north dakota parks & recreation department

North Dakota State Nature Preserve Program

The Nature Preserves Program celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2000. This program was established in 1975 when the Nature Preserves Act gave the ND Parks and Recreation Dept. the responsibility to set aside a system of natural areas and nature preserves for the benefit of North Dakota citizens. North Dakota is one of roughly thirty states that have a state-level nature preserve or natural area protection program.

The state currently has five designated state nature preserves. Brochures about each preserve are available on-line as pdf files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0, which can be downloaded free of charge by clicking the Acrobat Reader icon.

Cross Ranch State Nature Preserve (pdf, 72K)
Managing agency: The Nature Conservancy, ph. 701-794-8741
Location: 20 miles north of Mandan, Oliver County
Gunlogson State Nature Preserve (pdf, 80K)
Managing agency: ND Parks & Recreation Dept., ph. 701-265-4561
Location: Icelandic State Park, Pembina County
Head of the Mountain State Nature Preserve (pdf, 81K)
Managing agency: ND Parks & Recreation Dept., ph. 701-328-5357
Location: 9 miles southeast of Rutland, Sargent County
H.R. Morgan State Nature Preserve (pdf, 77K)
Managing agency: ND Game & Fish Dept., ph. 701-253-6483
Location: 24 miles east northeast of Lisbon, Ransom & Richland Counties
Sentinel Butte State Nature Preserve (pdf, 82K)
Managing agency: ND Parks & Recreation Dept., ph. 701-328-5357
Location: 3 miles south of Sentinel Butte, Golden Valley County

Natural Heritage Inventory

One of the major accomplishments of the program was the establishment of the Natural Heritage Inventory. The main purpose of the Inventory is to identify North Dakota’s natural features and establish priorities for their protection. Since the inventory’s inception in 1981, over 4,000 records of important species and habitats have been identified and catalogued.

Information from the Heritage Inventory has been used to identify high quality natural areas and potential nature preserves. A dedicated preserve, like those listed above, has covenants placed on the land that protect the important natural features.

The program also works with other agencies to increase protection for high priority natural areas that are not dedicated nature preserves, but contain important features. Over the past 25 years, the program has collaborated with numerous federal and state agencies, as well as private conservation groups, and private landowners to identify and conserve our state’s resources.

Natural Areas Registry

In order to increase protection on private lands, a Natural Areas Registry has been established. This program notifies landowners of important natural features on their land and requests voluntary protection by the landowner. The landowner may enroll in the program and receives recognition and management advice from program staff. Over fifty sites have been successfully registered to date.