We often see America's grasslands through a car window or from an airplane soaring overhead when we travel across our country. We rarely take time to explore and appreciate the treasures that our grasslands hold--an incredible range of plants and animals like buffalo, black-tailed prairie dogs and burrowing owls, as well as habitat and resources that support local communities and wildlife.
Currently home to some 7,500 species of plants and animals, the number of native mammal species found on our grasslands in the mid-1800s rivaled or exceeded those now found in the famed Serengeti. Three species which truly epitomize the prairie grasslands of the Great Plains and its struggle to survive are the buffalo, black-tailed prairie dog and sage grouse.
Tragically, however, poor management has taken a tremendous toll on our nation's grasslands, even on our federal National Grasslands. Threats such as over development and overgrazing have reduced the grasslands to a fraction of their former range, and brought this fragile ecosystem the sad notoriety of becoming one of the world's most endangered.
The National Wildlife Federation is working to make policy makers, the public, teachers and school children aware of the vast beauty our nation's grasslands hold and of the critical importance of acting now to save them. As concerned citizens, you have many opportunities to help protect America's native grasslands. The grasslands play an enormous role in the rich history of our American West, and NWF is working to make sure they're just as much a part of our future.