Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide a means of working with individuals, groups, private organizations, and government entities to permanently preserve a portion of the remaining remnant tracts of northern tallgrass prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 and Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 is acquiring remnant prairie tracts for the refuge in both easement and fee title interests from willing sellers.

Presently, the refuge is approximately 1800 acres (7.3 km²) in size and consists of eight easement and four fee title tracts in seven Minnesota counties and one Iowa county. Field administration of all units acquired for the refuge will occur from eight existing Fish and Wildlife Service Wetland Management District and National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...

 offices scattered throughout the project area established for the refuge.

When a tract of land is acquired for the refuge within the work area for one of these offices, the office will assume adiminstrative authority for the tract. The project leader of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

Straddling the headwaters of the Minnesota River in extreme west-central Minnesota, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is within the heart of the tallgrass prairie's historic range...

is responsible for overseeing the administration of the entire refuge.