Paul A. Johnsgard A Naturalist’s Guide to the Great Plains Sites, Species, and Spectacles This book documents nearly 500 US and Canadian locations where wildlife refuges, na- ture preserves, and similar properties protect natural sites that lie within the North Amer- ican Great Plains, from Canada’s Prairie Provinces to the Texas-Mexico border. Information on site location, size, biological diversity, and the presence of especially rare or interest- ing flora and fauna are mentioned, as well as driving directions, mailing addresses, and phone numbers or internet addresses, as available. US federal sites include 11 national grasslands, 13 national parks, 16 national monuments, and more than 70 national wild- life refuges. State properties include nearly 100 state parks and wildlife management ar- eas. Also included are about 60 national and provincial parks, national wildlife areas, and migratory bird sanctuaries in Canada’s Prairie Provinces. Numerous public-access prop- erties owned by counties, towns, and private organizations, such as the Nature Conser- vancy, National Audubon Society, and other conservation and preservation groups, are also described. Introductory essays describe the geological and recent histories of each of the five mul- tistate and multiprovince regions recognized, along with some of the author’s personal memories of them. The 92,000-word text is supplemented with 7 maps and 31 drawings by the author and more than 700 references. Cover photo by Paul Johnsgard. Back cover drawing courtesy of David Routon. Zea Books ISBN: 978-1-60962-126-1 Lincoln, Nebraska doi: 10.13014/K2CF9N8T A Naturalist’s Guide to the Great Plains Sites, Species, and Spectacles Paul A. Johnsgard School of Biological Sciences University of Nebraska–Lincoln Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska: 2018 Abstract This book documents nearly 500 US and Canadian locations where wildlife ref- uges, nature preserves, and similar properties protect natural sites that lie within the North American Great Plains, from Canada’s Prairie Provinces to the Texas- Mexico border. Information on site location, size, biological diversity, and the presence of especially rare or interesting flora and fauna are mentioned, as well as driving directions, mailing addresses, and phone numbers or internet ad- dresses, as available. US federal sites include 11 national grasslands, 13 national parks, 16 national monuments, and more than 70 national wildlife refuges. State properties include nearly 100 state parks and wildlife management areas. Also included are about 60 national and provincial parks, national wildlife areas, and migratory bird sanctuaries in Canada’s Prairie Provinces. Numerous public-access properties owned by counties, towns, and private organizations, such as the Na- ture Conservancy, National Audubon Society, and other conservation and pres- ervation groups, are also described. Introductory essays describe the geological and recent histories of each of the five multistate and multiprovince regions recognized, along with some of the au- thor’s personal memories of them. The 92,000-word text is supplemented with 7 maps and 31 drawings by the author and more than 700 references. Title page illustration: Greater sage-grouse Text, photos, and illustrations copyright © 2018 Paul A. Johnsgard ISBN: 978-1-60962-126-1 doi: 10.13014/K2CF9N8T Composed in Segoe types. Zea Books are published by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. Electronic (pdf) edition published online at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/ Print edition sold at ttp://www.lulu.com/spotlight/unllib UNL does not discriminate based upon any protected status. Please go to unl.edu/nondiscrimination Dedicated to the memories of those who historically had the foresight to preserve these natural treasures for posterity, and to those with the present-day courage and will to prevent them from being destroyed by thoughtless politicians. Long-billed curlew 3 A NATURALIST’S GUIDE TO THE GREAT PLAINS Contents List of Maps . 5 List of Figures . 5 Acknowledgments . 7 Preface . 9 Introduction . 11 I. The Great Plains Landforms and Landscapes . 13 Tallgrass Prairie Musings and Memories . 23 II. The Canadian Prairie Provinces Cherished Memories of the Canadian Plains . 26 The Sites: Glacial Relicts, Godwits, and Grebes. 29 Alberta . 29 Manitoba . 31 Saskatchewan . 36 III. The Northern Plains North Dakota Nostalgia . 41 The Sites: Badlands, Bluestem, and Bobolinks . 44 Minnesota . 44 Montana . 48 North Dakota. 54 South Dakota. 63 Wyoming . 71 IV. The Central Plains March Wings and April Drums . 77 The Sites: Playas, Pronghorns, and Prairie-Chickens . 83 Colorado . 83 Iowa. 86 Kansas . 89 Missouri . 94 Nebraska . 97 V. The Southern Plains Sobering Lessons in Conservation Ecology . 108 The Sites: Caprock, Coyotes, and Cacti . 114 New Mexico . 114 Oklahoma . 116 Texas . 120 References . 135 Site Index . 156 4 SITES, SPECIES, AND SPECTACLES Maps 1. Presumptive geography of North America during the late Mesozoic era . .14 2. Regions of loess deposition and the southern limits of major glaciations in the Great Plains states . 15 3. Physiographic regions of the Great Plains and Central Lowlands . 16 4. Historic distribution of major vegetation communities in the Great Plains. 17 5. Major native vegetation types of the Great Plains and their historic distribution . 19 6. Distribution of natural plant communities in the Great Plains states, showing hardwood-dominated types . 21 7. Distribution of natural plant communities in the Great Plains states, showing grassland-dominated types . 22 Figures Greater sage-grouse . 1 Long-billed curlew. 3 Harvest mouse . 6 Adult male bighorn sheep . 8 Richardson’s ground squirrel . 10 Adult horned lark . 12 Thirteen-lined ground squirrel. 25 Upland sandpiper . 28 Adult male elk . 30 Sandhill cranes . 33 Four typical Great Plains turtles and snakes . 35 Adult burrowing owl . 37 Three shortgrass songbirds . 46 Adult black-footed ferret . 50 Four Great Plains sturgeons and catfish . 53 Four typical Great Plains amphibians . 55 Adult male greater prairie-chicken . 61 Adult male bison . 68 Adult black-tailed prairie dog . 73 Greater prairie-chicken . 81 Five mixed-grass and shortgrass sparrows . 84 Three typical tallgrass songbirds . 95 Black-billed magpie . 99 Whooping crane . 109 Burrowing owl . 112 Five typical Great Plains rattlesnakes . 116 Five rare Great Plains minnows . 121 Four typical Great Plains lizards . 127 Adult ferruginous hawk . 131 Adult golden eagle . 133 Ord’s kangaroo rat . 134 5 Harvest mouse, adult hibernating. 6 Acknowledgments The idea for this book came about as I have toured through- I also sincerely thank retired University of Nebraska–Lincoln out the Great Plains, visiting natural areas such as state and art department professor David Routon for his very kind per- federal parks and other areas that have preserved native re- mission to let me use his wonderful drawing of me on this gional habitats. In particular I have sought out biologically book’s back cover. He described himself to me as an “old important places, such as wildlife refuges and sanctuaries, professor,” but I have him beat on that measure by a few and those sites that have preserved unique Great Plains hab- months. I consider it a real honor to have been included itats, such as native grasslands and wetlands. A typical tour- in his series of marvelous drawings of Nebraska’s most fa- ist guide devotes very little information to these locations, mous authors. as they tend to attract few tourists, the very feature that a The essay on the burrowing owl and prairie dog, “The naturalist is likely to value most. Howdy Owl and the Prairie Dog,” was first published in the My criteria for selecting about 350 such locations were American Birding Association’s Birding magazine (January/ broad and eclectic, and although those chosen primarily rep- February 2006, pp. 40–44). My description of North Dakota resent biological sites, they also include some sites of geo- wetlands and the American bittern display, titled “Bittern logical, paleontological, and anthropological interest. My Surprise,” first appeared in BirdWatching magazine (30 (2): personal special interests in such charismatic Great Plains 36–39, 2016). The introductory and terminal italicized quo- animals as cranes, waterfowl, bison, and prairie dogs are also tations that appear in each chapter were extracted from obviously reflected in my choices for inclusion. The sites ad- various of my books but have been converted from normal ditionally reflect my interests in Native American history in text to free verse and were mostly published earlier in this the Great Plains and especially the related important bio- form (Johnsgard, 2006). logical and historical significance of the Lewis and Clark ex- My descriptions of individual sites are to a large extent pedition of 1804–6. based on and variably derived from several of my earlier As a nearly lifelong resident of the Great Plains region, Great Plains books, although many of the descriptions have which lacks most topographic landmarks and boundaries been updated or otherwise modified. The source books in- such as coastlines and mountains, I have always thought that clude Birds of the Great Plains: Breeding Species and Their the Great Plains’ most significant geographic boundaries are Distribution; Wings over the Great Plains: Bird Migrations in its natural ones, such as geological or biological units, rather the Central Flyway; Wetland Birds of the Central Plains: South than those that are