Soapstone Prairie Natural Area

The natural habitat of eastern Colorado was the shortgrass prairie. Over the past 150 years, much of the land was used for agriculture. Of the 40% of the remaining shortgrass prairie, much of it is degraded and fragmented due to neighboring cities, towns, and farms.{{ cite web | url=http://www.fcmdsc.org/trails/tour3/tour3.html | title=Trails of Northern Colorado: Exploring Cultural and Natural Heritage | publisher=Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center | year=2010 | archive-date=2012-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106132140/http://www.fcmdsc.org/trails/tour3/tour3.html |url-status=unfit}} The area has thriving prairie dog colonies.{{Cite web |last=McKee |first=Spencer |date=2023-02-13 |title=Nine 'thought-to-be-extinct' predators released to prey on Colorado's prairie dogs |url=https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/nine-thought-to-be-extinct-predators-released-to-prey-on-colorados-prairie-dogs/article_c0cf711a-abdf-11ed-9f2b-93a7944b118b.htmlados-prairie-dogs/article_c0cf711a-abdf-11ed-9f2b-93a7944b118b.amp.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM=#amp_tf=From%20%251$s&aoh=16763274465800&csi=0&referrer=https://www.google.com&share=https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/nine-thought-to-be-extinct-predators-released-to-prey-on-colorados-prairie-dogs/article_c0cf711a-abdf-11ed-9f2b-93a7944b118b.html |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=OutThere Colorado}} Almost 60 endangered black-footed ferrets were reintroduced in 2014 whose main source of food is prairie dogs.{{Cite news|last=Meyers|first=Stephen|date=October 14, 2015|title=Soapstone Prairie offers remote, beautiful experience|url=https://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/outdoors/2015/10/14/soapstone-prairie-natural-area/73884870/|access-date=2021-02-16|work=The Coloradoan|language=en-US}}

The Natural Resources Department of Larimer County recognized that grazing was important for soil, vegetation and overall ecological balance and that bison were the primary historical grazers before being extirpated.{{Cite news|last=Boster|first=Seth|date=February 15, 2021|title=From Colorado prairie, heritage bison slowly returning to native lands|url=https://gazette.com/life/from-colorado-prairie-heritage-bison-slowly-returning-to-native-lands/article_3a299400-6637-11eb-b13c-dff8ead72abe.html|access-date=2021-02-16|newspaper=The Gazette (Colorado Springs) |language=en}} The managers wanted to create a herd that could act as a seed herd that would help establish bison with heritage genetics.{{r|NFN 2022-04-24}} Establishing a conservation herd became a collaborative effort of Larimer County, the City of Fort Collins, the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Colorado State University.{{Cite web|title=Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd Project|url=http://csu-cvmbs.colostate.edu/academics/bms/ARBL/Pages/bison.aspx|access-date=2021-12-02|website=Colorado State University}} Genetically valuable bison from Yellowstone National Park were introduced in 2015 onto the contiguous lands of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space.{{Cite news|last=Marmaduke|first=Jacy|date=November 7, 2015|title=Rare bison free to roam in northern Colorado|url=https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/rare-bison-free-to-roam-in-northern-colorado/|access-date=2021-05-16|work=Durango Herald|language=en-US}} Ten bison were released into a {{convert|1000|acre||adj=mid| fenced site}}.{{Cite news|last=Zaffos|first=Joshua|last2=|first2=|date=2016-04-04|title=In bison recovery, scientists start small|url=https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.6/in-bison-recovery-scientists-start-small|access-date=2021-05-16|work=High Country News|language=en-us}} By 2021, the herd grew to about 120 and were grazing on approximately {{convert|2,500|acre||adj=pre|fenced}} of shortgrass prairie.{{Cite news |last=Lindgren |first=Annie |date=2022-04-24 |title=CSU and Partners Provide 39 Laramie Foothills Bison to 3 Native Nations |url=https://northfortynews.com/category/life-in-noco/csu-and-partners-provide-39-laramie-foothills-bison-to-3-native-nations/ |access-date=2022-08-15 |work=North Forty News |language=en-US}} In cooperation with partner organizations, bison are being sent to Native American tribes where they are important for cultural endeavors and food sovereignty. With these transfers, tribes have been able to start their own herds. Bison have been sent to tribes in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota.{{Cite web |last=Spencer |first=Michael |date=2023-05-26 |title=Bison population, with Yellowstone National Park roots, explodes in Colorado |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/bison-colorado-state-university-lineage-yellowstone-national-park-native-american-tribes/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=CBS Colorado |language=en-US}}

{{main|Lindenmeier site}}

The Lindenmeier site, named for the previous Lindenmeier Ranch, is a Folsom archaeological site on the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. The site contains the most extensive Folsom culture campsite yet found with an uncorrected averaged radiocarbon date of 10,660±60 B.P., or 8,710 B.C. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961.{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=153&ResourceType=Site|title=Lindenmeier Site|accessdate=2007-10-15|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104184837/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=153&ResourceType=Site|archivedate=2008-01-04}}

• Fort Collins, Colorado

{{reflist}}

• {{url|http://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/finder/soapstone}} Soapstone Prairie Natural Area
• [https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/bison Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd]
• [http://fcgov.com/naturalareas/pdf/soapstone-management-plan.pdf City of Fort Collins: Soapstone Prairie Management Plan]
• [https://www.larimer.gov/naturalresources/parks/red-mountain Red Mountain Open Space], Larimer County
• [http://museodelastrescolonias.org/ Museo de las Tres Colonias]
• [http://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/finder/cathyfromme Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area, Fort Collins]

Category:Protected areas of Larimer County, Colorado

Category:Protected areas established in 2004

Category:2004 establishments in Colorado