award program recognizes individuals who have made or are making a positive difference in the conservation of the region’s prairie legacy and in the promotion or protection of native plants.”
The Missouri Prairie Foundation 2025 awardees are:
2025 Grow Native! Native Plant Pioneer Award: Alan Branhagen of Rockford, Illinois
Alan Branhagen is the Executive Director of one of the oldest Midwestern land trusts, The Natural Land Institute of Rockford, Illinois. This is the latest chapter in his storied career in natural resource management and horticulture, all the while a champion for native landscaping. From 2017 until his current position, Branhagen was Director of Operations at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Before this, he served as Director of Horticulture at Powell Gardens for 21 years. Branhagen’s career started as Deputy Director of Resource Development for Winnebago County Forest Preserve District, Illinois, in 1987, where he spent nearly a decade planning acquisition, design, and development of all Forest Preserves. He is also the author of three books: The Midwest Native Plant Primer, Native Plants of the Midwest, and The Gardener’s Butterfly Book. For decades, Branhagen has promoted the many benefits of native landscaping, the importance of landscape design, and stewardship of native landscapes—all of which make him a pioneering force in the growth of the native landscaping movement.
Other awardees recognized on August 16, 2025:
2025 Bill T. Crawford Prairie Professional of the Year Award: Mike Saxton of Eureka, Missouri
Mike Saxton joined the staff of the 2,400-acre Shaw Nature Reserve near St. Louis in 2016 as a restoration specialist. Since then, under his leadership, Shaw’s Ecological Restoration program has grown to a team of five full-time technicians. In his current role as Shaw’s Manager of Ecological Restoration & Land Stewardship, Saxton has added 800 additional acres at Shaw to active management. He has made tremendous strides in systematically addressing invasive species in the 300 acres of prairie plantings established before his tenure and increasing the biodiversity of these plantings. Saxton is also currently overseeing the 120-acre Wolf Run Grassland Restoration project. In addition, He has developed a remarkable restoration volunteer program, and is an exceptionally skilled writer. Over his nine years at Shaw Nature Reserve, Saxton has been responsible for dramatic habitat stewardship progress. Learn more about Shaw Nature Reserve: https://www.
2025 Donald M. Christisen Prairie Volunteer of the Year Award: Tom Schroeder of Kansas City, Missouri
Tom Schroeder has made extraordinary contributions to prairie conservation at the local and regional levels for more than two decades. Beginning in 2001, he helped build the foundation of the Kansas City WildLands Seed Team program, directing and mentoring volunteers long before staff support existed. The seed his small group collected has resulted in thousands of prairie species being planted each year, and he continues to grow seed at his home to this day. Schroeder’s collaboration with researchers and his documentation of rare species have contributed valuable data for the broader conservation community across Missouri and beyond. His detailed photography, capturing hundreds of plant and insect species at various stages of growth, has been widely used by Kansas City WildLands and other conservation groups. In addition, Schroeder has documented rare plant and pollinator species, contributing valuable observations to the research of noted botanists and entomologists.
2025 William A. Davit Prairie Communicator of the Year Award: Prairie Prophets Production Team of Roeslein Alternative Energy
The Prairie Prophets Production Team of Roeslein Alternative Energy produces the Prairie Prophets podcast and video series, which explores and shares the many benefits of prairie and prairie plantings to agriculture, water quality, renewable energy, rural economies, pollinator conservation, carbon storage, and wildlife habitat. The name of this educational series is a play on both “profit”— financial gain that can be derived from prairie plantings, and from “prophet”— an effective or leading spokesperson for a cause or idea. Prairie Prophets has featured hunters, prairie conservationists, renewable energy professionals, landowners, and others to effectively communicate the many-faceted benefits of prairie and prairie plants to a diverse audience. Prairie Prophet team members hail from around the Midwest, including Iowa and St. Louis, Columbia, Trimble, and Lebanon, Missouri. Learn more at https://prairieprophets.com/.
2025 Dick Dawson Prairie Pioneer of the Year Award: Aaron Jeffries of Jefferson City, Missouri
As a Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Aaron Jeffries supervises the agency’s Communications, Education, Relevancy, and Community & Private Land Branches. Jeffries started his career with his hands in the dirt, transplanting many thousands of tiny native plant seedlings. For ten years, beginning in high school and through graduate school, Jeffries worked for Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, where he learned about native plants, their environments, and their cultivation. After earning a Master’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science, he went on to his MDC career. As chair of MDC’s Reality Committee, Jeffries has been instrumental in the recent acquisition of numerous MDC properties within key grassland conservation landscapes. He also has a vision for reconstructing large native grassland landscapes and is an advocate for collaborative projects among agencies and organizations to advance prairie and native grassland conservation. Jeffries is currently leading an effort to establish habitat stewardship internships with State Fair Community College and the University of Central Missouri and several conservation partners.
2025 Grow Native! Native Plant Protector Award: John Burk of Steedman, Missouri
John Burk is Senior Regional Biologist at the National Wild Turkey Federation, the longest-tenured state biologist in the Federation. In this role, he serves Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois, advocating, planning, and establishing wild turkey habitat and hunting opportunities. Burk loves wild turkeys, and, while carrying out work to benefit them, he has been an effective advocate for native plant protection in the habitats these birds need. Burk has been an active member of the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative Steering Committee for more than 20 years. In fact, he has organized every annual MOBCI conference. Through the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Save the Habitat Save the Hunt program, his work with various partners has benefited native grasslands and provided brood-rearing habitats for turkey and other grassland bird and insect species. One major project that Burk has been involved with for years is large-scale woodland and savanna restoration on private land in northeastern Missouri and southern Iowa. To date, this project has positively impacted more than 100 landowners with more than 3,000 acres of native plant communities stewarded or restored.
About the Missouri Prairie Foundation
The Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 59-year-old membership organization and land trust that protects and restores prairie and other native grasslands through acquisition, management, education, and support of prairie research. The organization currently owns 35 properties totaling more than 5,000 acres of prairie across the state, and, with partners, inspires the conservation of thousands more. The Missouri Prairie Foundation is also home to the 25-year-old Grow Native! native plant education and marketing program and administers the 10-year-old Missouri Invasive Plant Council.