NINE-MILE PRAIRIE, NEBRASKA

Michael's image titled "October in the Tallgrass" was chosen by the U.S. Postal Service for this international postcard-rate stamp as part of the Scenic American Landscapes series and was first issued March 6, 2001.

Nine Mile Prairie is a 230-acre (97-hectare) relict tallgrass prairie owned by the University of Nebraska Foundation. It is located in on the northwest edge of Lincoln, in Lancaster County. The prairie was so named because it is five miles west and four miles north of the University of Nebraska campus in downtown Lincoln.

Three hundred and ninety-two vascular plant species and over 80 species of birds have been observed on the prairie. Notable species include the federally-threatened prairie white fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) and the rare regal fritillary butterfly (Speyeria idalia). The prairie is also used as a seed source of local genotypes of grasses and wildflowers for use in prairie restoration efforts in the region.

Nine Mile Prairie provides many values to the UNL community. As one of the largest intact tracts of tallgrass prairie left in the Midwest, it serves as a nationally important outdoor laboratory for the study of biological processes in grasslands. Nine Mile is the longest-studied natural area in Nebraska, serving as the site of pioneering research in plant ecology by Professor John E. Weaver, the father of grassland ecology, beginning in the 1920s, and seeing decades of continued use by researchers at UNL and UNO.

To pre-order your a Collector's Edition photograph with this stamp inset in the mat and frame, call us at 888.812.3790.

Or visit the Collector's Edition section on our products page...