Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge

The Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in Iowa and Minnesota in the United States. The United States Government established it to provide a means of working with individuals, groups, private organizations, and entities of the U.S. Government, Government of Iowa, and Government of Minnesota to permanently preserve a portion of the remnant tracts of northern tallgrass prairie in Iowa and Minnesota. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is acquiring remnant prairie tracts for the refuge from willing private landowners through both conservation easements and fee title purchases.

Presently, the refuge is approximately 5,000 acres (20 km²) in size and consists of 49 units. Forty-one units are protected by conservation easements totaling 2,500 acres (1,012 hectares). The eight units the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service owns account for nearly 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares), of which 2,451 acres (992 hectares) are in Minnesota and 352 acres (142 hectares) are in Iowa. Eight existing Fish and Wildlife Service Wetland Management District and National Wildlife Refuge offices scattered throughout the project area established for the refuge perform the field administration of all the units acquired for the refuge. When a tract of land is acquired for the refuge within the work area for one of these offices, the office assumes administrative authority for the tract. The project leader of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is responsible for overseeing the administration of the entire refuge.