Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge

National wildlife refuge in Minnesota, United States

43°44′01″N 96°16′26″W / 43.7337°N 96.2738°W / 43.7337; -96.2738^[1]Area5,000 acres (20 km²)Established2000Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceWebsiteNorthern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge

Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide a means of working with individuals, groups, private organizations, and government entities to permanently preserve a portion of the remaining remnant tracts of northern tallgrass prairie in Minnesota and Iowa. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is acquiring remnant prairie tracts for the refuge in both easement and fee title interests from willing sellers.

Presently, the refuge is approximately 5,000 acres (20 km²) in size and consists of 49 units. 41 units are protected by conservation easements totaling 2,500 acres. The 8 units owned by the US Fish Wildlife Service account for nearly 3,000 acres (2,451 acres in Minnesota and 352 acres in Iowa).^[2] Field administration of all units acquired for the refuge will occur from eight existing Fish and Wildlife Service Wetland Management District and National Wildlife Refuge offices scattered throughout the project area established for the refuge.

When a tract of land is acquired for the refuge within the work area for one of these offices, the office will assume administrative authority for the tract. The project leader of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is responsible for overseeing the administration of the entire refuge.^[3]

Touch the Sky Prairie

Touch the Sky Prairie is one unit of the Northern Tall Grass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge. Touch the Sky Prairie was created in 2001 and is located in Rock County, Minnesota a few short miles west of Blue Mounds State Park. This remnant tall grass prairie consists of approximately 1,000 acres of native prairie grasses, wildflowers, several bird species, and a small segment of Beaver Creek.^[4] A trail approximately 1 mile in length leads through beautiful wildflowers and a secluded waterfall.^[5]

Prairie Smoke

The Prairie Smoke Unit is located South-East of Algona, Iowa in Kossuth County. This remnant prairie unit is utilized by waterfowl hunters during hunting season. Prairie Smoke was purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2002.^[6]

References

Refuge website

^ Hanley, Alice M. (January 2011). "Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, Hunt Plan" (PDF). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-12.
^ https://www.fws.gov/refuge/northern_tallgrass_prairie/about_NWRS.html
^ https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Northern_Tallgrass_Prairie/visit/plan_your_visit.html
^ "Nov-Dec 2019 | Minnesota Conservation Volunteer". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
^ "Prairie Waterfall at Touch the Sky Prairie". AllTrails.com. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
^ https://www.iasoybeans.com/upl/downloads/library/Praire_Creek_Watershed_Plan.pdf ^{[dead link]}

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Protected areas of Minnesota

National

Parks	Voyageurs
Monuments	Grand Portage Pipestone
Rivers	Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
Scenic Trails	North Country Trail
Wildlife Refuges	Agassiz Big Stone Crane Meadows Glacial Ridge Hamden Slough Mille Lacs Minnesota Valley Northern Tallgrass Prairie Rice Lake Rydell Sherburne Tamarac Upper Mississippi River
Wetland Management Districts	Big Stone Detroit Lakes Fergus Falls Litchfield Minnesota Valley Morris Windom
Forests	Chippewa Superior
Natural Landmarks	Ancient River Warren Channel Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Natural Area Keeley Creek Natural Area Lac la Croix Research Natural Area Lake Agassiz Peatlands Natural Area Pine Point Research Natural Area Upper Red Lake Peatland
Wilderness	Agassiz Boundary Waters Canoe Area Tamarac

State

Parks	Afton Banning Bear Head Lake Beaver Creek Valley Big Stone Lake Blue Mounds Buffalo River Camden Carley Cascade River Charles A. Lindbergh Crow Wing Father Hennepin Flandrau Forestville Mystery Cave Fort Ridgely Fort Snelling Franz Jevne Frontenac George H. Crosby Manitou Glacial Lakes Glendalough Gooseberry Falls Grand Portage Great River Bluffs Hayes Lake Hill-Annex Mine Interstate Itasca Jay Cooke John A. Latsch Judge C. R. Magney Kilen Woods Lac qui Parle Lake Bemidji Lake Bronson Lake Carlos Lake Louise Lake Maria Lake Shetek Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine Maplewood McCarthy Beach Mille Lacs Kathio Minneopa Monson Lake Moose Lake Myre-Big Island Nerstrand-Big Woods Old Mill Rice Lake Saint Croix Sakatah Lake Savanna Portage Scenic Schoolcraft Sibley Split Rock Creek Split Rock Lighthouse Temperance River Tettegouche Upper Sioux Agency Whitewater Wild River William O'Brien Zippel Bay
Recreation Areas	Big Bog Cuyuna Country Garden Island Greenleaf Lake Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle La Salle Lake Minnesota Valley Red River Saint Croix Islands
Waysides	Caribou Falls Devils Track Falls Flood Bay Inspiration Peak Joseph R. Brown Kodonce River Ray Berglund St. Croix Boom Site Sam Brown Memorial
Forests	Badoura Battleground Bear Island Beltrami Island Big Fork Birch Lakes Blackduck Bowstring Buena Vista Burntside Centennial Chengwatana Cloquet Valley Crow Wing D.A.R. Emily Finland Fond du Lac Foot Hills General C. C. Andrews George Washington Golden Anniversary Grand Portage Hill River Huntersville Insula Lake Jeanette Kabetogama Koochiching Lake Isabella Lake of the Woods Land o'Lakes Lost River Lyons Mississippi Headwaters Nemadji Northwest Angle Pat Bayle Remer Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood Rum River Saint Croix Sand Dunes Savanna Smokey Bear Smoky Hills Snake River Solana Sturgeon River Two Inlets Waukenabo Wealthwood Welsh Lake White Earth Whiteface River
Scientific and Natural Areas	List of scientific and natural areas

Local

Parks	County and regional parks Three Rivers Park District

Other

Minnesota Historical Society	Alexander Ramsey House Birch Coulee Battlefield Charles A. Lindbergh House Comstock House Folsom House Forest History Center Forestville Fort Renville Fort Ridgely Fort Snelling Grand Mound Harkin's General Store James J. Hill House Jeffers Petroglyphs Lac qui Parle Mission Lower Sioux Agency Marine Mill Mill City Museum Mille Lacs Indian Museum Minnehaha Depot Minnesota History Center Minnesota State Capitol Morrison Mounds Oliver Kelley Farm Sibley Historic Site Snake River Trading Post Split Rock Lighthouse Stumne Mounds Traverse des Sioux Upper Sioux Agency W. W. Mayo House
Nature centers	List of nature centers
Hiking	List of hiking trails

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Protected areas of Iowa

Federal

National monument	Effigy Mounds
National Historic Site	Herbert Hoover
National Wildlife Refuges	DeSoto Driftless Area Neal Smith Northern Tallgrass Prairie Port Louisa Union Slough Upper Mississippi River

State

State Parks	Ambrose A. Call Backbone Badger Creek Banner Lakes at Summerset Beeds Lake Bellevue Big Creek Black Hawk Brushy Creek Cedar Rock Clear Lake Dolliver Memorial Elk Rock Elinor Bedell Emerson Bay Fairport Fort Defiance Geode George Wyth Memorial Green Valley Gull Point Honey Creek Lacey-Keosauqua Lake Ahquabi Lake Anita Lake Darling Lake Keomah Lake Macbride Lake Manawa Lake of Three Fires Lake Wapello Ledges Lewis and Clark Lower Gar Maquoketa Caves Marble Beach McIntosh Woods Mines of Spain & E.B. Lyons Mini-Wakan Nine Eagles Okamanpedan Palisades-Kepler Pikes Peak Pikes Point Pilot Knob Pillsbury Point Pine Lake Pleasant Creek Prairie Rose Preparation Canyon Red Haw Rice Lake Rock Creek Springbrook Stone Templar Trapper's Bay Twin Lakes Union Grove Viking Lake Volga River Walnut Woods Wapsipinicon Waubonsie Wildcat Den Wilson Island
State Forests	Backbone Barkley Gifford Holst Loess Hills Pilot Mound Shimek Stephens White Pine Hollow Yellow River
State Preserves	A.F. Miller Ames High Prairie Anderson Prairie Behrens Pond and Woodlands Berry Woods Bird Hill Bixby Bluffton Fir Stand Brush Creek Canyon Brushy Creek Cameron Woods Casey's Paha Catfish Creek Cayler Prairie Cedar Bluffs Cedar Hills Sand Prairie Cheever Lake Clay Prairie Claybanks Forest Cold Water Spring Crossman Prairie Decorah Ice Cave Dinesen Prairie Doolittle Prairie Fallen Rock Fish Farm Mounds Five Ridge Prairie Fleming Woods Fort Atkinson Freda Haffner Kettlehole Gitchie Manitou Hanging Bog Hardin City Woodland Hartley Fort Hayden Prairie Hoffman Prairie Indian Bluffs Primitive Area Indian Fish Trap Iowa's State Preserves System Kalsow Kish-Ke-Kosh Prairie Lamson Woods Liska-Stanek Prairie Little Maquoketa Malanaphy Springs Malchow Mounds Manikowski Prairie Mann Wilderness Area Marietta Sand Prairie Mericle Woods Merrill A. Stainbrook Merritt Forest Montauk Mossy Glen Mount Pisgah Cemetery Mount Talbot Nestor Stiles Prairie Ocheyedan Mound Old State Quarry Palisades-Downs Pecan Grove Pellett Woods Pilot Grove Pilot Knob Retz Woods Roberts Creek Rock Creek Island Rock Island Roggman Boreal Slopes Rolling Thunder Prairie Saint James Lutheran Church Savage Woods Searryl's Cave Sheeder Prairie Silver Lake Fen Silvers-Smith Woods Slinde Mounds Starr's Cave Steele Prairie Stinson Prairie Strasser Woods Sylvan Runkel Toolesboro Mounds Turin Loess Hills Turkey River Mounds White Pine Hollow Williams Prairie Wittrock Indian Village Woodland Mounds Woodman Hollow Woodthrush

County

State Parks (Leased)	Bobwhite Cold Springs Crystal Lake Eagle Lake Echo Valley Frank A. Gotch Heery Woods Lake Cornelia Lake Icaria Kearny Margo Frankel Mill Creek Oak Grove Oakland Mills Pammel Sharon Bluffs Spring Lake Swan Lake Three Mile Lake

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

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National Wildlife Refuges of the United States