The bison and elk at LC Nature Park are fortunate to live on restored tallgrass prairie. These fields, which grew corn just a few decades, now support a diverse array of nutritious prairie grasses – just like the prairie grasses eaten by bison that roamed the Midwest more than 200 years ago.

Right now, the bison and elk at LC Nature Park freely graze on about 50 acres of restored grasslands. This season, we’re creating even more grazing lands to feed our herds and give them more room to roam.

This expansion project will construct a bridge over Carol Creek which flows into the Little River. This will give the animals access to about 30 additional acres of land in an area of the park known as the Dune Prairie. More than 20 of these acres will be restored tallgrass prairie – the optimal habitat and food source for the bison and elk. 

To give the animals easy access to this new grazing land, our team is removing and relocating fences and gates to enclose the new bridge and expand the fenced areas of the park.

The second part of this project features the construction of a 4-acre pond, which will be surrounded by a 2-acre sedge meadow and a 14-acre mesic prairie (A mesic prairie has a normal moisture content – it’s neither wet nor dry.)  The construction of these native ecosystems will provide more grazing land and a place for the bison and elk to obtain water without having to return to Elk Lake, which is on the eastern edge of the Park along Aboite Road. 

The bison and elk are not the only creatures that will benefit from this important restoration work. We expect that these native habitats will attract a variety of insects, pollinators, small mammals, and the raptors that feed upon them.   

Stay tuned for updates about this exciting expansion project and plan a visit to see the progress for yourself!