1. Bonanza Prairie Scientific and Natural Area
2. Big Stone State Park
3. Prairie/Victory Wildlife Management Area
4. Clinton Scientific Natural Area
5. Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
6. Plover Prairie Preserve
7. Yellow Bank Hills Scientific & Natural Area
8. Chippewa Prairie Preserve
9. Yellow Bank Hills Scientific & Natural Area
10. Lac qui Parle State Park
11. Nordfjord Prairie
12. Ordway Prairie Preserve
13. Morris Wetland Management District Office

Little remains of the once common tall grass prairies of Minnesota. These seas of grass once covered 18-20 million acres of our state, where today less than 1% (180,000 acres) remain. Tall grass prairies are comprised of an abundance of grasses that typically grow three or more feet tall. Including Big and Little Bluestem, Grama Grass, Indian Grass, Switch Grass and Prairie Cord Grass. Shorter grasses and sedges are common, as are many flowering plants.

Settlers found seas of grasses taller than a horse and rider, carpets of wildflowers boasting vivid colors and black fertile soil that seemed endless. This prairie was once home to elk, bison, and wolves. Many species of birds and insects made the tallgrass prairie their home.

Prairies are typically thought to be treeless, but do maintain close biological relationships with open woodland communities, often called savannas. Early inhabitants of the prairie depended on the prairie for their survival and managed it according to their needs and activities.

Modern prairie management includes regular prescribed fires. These fires although man-made, simulate the occasional lightening strike, an escaped campfire or a deliberately set fire from years gone by. Fires stimulate root growth in plants and suppress invasive weeds.

Today Minnesota's landscape has greatly changed since pioneer time. Millions of acres have been lost through conversion to agriculture, interstate grading or to development. Large areas of prairie that have not been overtly destroyed have been degraded through fill suppression, drainage or other alterations jeopardizing their survival.

In western Minnesota we are fortunate to have many publicly owned sites that contain native prairie tracts.

Nowhere on the planet was there a grassland complex like the Midwestern tall grass prairie. Today only small examples of its diversity remain for humans to view and understand. Take time to visit one of these irreplaceable resources of western Minnesota.

Source: Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers @ 1995 Falcon Press

Natural Resources