'The 54,000 acres (21,853 hectares) Niobrara Valley Preserve is located along the Niobrara River and north edge of the Sand Hills in northcentral Nebraska near Johnstown. The first bison herd was initiated in the winter 1985-86 and the second during the summer of 1999 by purchase of bison from private and federal sources. The two herds totaling 380-head currently occupy 11,000 acres (4,452 hectares) of sandhills prairie, northern mixed-grass prairie, and riparian woodland-grassland communities in the Niobrara Valley. Plans call for an ultimate herd of 500-head on 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) by the year 2005. Randomly selected growing and dormant season prescribed burns are used to improve seasonal forage quality and to provide a mosaic of landscape patches that maintains biotic diversity.'

Acknowledgements

This article is a lightly edited reproduction of source material provided to docents of the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve by The Nature Conservancy for dissemination to the public.