50@50 – Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, OK
I traveled northwest from Tulsa to the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. Covering 39,000 acres, the preserve is the largest contiguous area of untilled tall grass prairie on Earth. Surrounded by the Osage Reservation, it is part of the southern Flint Hills, a rocky limestone prairie that stretches from northern Kansas into Oklahoma,which made cultivation difficult. Thus, the gentle hills and prairie have survived much as they were when they were Indian hunting grounds. Three quarters of the preserve was previously the the Barnard Cattle Ranch.[1]
The Nature Conservancy sees to maintain the natural eco-system of prairie plants and animals, a haven for watchable wildlife, home to over 300 species of birds, white-tailed deer, bobcats, armadillos, beavers, woodchucks, badgers, coyotes, the reintroduction of buffalo (now a herd of 2700), and the use of fire.
I didn’t do my homework well enough beforehand. The road from Pawhuska, and 8 miles past, is mostly gravel – though fairly smooth, but gravel, so be prepared. The surrounding reservation looks like much of rural America – dotted with farms, ranches, oil wells and marinas. The town of Pawhuska, with over 80 buildings on the National Register of Historic places, seems to be re- experiencing the great depression – over half the buildings appear empty; some in disrepair, many others under utilized. I came through early to hike, so most of the operating businesses weren’t open yet, accentuating their dire looking predicament. This town had once been very rich…
The headquarters of the reserve encompasses the fully restored former bunkhouse of the ranch. I arrived with virtually no understanding of the difference between a tall grass prairie and a short grass prairie. This ecosystem supports about 750 plant species. The Conservancy has information that details some of the defining plants and grasses so one can recognize them. The Reserve includes only three short trails, between ½ mile and 2 miles long. Don’t worry, they do not intersect with the buffalo grazing area.
Wildflowers peak in mid-May and in late summer. Like the desert, the prairie’s level of diversity cannot be appreciated except up close. The physical trails are not hard, but there is little coverage from the overhead sun. This is why I love to experience place. The land embodies memory that dwarfs generations. I visited in midsummer, so it wasn’t hard to imagine traveling hundreds of miles through the grasslands in the summer with the sun’s piercing rays.
Some argue that culture doesn’t exist without people. If a tree falls in a forest… The land has experienced life, with and without people, it has felt cold and, as I was, hot. The essence of place is its culture, with or without us. The Tall Grass Prairie Reserve presents us the opportunity to experience the culture past in the present.