National grassland

Map of national grasslands in the United States, depicted in yellow

Entrance sign of a United States National Grassland area in South Dakota

A national grassland is an area of protected and managed federal lands in the United States authorized by Title III of the Bankhead–Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 and managed by the United States Forest Service. For administrative purposes, they are essentially identical to national forests, except that grasslands are areas primarily consisting of prairie. Like national forests, national grasslands may be open for hunting, grazing, mineral extraction, recreation and other uses. Various national grasslands are typically administered in conjunction with nearby national forests.

All but four national grasslands are on or at the edge of the Great Plains. Those four are in southeastern Idaho, northeastern California, central Oregon, and a reserve in Illinois. The three national grasslands in North Dakota, together with one in northwestern South Dakota, are administered jointly as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. National grasslands are generally much smaller than national forests – while a typical national forest would be about Template:Convert, the average size of a national grassland is Template:Convert. The largest, the Little Missouri National Grassland in North Dakota, covers Template:Convert, which is approximately the median size of a national forest. As of September 30, 2007, the total area of all 20 national grasslands was Template:Convert.<ref name=Areas/>

Soil Conservation Service

The catastrophic Dust Bowl of the 1930s led to the creation of the Soil Conservation Service in 1933. This and subsequent federal laws paved the way for establishing national grasslands.

List

Name	Photo	Location<ref name=GNIS>Template:Cite web</ref>	Administered by	Area<ref name=Areas>Template:Cite web</ref>	Description
Black Kettle		Oklahoma, Texas Template:Coord	Cibola National Forest	Template:Convert	Black Kettle has sandy red slate hills as well as grassland and oak brush. There are three developed recreation areas, and the Washita River flows through the grassland.
Buffalo Gap		South Dakota Template:Coord	Nebraska National Forests	Template:Convert	There are mixed prairie and badlands in Buffalo Gap as well as a reintroduced population of black-footed ferrets.
Butte Valley		California Template:Coord	Klamath National Forest	Template:Convert	Formed July 1991, Butte Valley is the most recent National Grassland. It contains Meiss Lake and views of the Cascade Range.
Caddo		Texas Template:Coord	National Forests and Grasslands in Texas	Template:Convert	Caddo is divided into two units and has two developed recreation areas around Lake Davy Crockett.
Cedar River		North Dakota Template:Coord	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	Template:Convert	Cedar River is within the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and has rolling hills and ephemeral streams.
Cimarron		Kansas Template:Coord	Pike & San Isabel National Forests	Template:Convert	Cimarron has shortgrass prairie with cottonwood groves along the Cimarron River.
Comanche		Colorado Template:Coord	Pike & San Isabel National Forests	Template:Convert	There are not only prairies in Comanche, but also canyons, including Picture Canyon.
Crooked River		Oregon Template:Coord	Deschutes & Ochoco National Forests	Template:Convert	Crooked River contains two National Wild and Scenic Rivers: the Deschutes and Crooked rivers.
Curlew		Idaho Template:Coord	Caribou-Targhee National Forest	Template:Convert	In southern Idaho, Curlew provides habitat for sage grouse while the Sweeten Pond area supports waterfowl and shorebirds.
Fort Pierre		South Dakota Template:Coord	Nebraska National Forests	Template:Convert	Located south of Pierre and Fort Pierre, South Dakota, The Fort Pierre grassland includes several ponds open to fishing and dispersed camping.
Grand River		South Dakota Template:Coord	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	Template:Convert	In addition to prairie, there are a variety of ecosystems and landforms in Grand River, including sand dunes, river bottoms, badlands, buttes, and sandstone outcroppings.
Kiowa		New Mexico Template:Coord	Cibola National Forest	Template:Convert	Kiowa consists of two units in northeastern New Mexico and includes canyons along the Canadian River.
Little Missouri		North Dakota Template:Coord	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	Template:Convert	The largest National Grassland, Little Missouri includes badlands and short and long grass prairie.
Lyndon B. Johnson		Texas Template:Coord	National Forests and Grasslands in Texas	Template:Convert	Used primarily for recreation, Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland has no fees and is located northwest of Fort Worth.
McClellan Creek		Texas Template:Coord	Cibola National Forest	Template:Convert	McClellan Creek National Grassland surrounds Lake McClellan, and nearly all of the grassland was burned in 2006.
Oglala		Nebraska Template:Coord	Nebraska National Forests	Template:Convert	The badlands of Toadstool Geologic Park are within Oglala National Grassland.
Pawnee		Colorado Template:Coord	Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests	Template:Convert	Pawnee has camping at Crow Valley Recreation Area and trails to the Pawnee Buttes.
Rita Blanca		Texas, Oklahoma Template:Coord	Cibola National Forest	Template:Convert	Rita Blanca includes grasslands.
Sheyenne		North Dakota Template:Coord	Dakota Prairie Grasslands	Template:Convert	Sheyenne provides habitat for the largest population of greater prairie chickens in North Dakota as well as the Dakota skipper butterfly and western prairie fringed orchid.
Thunder Basin		Wyoming Template:Coord	Medicine Bow – Routt National Forest	Template:Convert	Thunder Basin is located in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills.

Related

The smaller Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, created much later and east of the Mississippi River, is technically not a "National Grassland", as it was formed under different legislation, but it is managed by the Forest Service like one, as a unique prairie resource.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Name	Photo	Location<ref>Template:Cite gnis</ref>	Date formed	Area<ref name=Areas/>	Description
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie		Illinois Template:Coord	Template:Dts	Template:Convert<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	The only federally managed prairie east of the Mississippi River, Midewin is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion and was created when land was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service from the U.S. Army. In 2015, a small research herd of American Bison were reintroduced to study the effect of this large prairie animal on tallgrass prairie regeneration.

See also

• Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
• List of protected grasslands of North America
• List of national forests of the United States
• National Wilderness Preservation System