United States National Grassland
As a United States National Grasslands are grassland areas of national importance in the United States referred to on land in federal ownership by the US Secretary of Agriculture as protected areas declared and the US Forest Service to manage.
The legal basis of the National Grasslands is Part III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937. The core of today's protected areas arose from farms that were raised during the Great Depression of the Midwest due to persistent drought ( Dust Bowl ). had to be given up. The federal government bought farms, designated them as National Grasslands , and renatured the prairie .
Administratively they are classified as national forests, with the difference that the vegetation of the grasslands consists mainly of prairie. Some are managed jointly with nearby national forests. The three grasslands in North Dakota are jointly managed as Dakota Prairie Grasslands with one in northwest South Dakota . In the National Grasslands, as in the National Forests, hunting, pasture, raw material extraction, recreation and other uses are usually possible. The intensity of their protection is therefore roughly comparable to that of a nature park or landscape protection area in Germany.
Almost all of the National Grasslands are in the area or on the edge of the Great Plains . Only three are elsewhere, namely in southeast Idaho , northeast California and central Oregon . Most national grasslands are much smaller than national forests , the largest being the Little Missouri National Grassland in North Dakota with 4,181.5 km², which is about the average size of a national forest. As of September 30, 2007, the 20 existing National Grasslands cover a total of 15,552.2 km².
List of National Grasslands
- Black Kettle National Grassland : in western Oklahoma , administered as part of the Cibola National Forest
- Buffalo Gap National Grassland : in southwest South Dakota , administered as part of the Nebraska-McKelvie National Forests
- Butte Valley National Grassland : in northern California , administered as part of the Klamath National Forest
- Caddo National Grassland : in northern Texas ( Fannin County ), jointly administered with Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland
- Cedar River National Grassland : in southwestern North Dakota , administered as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands
- Cimarron National Grassland : in southwest Kansas , administered as part of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests
- Comanche National Grassland : in southeast Colorado , jointly managed with the Pike-San Isabel National Forests
- Crooked River National Grassland : in central Oregon (Valley of the Deschutes River ), administered as part of the Deschutes-Ochoco National Forests
- Curlew National Grassland : in southeast Idaho ( Curlew Valley ), jointly managed with the Caribou-Targhee National Forest
- Grand River National Grassland : in western South Dakota , administered as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands
- Fort Pierre National Grassland : in central South Dakota , administered as part of the Nebraska-McKelvie National Forests
- Kiowa National Grassland : in northeastern New Mexico , administered as part of the Cibola National Forest
- Little Missouri National Grassland : in western North Dakota , administered as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands
- Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland : in northern Texas , jointly managed with Caddo National Grassland
- McClellan Creek National Grassland : in northwest Texas (known as the " Texas Panhandle "), administered as part of the Cibola National Forest
- Oglala National Grassland : in northwestern Nebraska , administered as part of the Nebraska-McKelvie National Forests
- Pawnee National Grassland : in northeast Colorado , administered as part of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests
- Rita Blanca National Grassland : in northwest Texas (known as the "Texas Panhandle") and western Oklahoma , administered as part of the Cibola National Forest
- Sheyenne National Grassland : in southeast North Dakota , administered as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands
- Thunder Basin National Grassland : in eastern Wyoming , administered as part of the Medicine Bow - Routt National Forest
The only extensively preserved grassland in California is not a national grassland, but part of the Carrizo Plain National Monument . The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeast Illinois, managed by the United States Forest Service , is comparable to the National Grasslands .
See also
Web links
- US Forest Service: National Grasslands - Official Program Website