Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location of Grasslands National Park
Location	Saskatchewan
Nearest city	Swift Current, Val Marie, Wood Mountain
Coordinates	49°10′37″N 107°25′33″W
Area	907 km²
Established	1981
Governing body	Parks Canada

Grasslands National Park is one of Canada's newer national parks, located in southern Saskatchewan, and one of 43 parks and park reserves in Canada's national park system. The system aims to protect representative areas of the country's 39 natural regions.

West Block of Grasslands National Park in early April 2010

Grasslands National Park represents the Prairie Grasslands natural region, protecting one of the nation's few remaining areas of undisturbed dry mixed-grass/shortgrass prairie grassland. The park is located in the WWF-defined Northern short grasslands ecoregion, which spans much of Southern Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta, and the northern Great Plains states in the USA. The unique landscape and harsh, semi-arid climate provide niches for several adapted plants and animals. The park and surrounding area house the country's only black-tailed prairie dog colonies. Rare and endangered fauna found in the park include the pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, prairie rattlesnake, black-footed ferret and eastern short-horned lizard. Flora includes blue grama grass, needlegrass, Plains Cottonwood and silver sagebrush.

Glacial meltwater erosion formed many of the park's characteristic features. Highlights of the park's geological landscape include the Frenchman River Valley, the 70 Mile Butte, the Killdeer Badlands and Rock Creek.

In 1874 Sir George Mercer Dawson discovered western Canada's first dinosaur remains in the Killdeer Badlands during the International Boundary Survey. Later, in 1877, Sitting Bull took refuge in the area with around 5000 Sioux after the defeat of Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

At present, there are no camping facilities in the park, though wilderness camping is permitted, and there is an interpretive centre located in the nearby town of Val Marie. The park consists of two widely separated sections.

A group of seven bison graze on the grasses of Grasslands National Park

In 2006 Plains Bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta were introduced to Grasslands. On October 2, 2009, in a ceremony at Belza House, the park was declared a dark-sky preserve and a small population of Black-footed ferrets was reintroduced into the prairie dog towns after a 70-year absence. Improved night lighting practices under the dark-sky agreement assure that the park remains dark at night, preserving a natural environment for all nocturnal wildlife.

The park annually gets about 6000 visitors. Its alternate official name is Parc national des Prairies in French.

See also

• National Parks of Canada
• List of National Parks of Canada
• List of Saskatchewan parks

External links

• Parks Canada Grasslands National Park website
• Val Marie Village website
• The Prairie Learning Centre
• WWF - Northern Short Grasslands
• Grasslands National Park - Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan