The Nature Conservancy in North Dakota

08/16/2026

Thanks to all who came out to celebrate 40 years of bison stewardship at Cross Ranch Preserve!

The Nature Conservancy is marking 40 years of bison stewardship at Cross Ranch Preserve near Washburn.

08/13/2026

We’ve lost a lot of plant diversity. But the science is clear that more variety in rangelands is a win for nature and for ranchers.

Learn how: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/south-dakota/stories-in-south-dakota/prairie-diversity/?en_txn1=s_fbo.reg_gp.x.x

08/11/2026

One out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds. 🐝 🦋

Watch this month’s Our Amazing Grasslands video to learn how thoughtful grazing management supports pollinators and healthy grasslands:

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08/06/2026

We need to rapidly transition to a clean energy future. To do that, we’re going to need to develop a lot of clean energy infrastructure.

Up to 75% of the nation’s new large renewable energy projects will occur in the central U.S., home to much of the nation’s most promising wind and solar resources. This region also provides our best remaining grassland habitat in North America.

The Site Renewables Right map identifies places renewable energy can be developed in the central U.S. while still conserving important wildlife habitats and natural areas. It’s a win-win.

https://nature.ly/4uOKKYl

To help tackle climate change, we must accelerate deployment of clean energy sources, like wind and solar power. So, how can we do that in ways that ensure that allows people and nature to thrive? This online map will help.

08/03/2026

Restoring diverse native grasslands takes time—and sometimes it looks a little messy along the way.

At Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, TNC is helping restore a 60-acre site by removing invasive cool-season grasses and reseeding with a diverse mix of native grasses and wildflowers. The goal is to increase native plant diversity and improve habitat for wildlife and pollinators.

Recently, TNC and the National Park Service hosted land managers and resource professionals at the site to share lessons learned and discuss the challenges and best practices of grassland restoration.

📸 Rachel Bush/TNC

08/01/2026

Bison Bash is back!

Join us at Cross Ranch State Park for tons of fun activities, including a tour of the bison herd at Cross Ranch Preserve. 🦬 🌾

07/30/2026

Hunting and conservation go hand in hand. Hunting is a powerful tool for protecting nature, and natural places ensure that hunters have places to go with plenty of game.

Hunting is a critical conservation tool in North Dakota.

07/28/2026

Working grasslands are essential to ranching operations across the Great Plains.

That's why FFAR and partners have awarded a $3.1 million grant to The Nature Conservancy and collaborators to identify practical solutions that help ranchers keep grasslands productive and resilient.

The project will bring together ranchers, researchers and conservation organizations to better understand what helps grasslands remain intact and support livestock production for generations to come.

Read more:

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and partners have awarded a $3.1 million grant to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and collaborators to help keep grasslands intact across the U.S. and Canadian Great Plains. Researchers are using the funding to develop practical solutions that help....

07/23/2026

The Great Plains was once like a vast, endless blanket of grass, connecting habitat for plants and animals as far as the eye could see.

That enabled prairie grasses to spread their seeds far and wide, ensuring their populations were genetically diverse and resilient in the face of stressors.

Today, our prairies are fragmented, separated by acres upon acres of farms, highways and housing developments. That has had a lot of impacts, especially on genetic diversity in the prairie.

To help strengthen our prairies and bring back some of that natural resilience, we’re making sure that the seeds we’re restoring prairies with are genetically diverse and sourced from many locations to help strengthen the prairie in the face of threats like climate change.

https://nature.ly/3SXZEhn

We know that species diversity is critical to successful restoration work. But when it comes to grassland management, what we’re not talking about enough lies even further beneath the surface.

07/16/2026

You might be surprised to learn The Nature Conservancy works with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore habitat and water quality in the Mississippi River basin.

This new article dives into what that looks like and why it takes partnership to make change in a big river system. 🔗 https://nature.ly/4vuwS6F

📷 Rory Doyle

The Mississippi River is a highly altered system. Rethinking the way we manage the river using the tools we have might be the key to restoring a resilient river.