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The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

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The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Elk in the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland

 

Elk Video

Download a video clip of elk bugling at Tallgrass Aspen Parklands
© The Nature Conservancy

Tallgrass Aspen Parkland

The woodland-prairie mosaic of the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland remains much unchanged since 1857, when explorer Henry Hind wrote about “hummocks of aspen and willow” on ancient lake ridges. Here the prairie of America’s heartland transitions to the conifer forests of the north.

A Herd Travels South and Flourishes

 

Wild and remote, the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is the most intact grassland system in Minnesota and the only site within the Great Plains that retains its top megafauna – animals like wolves, cougar, black bear, elk, bald eagles and sandhill cranes.

Stretching for some 2 million acres across northwestern Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, Canada, the Parkland is also home to a thriving elk herd. Due in large part to conservation efforts by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the elk herd stands at some 250 head, up from less than 100 just 10 years ago.

All of the conservation lands within the Parkland are open to the public for a wide variety of public uses, including hunting, fishing, hiking and snowmobiling, and protect important habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species.