Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Podcast Library
Science:Nature
Spring Hill Ranch HQ Tour Stop 11: Prairie Overlook
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TRANSCRIPT:
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The large and imposing stone structures of the ranch are dwarfed by the vastness of the landscape. For centuries, the interplay of climate, fire, and grazing have combined to produce and sustain the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Throughout most of the tour, you have observed the influence of people on the prairie. Now consider the influence of the prairie on the people. What you are feeling as you step from the shade and comfort of the trees into the exposed openness of the overlook, is exactly what the settlers were experiencing over a century ago, when they stepped from the forests into the openness of the prairie beyond the Mississippi River.
Many people judged this almost treeless land to be worthless. The pioneers soon realized the value of the prairie's rich soil. Today, less than 4% of North America's tallgrass prairie remains. Although the Flint Hills were too rocky to plow, settlers discovered its many resources, something long known by American Indians. The Flint Hills have furnished people with edible and medicinal plants, year-round spring water, stone for tools, weapons, fences, and buildings, wind for power, rich bottomlands for farming, and lush grasses for grazing, both on which bison and, more recently, cattle could fatten.
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