Unbeknownst to many visitors to RNSP are the parks' prairies, grasslands that provide important habitat for elk, black-tailed deer, and other inhabitants of the biological community.

For thousands of years, American Indians routinely set fires in the prairies to keep them free of encroaching trees, to make the land more productive, and to attract elk, which were an important food source.

The regularity of fire in the prairies has limited what kind of trees grew there. Oaks gained a foothold in places and big-leaf maples thrived along stream courses, but for the most part, fires killed tree seedlings before they had a chance to take hold and turn grassland into forest.

In more recent times, the suppression of fire has resulted in the spread of Douglas-fir, a species well suited for growing in hot, dry places like the Bald Hills. The open grasslands have dwindled, now replaced by fir forests.

Today, park staff is again using fire to maintain the oak woodlands, grasses, and other native plants found in this diminishing natural community. Fire not only helps preserve the natural values of these grassy expanses, but the cultural values as well. Values represented by the historic barns, relict stands of oak, and the openness of the land itself.

Learn about the wildlife of the prairies.