Stewards of the Grassland Prairies
Posted by: 
PeterNoG
N 43° 22.741 W 104° 13.260
13T E 563103 N 4803200
This Wyoming Historical Marker is one of two at the Mule Creek Junction Rest Area at Hwy 18 & 85 about 45 miles north of Lusk, Wyoming.
Waymark Code: WMTDYH
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 11/08/2016
Views: 4
This is a typical Wyoming Marker with a tall circular post and shorter circular post on each side of the large sign. This is from the Wyoming's Wildlife series with that written on a board above the sign.
Stewards of the Grassland Prairies
"Vast seas of grass as far as the eye can see", wrote the migrants traveling west in the 1840s. Before the plowing of "America's bread basket" native grassland prairies made up more than 500 million acres in the central region of the U.S. and Canada. Today about one-fifth of these prairies remain. Wyoming is unique with more than half of its area covered by sagebrush and grassland prairie. Large sheep and cattle ranches dot the countryside. Free-ranging livestock need large expanses of grassland prairies, so the prairies have been spared.
There is more than grass and sagebrush out here! The prairie also provides crucial habitat for many wild critters. Occasional conflicts between ranchers and prairie wildlife do occur. Without these large expanses of native prairie, antelope, sage grouse, ferruginous hawks and many other species of wildlife could not survive. A western culture has evolved around the native prairies, there capacity to provide food for people and wildlife, and as people who love wide-open spaces and the prairie landscapes.
Most people living on our native prairies have learned to understand and appreciate their role as stewards of the soil and water. This stewardship is essential to the well-being of plants, wildlife and people — a relationship worth preserving for the future generations!
Wyoming's Wildlife -- Worth the Watching
Marker Name: Stewards of the Grassland Prairies
Marker Type: Rural Roadside
Addtional Information:
Group Responsible for Placement: Not listed
Date Dedicated: Not listed
Marker Number: Not listed
Web link(s) for additional information: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Wyoming history please include that in your log.