Roughly 160 years ago, the tallgrass prairie stretched from Illinois to Kansas, and from Canada to Texas. This prairie was a complex ecosystem featuring grasses like big bluestem, little bluestem, switch grass, and Indian grass. Then European settlers arrived and began plowing it up or building towns on top of it.
I’m not against human progress. I live in a town. I eat food raised by farmers. But, it would be worse than a shame to lose the tallgrass prairie. This ecosystem needs to be preserved. Once it dominated the landscape of the heartland and today less than four percent of it remains.
That’s where we see the importance of the Flint Hills. The rocky soil – the Flint Hills are filled with layers of flint-hardened limestone – kept the early pioneers from plowing up the prairie in this part of Kansas. Instead, they became ranchers as they discovered how good the tallgrass was for cattle. So there’s no place else in North America, outside the Flint Hills, where you can see so much tallgrass prairie.
That’s what we celebrate here.
About me
My name is Dennis Toll. I first saw the Flint Hills when I came to Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, in the 1970’s. I studied the ecosystem of the prairie as I earned my degree in landscape architecture. I also married Amy, a Manhattan girl, who still loves me more than I deserve.
From Kansas, I went on to get a theology degree at a seminary in Indiana. Then we moved to France for 11 years. In 2000, we moved back to the Flint Hills with our four daughters. No matter where I lived, I always thought it would be great to be back in the Flint Hills, and now I am.
10 Comments
July 23, 2008 at 9:24 am
I enjoyed this. I’m planning to go to the Konza Prairie open house in September. My son attends K-State, and I’m going to take advantage of his tenure in Manhattan to explore the Flint Hills more often — and not just by car, the way I usually do on the way to Wichita.
July 23, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Thanks! Let us know here when you see something cool in the Flint Hills.
July 24, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Great blog Dennis. I’m impressed with what you are doing.
August 11, 2008 at 3:46 pm
This is a wonderful resource for all of us who love the Flint Hills area.
September 16, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Dennis:
Blogs are made to be written and yours is a great addition to writings and ponderings of the Flint Hills. I look forward to watching this blog unfold through this season of your life.
November 7, 2008 at 10:31 am
Great info and pics on the Flint Hills! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, feelings, and info on the Flint Hills.
November 28, 2008 at 11:47 am
great picture of flint hills. nice blog.
best regards from indonesia.
salam
February 21, 2009 at 3:29 am
What a great site you have. I discovered Konza Prairie completely on accident last summer and would love to go see it again. Your photos on flickr really do it justice.
August 6, 2009 at 8:20 am
Great blog about our beloved Flint Hills! I grew up less than a mile from the Konza Prairie back when it was the Dewey Ranch. I have great memories of ice skating on one of the ponds, horseback riding through the hills and helping burn pasture. There is so much beauty in these hills that many people don’t have the opportunity to see. Keep sharing!
November 20, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Another prairie person! We have 80 acres that used to have about 40-50 acres of tallgrass prairie down in Central Texas, that we’re trying to restore. When we first saw it, it had a few remnant pockets of little bluestem, Indiangrass, and some prairie forbs…and way too much non-native “improved” pasture grass and invasive juniper. We’ve been able to introduce switchgrass and eastern gama, and both Indiangrass and little blue have spread from the pockets–progress, but a long way to go.
Glad to find this!