| Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve | |
   | |
| Location | Chase County, Kansas |
| Nearest city | Strong City, Kansas |
| Coordinates | 38°25′58″N 96°33′32″W / 38.43278°N 96.55889°W |
| Area | 10,882 acres (44.04 km2) |
| Established | November 12, 1996 |
| Visitors | 29,009 (in 2020)[1] |
| Governing body | National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy |
| Website | Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve |
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Of the 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 km2) of tallgrass prairie that once covered the North American continent, less than 5% remains, primarily in the Flint Hills.[2] Since 2009, the preserve has been home to the Tallgrass Prairie bison herd.[3]
- ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ Christian, Shirley (July 26, 1998). "A Prairie Home". New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
Almost a century and a half later, an unusual three-way accord involving the Federal Government, a private nonprofit organization and big-time cattlemen allowed me to experience the same scene amid the nearly 11,000 acres (45 km2) of rolling hills that form the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, one of the few large tracts of virgin prairie left in the United States. While the traveler of long ago saw bison in the distance, today's tourists share the prairie with thousands of head of cattle shipped into Kansas every spring to fatten on the nutritious bluestem grasses.
- ^ Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve | Bison Update (PDF) (Report). US National Park Service. January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2013.