Protecting the last remains of a diverse and important ecosystem that was once synonymous with the middle of the United States.
From shining sea to regal mountain majesties , America the beautiful is home plate to some of the most striking instinctive admiration on the planet , including the human beings ’s first national park , its tallest trees , and enceinte cave system . Yet , in between it all , the area ’s tallgrass prairie issecond only to the Amazon rainforestas the most complex and divers ecosystem on the satellite . But today , what was once a 170 - million - Akka sprawl of un - fragmented grassland — stretch from Saskatchewan to Texas , and the Rockies to Appalachia — has been reduced to 4 % of its former glory , a fractured landscape painting confined largely to the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma .
That said , what tall-grass prairie persist is as stunning as it is life-sustaining , maintain life for pivotal species , battle spherical warming , and preserving an environment like nowhere else on Earth .
Where All That Tallgrass Came From
In terms of geology , the tall-grass prairie is n’t nearly as old as , say , the Rocky Mountains , but in its own fashion , its etymon run deep . “ The tallgrass prairie came into being after the last Ice Age , 8,000 to 10,000 year ago , ” explains Ivan Levin , Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships with theNational Park Trust . “ Glaciers leave behind robust , deep topsoil . In some sphere , winds blew river flood sediments across the land , further enriching the dirt . The expanse was the turgid continuous ecosystem in North America . ”
cover the integrality of the present - Clarence Day Great Plains , and thriving in regions that are too wet for desert yet too dry for full - blown forests , the prairie is as biodiverse as it was expansive , hosting hundreds of coinage of flora and beast , including more than 300 kind of forbs ( flowering plants that are n’t weed ) alone . Hearty shop , like Native American grass and big Andropogon gerardii , particularly bloom in the easterly reaches of the champaign , where rainfall was more abundant , test capable of growing grandiloquent than most people .
The ample botany provided aliment for grazers like bison , whose numbers in the tallgrass prairie once rank in the tens of million , along with predators like wolves , panthers , and silvertip bears . Below the aerofoil , root systems extend more than five feet , storing carbon and steep enriched dirt from ordained fire and low - impact grazing ( i.e. , movement and migration , not stagnant graze ) .
Summer rain on the prairie.|Courtesy NPS
Unfortunately , though , the racy soil also put a big bull’s - center on the prairie for developers . “ get in the 1800s , the robust soil and rolling or flat topography made it an idealistic orbit for call down harvest , ” Levin says . “ Much of the prairie was plowed under for raising crops . exploitation , overgrazing , eliminating lifelike fervour from the landscape painting , and invasive plant further impact and eliminated prairie lands . ”
The rest in which farmers could replace the land with harvest with shallower etymon , coupled with urban sprawl , speed the disappearance of this once - mighty sweep . But now , in the Flint Hills and beyond , conservationists are avail to stop the hemorrhaging of this smashing American resource , while promoting the peculiar landscape as a pail - list destination for responsible tourism .
Protecting the Prairie
Throughout the fragmented plains , various state Park and wildlife sanctuary have been created to both highlighting and preserve these vulnerable grassland , includingPrairie State Parkin Missouri , Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refugein Minnesota , andGoose Lake Prairie State Natural Areain the “ Prairie State ” of Illinois . But the most sweeping protection are in and around the Flint Hills , courtesy of Kansas’Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve , the only whole of the National Park Service dedicated to the ecosystem , and theJoseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preservein Oklahoma , home to the largest protected piece of tallgrass prairie on Earth .
The latter , cover about 40,000 acres , is negociate byThe Nature Conservancy , which help sustain the topography through prescribed burn and a free - ranging bison ruck , while prohibiting hunting , sportfishing , camping , detent , and off - roading . “ The preserve was started because grasslands are the number one converted ecosystem in the world , and they ’re diminishing left and right , ” say Aaron Morvan , theater director of communication and merchandising for The Nature Conservancy .
The organization first purchased 10,000 acres from the land ’s original ranch owners , before a nationwide fundraising crusade for the conservancy allowed for considerable expansion in Osage County , leave in the large protected area of tallgrass prairie in the creation . Since the Flint Hills are jolty than much of the plains , making it hard to grow , this particular patch of prairie was n’t converted to farmland , leaving abject - impact grazers free to trod the surface soil . It ’s that graze , along with order flaming , that keep the balance in curb , and keeps everything salubrious .
The fire line at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve|Courtesy NPS
“ We cauterize about a tail of the conserves every year , ” Morvan explains , noting that they rotate burn areas annually to forbid encroachment from tree and shrubs that are harmful to the area , like the eastern red cedarwood . “ These trees gobble up carbon , which might vocalize swell , but they ’re very thirsty , and they consume like 30 gallon of H2O a 24-hour interval . They ’re everywhere , and they ’re just soaking up all this water and making drought conditions a whole lot worse . ” Thanks to their want of fire tolerance , though , they can be kept at bay , allow more of that piss to absorb into grasses .
Unlike trees , which eventually lose carbon back into the air , grasses are more potent adversaries against climate alteration . “ When we bite our grass , only the aboveground part is effected , and the roots are fine and sizable , ” Morvan explain . “ So rather of killing the native plants , it invigorates the ground , and allow these deeply rooted grasses to continue storing carbon copy for decades . ”
Maintaining a healthy grassland is also crucial for prairie wildlife . In the tallgrass prairie , which over 700 species call plate , unlike animals need different types of grass conditions to survive . Morvan cites prairie chickens as an illustration , which need mellow grass to safely lay eggs in , but little grass for tangle rituals . “ We employ fire to help manage dissimilar conditions and make the space optimize for all sort of species . ”
Bison reintroduction play a vital role in the prairie ecosystem.|Courtesy NPS
This means managing the largest mammal in the prairie as well : bison . The biggest draw for tourists , Oklahoma ’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is home to about 1,800 free - roaming bison , while Kansas ’ National Park unitrelocated bison to the preserve in 2009 , from South Dakota’sWind Cave National Park , as a mean value of contributing to a larger preservation ruck with a healthy amount of genetic diversity . The key for North America ’s largest commonwealth mammal is in the balance between low - impact grazing that ’s hefty for the soil without to a fault dwindling its resourcefulness .
enounce Morvan of ruck management , “ We ’re the wildcat . We have to keep the mammals in balance , or bison might get too populated and overgraze . ” Each class , The Nature Conservancyrounds up the bison(“the one clock time a yr the bison get handled ” ) to see how many calves were give birth , if any died , and give the bison ear tags and vaccines . To keep the herd act in impediment , the conserves sells a determinate amount of animals to meat purveyor . This keeps the flora and animate being in check , allowing smaller animals — including rare or endangered specie like prairie crybaby and milkweed butterfly butterfly stroke — to use the grassland too .
“ Biodiversity is the key to ecosystem stableness , ” explains Levin . “ Some specie in tallgrass prairie may be found nowhere else . Other species , like bison , flourish there because it ’s their ideal habitat . Part of coinage survival is transmissible diversity ; little expanse mean modest , genetically limited populations , which could also lead to extermination . ”
Virginia wild rye|Courtesy NPS
Responsible Tourism
Both detached - to - chatter conserve in Kansas and Oklahoma are teeming with Native American smoke , trivial bluestem , and large bluestem , the latter of which is the quintessential tallgrass , capable of outdo most mass ’s headspring . address of which , the time of year and how many bison have grazed the area can effect the summit of the grass . Typically , though , declination is when the weed reaches its bill .
In Kansas , visitors will find three destine tramp trail , accessible 24 hours a day , along with 40 miles of backcountry trails through bison territory , and ranger - led tours of historic ranch houses and barns . No personal fomite are allow on the preserve , but vista of the tall-grass can be safely seen from theFlint Hills National Scenic Byway . There ’s also a fully staffedvisitor center , complete with an orientation film , exhibits , and a bookstore .
Oklahoma ’s preserve , only a portion of which is accessible to the public , operates a visitor centre on a limited footing ( check the docent schedulehereahead of fourth dimension ) , along with tramp trails , a 15 - mile scenic driving loop , andmonthly guided tours of a historic cabinled by Osage historian John Joseph Mathews . Like Kansas , personal vehicles are n’t allowed on the conserve , limiting trails to leg it traffic to best husband the land . It ’s also crucial , anywhere in tall-grass prairie , not to alter or take anything from the environment , and to backpack out whatever trash you contribute in .
Each time of year lends unique ravisher to the landscape painting , with wildflower blossom from spring into summer , the aforementioned grasses reaching their peak in the fall , and snow - swept serenity the theme of winter . Morvan notes that bison calves are fittingly yield around Mother ’s Day and are exciting to observe from a safe length ( add binoculars ! ) . While it ’s pretty much guarantee you ’ll see bison any clip of year , Morvan enounce they ’re the most participating during entangle season , from June through September . Sunscreen and bug spray are particularly crucial in the give and summer , while water is always an essential . Be aware of inflict after a big pelting , as many road are gravel , and can present problems for vehicles without four - wheel - crusade .
“ The prairie is more of an intentional goal , ” concludes Morvan , comparing it to the no - duh majesty of westerly mountain ranges . “ At first coup d’oeil , it might seem underwhelming , but if you listen , await , and observe , it part to unveil itself in different ways . ”
