Recently burned prairie seen in the background is contrasted with unburned prairie grass in this photo of the Lower Fox Creek School, a one-room schoolhouse located in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Prairie grasses are burned in the spring to help maintain a healthy tallgrass prairie ecosystem and prepare the land for cattle grazing Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is the only unit of the National Park Service dedicated to the preservation of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is co-managed with The Nature Conservancy. The 10,894-acre preserve is located in the Flint Hills of Kansas in Chase County near the towns of Strong City and Cottonwood Falls. NOTE: A comparison of the burned area of this photo with an two-month later photo of the prairie growing back is available. See photo id# I0000s35tbY0nhE8
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