Wild and Free- my travel blog

I am working and living in Texas right now, teaching prairie ecology at an outdoor education camp to 5th graders from the Dallas area. The prairie is beautiful, but extremely muddy with all the rain we have had over the past month and a half. The wildflowers that bloomed in the late summer and early fall are beginning to fade away, relaced by the colors of the leaves turning on the trees and grasses.

The prairie land of the Great Plains used to stretch from here in North Texas, through Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, part of Colorado, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and up into Canada. Only 2% of original prairie land is still in existance today. And of that, an even smaller percentage is a still intact ecosystem. In addition to the 200 or so acres of prairie that is part of where I teach, I have recently been able to experience some of the other pieces of prairie that are preserved in this area. LBJ National Grassland is not too far from here, and neither is Caddo National Grassland. I recently took a trip to a tract of virgin prairie in Oklahoma called Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Preserve where the natural ecosystem in virtually intact. Prairie dogs, buffalo, and elk roam free. There are several trails and a wilderness area with rugged trails and backcountry camping. In addition to tallgrass prairie, there are mountains, canyons, a waterfall, and several other interesting natural features.

I am intrigued by the beauty of the prairie that I get to see and teach about every day. It saddens me to think how little of the prairie is actually left. At the same time, it makes my job all the more important to teach the next generation about saving and restoring this amazing and important ecosystem.

I have recently published an article about the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Preserve. Check it out at Associated Content. You can get to it from my other blog jedidiahfree.blogspot.com and click on the article

"A Rare and Ancient Treasure in the Oklahoma Mountains" under the Tuesday, October 20 entry "New Article Published".

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