In 2021, I wrote a bit about one of the Badlands’ smaller charismatic denizens, the Ord’s Kangaroo Rat. This time it’s a much larger one, our Bighorn Sheep, its near extinction and recovery. The bighorn had its origin in the Old World during the last ice age. It is in the cattle family, the Bovidae, along with bison, mountain goats and a plethora of other Old World and domesticated species. They crossed to North America via the Bering Straits Land Bridge at the end of the Pleistocene, the oldest North American fossils having been dated at around 110,000 years.
Read MoreRecommended reading: The Designed Landscape of the North Dakota Badlands: Weldon and Marjorie Gratton, Faithful Stewards and Genuine Collaborators, by Steve C. Marten. North Dakota History, v. 80, no. 2, Summer 2015.
Read MoreAs reported by the Bismarck Tribune, May 23, 2022, Theodore Roosevelt National Park has a new Superintendent, Angie Richman, who has arrived in Medora. Her predecessor, Wendy Ross, left last fall to begin as a deputy director for three U.S. Interior Department regions in the Midwest.
In November 2021, TRNP held meetings for their Comprehensive Site Planning Update which BCA attended. BCA will continue to be engaged in this important planning process.
Read MoreThe Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library has been in the news with stories on Prairie Public Radio and other outlets, highlighting the progress of the fundraising, design, land purchases from the USFS and donated land from the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, upcoming public meetings, and events, as well as the projected build date and grand opening plans. BCA members including board members have continued to be in conversations with the leadership of this project including with the Roosevelt family members and other key supporters. The TRPL office is located in Medora, right across the street from the historic Rough Riders Hotel, and a few blocks from the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit). At this time, a prototype of the planned exhibits is found within the Chateau des Mores State Historic Site. Some BCA members have stopped in to see it and gave it TOP MARKS!
Read MoreHiking Bullion Butte with the friends of the Badlands Conservancy Association was a fantastic way to spend Memorial Day.
Read MoreBy Dr. Mike Vandall
A very friendly and energetic group of twenty-six avid outdoor enthusiasts from all over the State met in Medora for the Badlands Conservation Alliance Bullion Butte hike. This was a very strenuous day-long undertaking, making time for interesting discussions and presentations about history, Theodore Roosevelt, and the geography and geology of The Little Missouri River and Badlands. Other topics of discussion were the native fauna and flora of the Badlands.
Read MoreThey’ll always be the Good Lands to me.
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