Oglala National Grassland

Oglala National Grassland, federally recognized prairie grassland of northwestern Nebraska, U.S. The designated national grassland covers a noncontiguous area of some 150 square miles (390 square km) in the Nebraska panhandle, including scattered parcels of land in Sioux and Dawes counties bordering the states of South Dakota and Wyoming. Headquarters are in Chadron. Established in 1960, it is administered as part of the Nebraska National Forest. Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota adjoins it to the north.

The landscape of Oglala National Grassland includes badland areas where toadstool formations (rocks eroded into mushroomlike shapes) and fossil deposits are found. The Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed, discovered in the 1950s, contains the remains of hundreds of prehistoric bison that all died at the same time from an unknown cause some 10,000 years ago. Stone artifacts of the Paleo-Indian Alberta culture have been found in association with the bones, leading to a theory that the bison were killed by nomadic hunters; subsequent scholarship, however, deemed it more likely that the bison died of a natural cause such as suffocation during a prairie fire.

Oglala National Grassland contains ideal rangeland for cattle, and grazing is an important use of the land. Pronghorn are common, and the grassland is one of the state’s most popular areas for hunting. Other animals include deer, wild turkeys, grouse, foxes, burrowing owls, and prairie dogs. Ponds provide habitat for waterfowl and opportunities for fishing. The National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota, features exhibits on the history and the flora and fauna of the grassland.