Soapstone Prairie Natural Area
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Soapstone Prairie Natural Area is a park and conservation area in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The City of Fort Collins purchased the land for Soapstone Prairie Natural Area in 2004, which was opened to the public in 2009.


Ecology

The natural habitat of eastern Colorado was
shortgrass prairie The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss ('' Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domi ...
. Over the past 150 years much of the land was used for agriculture. Of the 40% of the remaining shortgrass prairie, much of it is degraded and fragmented due to neighboring cities, towns and farms. The area has thriving prairie dog colonies. Almost 60 endangered black-footed ferrets were reintroduced in 2014 whose main source of food is prairie dogs. The Natural Resources Department of Larimer County recognized that grazing was important for soil, vegetation and overall ecological balance and that Bison were the primary historical grazers before being
extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
. The managers wanted to create a herd that could act as a seed herd that would help establish bison with heritage genetics. Establishing a conservation Herd became a collaborative effort of Larimer County, the City of Fort Collins, the US Department of Agriculture’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) based in Riverdale, Maryland responsible for protecting animal health, animal welfare, and plant health. APHIS is the lead ...
, and Colorado State University. Yellowstone genetically valuable bison were introduced in 2015 onto the contiguous lands of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space. Ten bison were released into a . By 2021, the herd grew to about 120 and were grazing on approximately of shortgrass prairie. In cooperation with partner organizations, bison are being sent to Native American tribes where they are important for cultural endeavors and food sovereignty. With these transfers, tribes have been able to start their own herds. Bison have been sent to tribes in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota.


Archaeological site

The Lindenmeier site, named for the previous Lindenmeier Ranch, is a
Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...
on the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. The site contains the most extensive Folsom culture campsite yet found with an uncorrected averaged radiocarbon date of 10,660±60 B.P., or 8,710 B.C. The site was declared a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
on January 20, 1961.


See also

* Fort Collins, Colorado


References


External links

* {{url, http://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/finder/soapstone Soapstone Prairie Natural Area
Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd

City of Fort Collins: Soapstone Prairie Management Plan

Red Mountain Open Space
Larimer County
Museo de las Tres Colonias

Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area, Fort Collins
Protected areas of Larimer County, Colorado Protected areas established in 2004 2004 establishments in Colorado