Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
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- This article is about the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma. There is also a Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas operated by US National Park Service, and a Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Manitoba managed by the Manitoba Conservation Department.
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is protected as the largest tract of remaining tallgrass prairie in the world. The preserve contains 39,000 acres (158 km²) in what was the original tallgrass region of the Great Plains that stretched from Texas to Manitoba. The preserve supports more than 1,600 head of buffalo and more than 400 plant species; many unique to the tallgrass prairie. Several varieties of the tall grasses in the preserve grow to 10 feet (3 m) in height. The Nature Conservancy manages the preserve using the same natural forces which first created the prairies, partticularly controlled burns and grazing from a modest herd of buffalo—both of which keep shrubs and trees from encroaching and help renew the prairie. The preserve is open daily for driving tours and hiking and may be entered from either Pawhuska, Oklahoma, or, with guidance, from Hewins, Kansas.
