Nine-Mile Prairie: Hope in the Tallgrass

The 230-acre Nine-Mile Prairie is one of the last remnants of a once expansive ecosystem that spanned over 400,000 square miles across central North America, the tallgrass prairie. From Manitoba to the Gulf of Mexico, and from eastern Nebraska to Ohio, the landscape was dominated by an ocean of grass that was maintained by frequent fires, large herbivores, and Indigenous peoples. As European settlers pushed west, the prairies were quickly plowed under and replaced with crops. In Nebraska, only a small fraction of the state’s tallgrass prairie is left, and remnants like Nine-Mile Prairie face an uncertain future due to climate change, invasive species, and a multitude of other factors. Despite this, there is a dedicated group of scientists, land managers, and prairie enthusiasts working to conserve what remains of the tallgrass prairie and restore some of what was lost.