Heather Holm, award winning author and nationally sought after speaker, is a biologist and pollinator conservationist, and an expert on bees and ecological landscape restoration. Learn more about Heather here.

Natural landscapes in the US and Canada have been drastically altered by human activities such as infrastructure development, logging, overgrazing, introduction of invasive species, and fire suppression. However, prior to Euro-American settlement, highly functional and biodiverse oak and/or pine grassland systems dominated throughout much of the continent.

Heather will shed a light on historical grasslands and oak savannahs, (including Minnehaha Park’s historical ecosystem), Native American historical management of grasslands through controlled burns, and the benefits of fire as a management tool on the oak and grass ecosystems.