In addition to managing the 154 National Forests, the US Forest Service also manages 20 National Grasslands and one National Tallgrass Prairie covering nearly 6,000 square miles. Seventeen of the grasslands are on the Great Plains from North Dakota and Wyoming south to Texas and New Mexico. The other three grasslands are located in California, Oregon, and Idaho. The tallgrass prairie is located in Illinois.
The only visitor center for all of the grasslands is located in Wall, South Dakota. It is administered as part of Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The visitor center houses an information desk, museum, theater, restrooms, and gift shop. A 25-minute video about the grasslands is shown on request. The video does a great job of telling the story of the prairie, including stills and movie clips from the 1930s. However, it is several years old and not as visually crisp due to the production techniques of the time.
I stopped at the visitor center in August 2017.
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| Entrance hall |
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| Books and maps in the gift shop |
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| Weather dispaly |
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| Grasslands overview |
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| Upland display |
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| Titanothereum fossil |
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| Prairie Dog Town |
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| Wetlands display |
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| Woody Draw display |
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| Touchable animal pelts |
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| Native American display |
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| Cattle ranching |
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| Dust bowl |
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| Grassland consolidation |
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| Arrowheads and their origins |
Entry to the grasslands is free.
The visitor center webpage is https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nebraska/about-forest/districts/?cid=fsm9_028062.
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