Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
| Tallgrass Prairie Preserve | |
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Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
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 Map of Oklahoma
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| Location | Osage County, Oklahoma |
| Nearest city | Pawhuska |
| Coordinates | 36°50′31″N 96°25′08″W / 36.842°N 96.419°WCoordinates: 36°50′31″N 96°25′08″W / 36.842°N 96.419°W |
| Area | 45,000 acres (180 km2) |
| Established | 1989 |
| Governing body | The Nature Conservancy |
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 (160 km2) owned by the Conservancy and another 6,000 acres (24 km2) leased in what was the original tallgrass region of the Great Plains that stretched from Texas to Manitoba.
The preserve is located at the southern end of the Flint Hills, a rocky, rolling prairie that stretches from northern Kansas into Oklahoma. Exposed limestone formations make cultivation difficult, and thus the Flint Hills have survived much as they were when they were an Indian hunting ground for tribes such as the Wichita, Osage, and Kaw. The region is called “The Osage” by Oklahomans, referring to the name of the county and the Indian tribe to which the land belonged. Pilots call The Osage the “Black Hole” when flying over it at night because it is so lightly populated.
Prior to its purchase by the Nature Conservancy in 1989, the preserve was called the Barnard Ranch which had been part of the Chapman-Barnard ranch of 100,000 acres (400 km2). The foreman of the Chapman-Barnard ranch, Ben Johnson, Sr. was a rodeo champion. His son, also a rodeo champion, was Ben Johnson, Jr. who appeared in more than 300 movies and won an Oscar for his role in “The Last Picture Show.”
The preserve is bisected by well-timbered Salt Creek and its tributaries. The eastern portion of the preserve is in the Cross Timbers, a north-south running belt of tangled oak forests that were a major impediment to early travelers heading west. About 10 percent of the preserve is forested and the remainder is tallgrass prairie with grasses of several species that can grow 10 feet (3 m) tall.
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