Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Current Status

The National Park Trust (NPT) purchased the 10,894-acre remnant of tallgrass prairie, known as the Z Bar/Spring Hill Ranch in June 1994, for future management as a unit of the National Park System. On November 12, 1996, President Clinton signed into law legislation creating the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Up to 180 acres of the property -- including the historic ranch buildings -- will be donated to the National Park Service while the remaining nearly 11,000 acres of untilled tallgrass prairie will remain under the ownership of the National Park Trust. Eventually, the National Park Service (NPS) will manage the entire acreage through a cooperative agreement with NPT.

In February 1997, a National Park Superintendent was assigned to the Preserve and began working on the site. The park service is conducting the formal planning, General Management Plan, for the new preserve with the input from the general public and an advisory committee composed of representative of the National Park Trust, adjacent landowners and ranchers, educational institutions local and state officials, and conservation and historic preservation organizations. Once completed, the General Management Plan (GMP) will provide a vision for the future management of the preserve as well as a practical framework for decision making. The plan, which must be completed by September 2000, will describe the general direction the NPS intends to follow in managing the preserve for the next 10 to 15 years.

The draft preferred alternative, a part of the GMP, reflects a vision for the preserve as a place where one can find many of the species of plants animals that compromise and sustain a tallgrass prairie ecosystem; where one can come to understand and appreciate the complex interactions within this ecosystem; and where one can explore the inseparable bond between the landscape and the people who have gained their sustenance from this land. The focus of this alternative is the integrated management of the natural and cultural resources of the site, which reflects the deep intertwining of these resources at the preserve.

The alternative provides for a variety of visitor activities and support facilities, designed and developed to help visitors understand and appreciate the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and the long history of human interaction with it. When fully developed as a park unit, the preserve will offer interpretive exhibits and programs covering the natural history of the prairie, the cultural history of American Indians, and the legacy of ranching in the Flint Hills.