Story Published:
Nov 16, 2009 at 3:14 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Nov 16, 2009 at 3:16 PM CDT
GREENFIELD, Mo. -- A bequest from a couple from Joplin saved some land in southwest Missouri where a threatened bird species lives. The Missouri Department of Conservation used Wade and June Shelton's $1 million gift to buy 320 acres of prairie in Dade County this summer. The land is home to a surviving band of greater prairie chickens.
Conservation officials say only about 100 of the birds still exist in Missouri, with 13 living on the Dade County land. Kyle Hedges, wildlife management biologist with the conservation department, says the land in is also home to the Henslow's sparrow, which is another species of concern in Missouri.
Wade Shelton died in 2007 and his wife died in 1983.
