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In Grand Forks County, a Remnant of the Great North American Prairie Remains
You can still walk in a native Red River Valley prairie, where the meadowlark trills and the wood lily blooms. Just ten minutes west of Grand Forks lies an expanse of native prairie that's commonly known as "Oakville Prairie" or "Alkali Flats." This 5,000-acre patch of native prairie is like a postage stamp on the modern agricultural landscape, making it all the more valuable as a record of our natural heritage.
This prairie is a mosaic of more than 250 plant species, which makes for a rich habitat for the 75 bird species that nest here. This plant diversity includes grasses such as Indian grass and side-oats grama, little bluestem and prairie cordgrass. And like a crazy quilt of colors that changes with the seasons, wildflowers bloom from "snow to snow." Their names - prairie smoke and prairie coneflower, black-eyed susan and smooth blue aster - roll off the tongue like the prairie's own poetry. This remnant of prairie is one of the last in the Red River Valley, a place that has always provided for us. Now, we're seeking to provide a place for future generations to see the prairie.
The Grand Forks County Prairie Partners is leading a grassroots initiative to preserve and restore local prairie. Throughout the tallgrass prairie - from Oklahoma to Manitoba - local groups of concerned citizens like us are preserving tracts of native
grasslands, and it's happening none too soon: Less than one percent of America's tallgrass prairie remains. It's the most endangered ecosystem on the continent. While most of the tallgrass prairie has become the world's breadbasket, the little that remains is still threatened. These threats include the conversion of grasslands to cropland, urban sprawl, the dumping of agricultural waste, the creation of landfills, and overgrazing.
This prairie is a mosaic of more than 250 plant species, which makes for a rich habitat for the 75 bird species that nest here. This plant diversity includes grasses such as Indian grass and side-oats grama, little bluestem and prairie cordgrass. And like a crazy quilt of colors that changes with the seasons, wildflowers bloom from "snow to snow." Their names - prairie smoke and prairie coneflower, black-eyed susan and smooth blue aster - roll off the tongue like the prairie's own poetry. This remnant of prairie is one of the last in the Red River Valley, a place that has always provided for us. Now, we're seeking to provide a place for future generations to see the prairie.
The Grand Forks County Prairie Partners is leading a grassroots initiative to preserve and restore local prairie. Throughout the tallgrass prairie - from Oklahoma to Manitoba - local groups of concerned citizens like us are preserving tracts of native
grasslands, and it's happening none too soon: Less than one percent of America's tallgrass prairie remains. It's the most endangered ecosystem on the continent. While most of the tallgrass prairie has become the world's breadbasket, the little that remains is still threatened. These threats include the conversion of grasslands to cropland, urban sprawl, the dumping of agricultural waste, the creation of landfills, and overgrazing.
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