Big Sky Nature Preserve

Site

Big Sky Nature Preserve contains roughly 38 acres near Easley, MO. The property includes a spectacular limestone bluff overlooking the Missouri River, beautiful woodlands, and an oak savanna atop the bluff that represents one of the rarest natural communities in Mid-Missouri.

History

Carl Gerhardt and Dayna Glanz, who owned and managed a significant portion of the site since the late 1990s, restored and maintained much of the property’s rare oak savanna habitat and oversaw the installation of protective measures for the bat hibernaculum in Easley Mine, which lies at the base of the bluff. They donated the first portion of Big Sky Nature Preserve, containing approximately 14 acres, to Greenbelt Land Trust in 2015. An additional roughly 24 acres of immediately adjacent land was donated to Greenbelt in 2021 by an anonymous donor.

Activity

Greenbelt now manages this property using prescribed fire and is planning further habitat improvements on the west-facing slope surrounding the rare oak savanna. The nature preserve is not open to the public, and may only be visited with Greenbelt Land Trust’s permission.