On November 12, 1996, legislation was passed creating Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. The Preserve is located two miles north of Strong City on highway 177. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass ecosystem. Of the 400,000 square miles of tallgrass prairie that once covered the North American Continent, less than 1 percent remains, primarily in the Flint Hills. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve will be a new kind of national park. It is approximately 11,000 acres in size, but most of that land will remain under the ownership of the National Park Trust, which purchased the land in 1994. The National Park Service will own up to 180 acres, yet the legislation calls for the entire acreage to be managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the National Park Trust. This panorama was made on October 13, 2002. Phyllis and I were on a day trip to see the Flint Hills with a German teacher visiting from Lawrence's Sister City, Eutin.

More information is available from the National Park Service and the National Park Trust.