The United States has national parks devoted to canyons and deserts, glaciers and geysers; even underwater coral reefs. Sixty three national parks in all.

But somehow, we skipped the American prairie. The grasslands that once stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rockies played a vital role in the lives of Native Americans, White settlers, and an endless variety of wildlife. They inspired explorers and artists…but apparently not park planners.

Two decades ago, a nonprofit organization began trying to fix that, not with a new national park but rather a huge privately-operated nature reserve, a place where – as we first reported last fall – buffalo can roam once again.