Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

This article is about the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. There is also a Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma, and a Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Manitoba managed by a number of partners, including the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Manitoba Conservation.

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 4% remains, primarily in the Flint Hills.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a new kind of national park. The preserve is 10,894 acres (44 km²), but most of that land will remain under the ownership of the The Nature Conservancy, which purchased the land in 2005. The National Park Service may own up to 180 acres (0.7 km²), yet the legislation calls for the entire area to be managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the The Nature Conservancy.

On September 20, 2002, approximately 32 acres (129,000 m²) were donated to the National Park Service from the National Park Trust who was the private landowner at the time. This area includes the 1881 historic ranch house, limestone barn and outbuildings, and one-room schoolhouse.

Tallgrass Prairie is the nation's second newest...
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