Hundreds of years ago, before settlers moved westward during the mid-1800s, there existed a magnificent tallgrass prairie, one that stretched across an area encompassed today by 13 states and a large portion of Canada. It was a “sea of grass” that was home to all sorts of wildlife, including millions of bison.  

Now modern-day Iowans  can experience the tallgrass prairie, and the animals that roam it, at a national wildlife refuge a short drive east of Des Moines.  

Authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1990, the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Prairie Learning and Visitor Center was specifically established to reconstruct tallgrass prairie and has been successfully doing so since it first opened for visitors in 1993....