United States National Grassland

United States National Grassland

National Grasslands are authorized by Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. For administrative purposes, they are essentially identical to U.S. National Forests, except that grasslands are areas primarily consisting of prairie. Like National Forests, National Grasslands may be open for hunting, grazing, mineral extraction, recreation and other uses. Various National Grasslands are typically administered in conjunction with nearby National Forests.

All but three National Grasslands are on or at the edge of the Great Plains. Those three are in southeastern Idaho, northeastern California, and central Oregon. The three National Grasslands in North Dakota, together with one in northwestern South Dakota, are administered jointly as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. National Grasslands are generally much smaller than National Forests. Whereas a typical National Forest would be about 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha), a typical Grassland would only be about 100,000 acres (40,000 ha). The largest National Grassland, the Little Missouri National Grassland in North Dakota, covers 1,033,271 acres (418,150 ha), which is approximately the median size of a National Forest. As of 30 September 2007, the total area of all 20 National Grasslands was 3,843,037 acres (1,555,222 ha).