New book explains why Missouri and Illinois prairies vanished episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 13, 2025 · 49 MIN

New book explains why Missouri and Illinois prairies vanished

from St. Louis on the Air

The American prairie once stretched across Missouri and Illinois, a vast grassland teeming with wildlife and rich biodiversity. Today, less than 1% of that prairie remains — disappearing even faster than the Amazon rainforest. Environmental journalists Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty discuss how prairies were destroyed, why their loss is one of the world’s greatest ecological disasters, and what it will take to bring it back. Hage and Marcotty are authors of the new book, “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie.”

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New book explains why Missouri and Illinois prairies vanished

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This episode was published on August 13, 2025.

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The American prairie once stretched across Missouri and Illinois, a vast grassland teeming with wildlife and rich biodiversity. Today, less than 1% of that prairie remains — disappearing even faster than the Amazon rainforest. Environmental...

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