Ada Hayden  1884-1950

An American botanist and educator, Ada Hayden was an early advocate of prairie preservation through writing and speaking.  During her career, she added more than 40,000 specimens to the herbarium, and is credited with authoring possibly the best published native flora survey of any part of Iowa.  The Hayden Prairie State Preserve, the first area dedicated as a preserve under Iowa's State Preserves Act of 1965, is named in her honor.  

Prairie Warbler populations have declined an estimated 2% per year between 1966 and 2015, resulting in a cumulative decline of 63% during that time. If the current rate of decline continues, Prairie Warbler will lose another half of its population in 70 years.