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In addition to the bison at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, The Nature Conservancy has plains bison (Bos bison bison) on seven other native grassland preserves. Four of these other seven herds are owned and managed by the Conservancy, two herds are owned by bison ranchers and run on Conservancy preserves under a lease arrangement, and one herd is owned by a university that manages the TNC-owned preserve. Before the spring calf crop in 2002 these herds, including the Tallgrass Prairie herd, totaled 4,080 head of bison on 84,440 acres of native grassland.
A brief description of each of the other seven TNC bison preserves follows, with links to the respective websites. There are, of course, a number of non-TNC bison herds; the National Bison Association (see icon and link at top) is a good place to start to track down some of these.
Clymer Meadow - The 1,200-acre Clymer Meadow Preserve is located in the Blackland Prairie region of northern Texas, near Greenville. Bison have been used at Clymer Meadow since 1999 on an experimental basis under a lease arrangement with a private bison rancher. The herd of 300 bison graze about 400 acres of tallgrass prairie, in a short duration grazing program. |
Clymer Meadow |
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Cross Ranch - The 6,000-acre Cross Ranch Preserve is located along the Missouri River in central North Dakota, near Hensler. This herd was started in 1986, primarily from the bison at Custer State Park in South Dakota, with additions from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the late 1980s. The herd of 129 head currently resides on 3,050 acres of northern mixed-grass prairie. |
Cross Ranch |
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Konza Prairie - The 8,600-acre Konza Prairie is located in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas, just south of Manhattan. Owned jointly by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University Foundation, Kansas State University operates this preserve with a threefold mission of longterm ecological research, education, and prairie conservation. |
Konza Prairie |
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Medano Zapata Ranch - The 100,000-acre Medano Zapata Ranch is located in the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado, near Alamosa. This herd originated in 1985 from several private and state bison herds in Wyoming, and currently comprises 1,100 head on 47,000 acres of high mountain desert shrubland with interspersed meadows. |
Medano Zapata |
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Niobrara Valley - The 54,000-acre Niobrara Valley Preserve is located along the Niobrara River and north edge of the Sand Hills in northcentral Nebraska, near Johnstown. Two herds currently totaling 380 head occupy 11,000 acres of sandhills prairie, northern mixed-grass prairie, and riparian woodland-grassland communities in the Niobrara Valley. |
Niobrara Valley |
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Ordway Prairie The 7,800-acre Samuel H. Ordway Memorial Prairie is located in the Prairie Pothole region of northcentral South Dakota, near Leola. Bison were first introduced at this preserve in 1978, and numbered 18 head in 1984. This herd now contains 250 head on 3,000 acres of northern mixed grass-prairie. |
Ordway Prairie |
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Smoky Valley Ranch The 16,000-acre Smoky Valley Ranch is located in the High Plains of western Kansas, near Oakley. A bison herd of 42 head, comprising 5 bulls and 37 cows, was started in 2002. One of the bulls is the Gold Trophy Winner at the 1999 Denver Stock Show, and the preserve's goal is a genetically top-quality herd. |
Smoky Valley |
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