Grasslands National Park
In 1956, the Saskatchewan Natural History Society (now Nature Saskatchewan) recommended the establishment of a National Park to preserve remnants of the short grass prairie ecosystem once so extensive in southwest Saskatchewan. In 1981, after much lobbying, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan agreed to establish Grasslands National Park.
Grasslands National Park comprises two separate areas of relatively undisturbed mixed grass prairie on the Montana/Saskatchewan border. The west block includes parts of the Frenchman River Valley with its extensive coulees, creeks and buttes. In the eastern sector, the park encompasses diverse natural features including deep wooded coulees in the north, extensive grasslands to the south, and the unglaciated Killdeer Badlands in the east.
The rolling terrain is covered with over 40 different varieties of grasses and myriad native wildflowers. The 36 rare plant species identified within the park include dwarf fleabane, Bessey's locoweed, squirrel tail grass, oat grass, and Rocky mountain juniper. Bluffs of trees and shrubs can be found in the river bottoms and some upland slopes and coulees where there is more moisture. Drier areas are able to nurture sage, rabbit brush, lichens, and the prickly pear and pincushion varieties of cactus.
The park is a haven for the threatened Western rattlesnake and Burrowing owl and endangered species such as the peregrine falcon, the ferruginous hawk, the loggerhead strike, and Baird's sparrow. Commonly seen mammals include the pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and white-tailed deer.
Of particular significance is the Frenchman River Valley, the only place in Canada where the black-tailed prairie dog is found in its natural habitat. Presently, there are some 14 colonies in the park. A critical species in the ecosystem, its existence supports the survival of the coyote, fox, and badger as well as the burrowing owl and other endangered species. The Swift Fox was eliminated in the area but is being reintroduced.
The park also abounds with evidence of early human activity dating back thousands of years. As long as 18,000 years ago, this was a prime buffalo hunting area for the migrant tribes, ancestors of the Assiniboine, the Cree, and the Blackfoot. Over 3,000 reported sites in the park include almost 13,000 teepee rings, examples of weapons, tools, pottery, medicine wheels, and various rock configurations found in the buttes.
In 1876, Chief Sitting Bull and his Sioux people found temporary refuge here after the Battle of Little Bighorn. When Will James, the cowboy writer and actor, homesteaded in the area in 1907, it was the time of transition from ranching to homesteading. The Canadian government began to lure thousands of settlers to the area with the promise of free land. The Dominion Lands Act required that 10 acres be cultivated annually, which in time destroyed habitats, disrupted interdependent ecosystems, and led to the extinction of entire species. The land was mostly unsuitable for cultivation and ranchers again took over and kept much of the native grassland intact. The rehabilitation of fields plowed under by homesteaders is being undertaken.
Bison have also been reintroduced. Seventy animals arrived in the park in the fall of 2005, to over-winter in a holding facility and be released into a larger fenced area in the spring of 2006.
The park's size will increase as land becomes available for purchase from the local ranchers until its full size of 900 square kilometres is reached. Adjoining landowners are also cooperating to retain or restore natural prairie.
For more information see:
http://canadianparks.com or
http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grasslands.html.