Every April, the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve awakens in new life. Red Dog, the name for baby bison, start arriving and their bright red coat punctuates the landscape. I love to make the quick drive over and see them every spring.  This time we took a friend visiting from Michigan and toured the preserve. We were lucky to meet some great docents at the visitors’ center who gave us a great tour of the bunk house. Cowboy legends, Ben Johnson junior and senior both called the Tallgrass area home, and worked the ranch for the Barnard and Chapman families.  The bunkhouse was designed so that even on the longest, hottest days on the Oklahoma prairie, one side of the long breezeway is always in the shade. That side is lined with handmade wooden benches.  The space was designed for maximum occupancy during cattle working times.In 1989, the land was aquired by The Nature Conservancy. Joseph H. Williams (1933-2023), founder of TNC's Oklahoma chapter, laid the groundwork for generations of tallgrass prairie conservation in this state and beyond. Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve was renamed in his honor in 2015. Since 1989, The Nature Conservancy in Oklahoma has worked to restore this fully functioning portion of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem with the use of 2,500 free-ranging bison and a “patch-burn” model approach to prescribed burning.The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve offers excellent wildlife watching opportunities and exceptional views of a variety of natural habitats. Over 700 plants, 300 birds and 80 mammals make this prairie home. Visitors can experience the wide-open prairie and the patches of crosstimbers forest by circling the 15-mile bison driving loop, hiking along designated trails and stopping to take in the views at various scenic turnouts.In 1993, TNC re-introduced 300 bison to the area. Now, those numbers are near 2,500 head and grow every year, in Red Dog season.  In each fall, TNC does a roundup, where bison are tagged, inspected, vaccinated and dna tested. Each year, those animals that maintain any domestic cattle genetics are sold off, in an effort to attain the most genetically pure herd of bison available. Each year, the preserve welcomes around 200-500 calves.  After the roundup, decisions are made on who stays and who goes. Female are sold at the 10-12 years of age, while males are sold off around 6-7 years of age, due to the nature to become too aggressive. 

Fun facts about bison:
What's in a name? They are bison, not buffalo. Their full scientific name is Bison bison bison  

Bison are big eaters- an average bison can weigh up to around 2,000 lbs and consumes around 30# of grass each day.  They actually don’t typically eat the same materials as the cattle, so in their own way, they are performing regenerative agriculture on the daily.

Athletic Animals – Bison are very athletic, can jump 6-7 feet vertically and more than 7 feet horizontally. They can run up to 35 MPH and can be especially aggressive when they sense a danger, i.e. when they have calves on the ground.

A tight knit circle- Bison are a tight knit family unit, and will ‘mourn’ a lost herd member.  A friend of mine who is a commercial butcher witnesses this in person when she did a bison butcher for a client on a meat farm. The herd circled and tried to get the fallen member up after the animal was dispatched.

State Mammal – Bison are the state mammal of Oklahoma, as of 1972 and the National Mammal of the United States as of 2016