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Monday, October 30, 2017

Visitor Center - National Grasslands


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.

Entrance hall

Books and maps in the gift shop

Weather dispaly

Grasslands overview

Upland display

Titanothereum fossil

Prairie Dog Town

Wetlands display

Woody Draw display

Touchable animal pelts

Native American display

Cattle ranching

Dust bowl

Grassland consolidation

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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