SIOUX FALLS, SD – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that parts of eastern South Dakota and North Dakota have been designated refuge areas to promote the conservation of native prairie. Salazar says the Dakota Grassland Conservation was established last month within the Prairie Pothole Region to protect up to 1.7 million acres of grassland habitat and 240,000 acres of wetland habitat. The conservation area is one of four added to the National Wildlife Refuge System. The other conservation areas established are the Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area of Kansas, the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge of Pennsylvania, and the Tulare Basin Wildlife Management Area of California. Salazar said in a news release that the addition of the four areas adds to the country’s legacy of conservation.
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