• Subscribe
  • Contact
  • GIVE

RSVP & Agenda | TLA Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Ranch Tour

Osage County, OK | June 26, 2025

RSVP Link

AGENDA

TLA Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Ranch Tour
Lunch – Discuss – Pasture Tours
Date: June 26, 2025
Gather Time: 10:45AM

Location: Meet at the Preserve Visitor Center - Directions, Parking Procedure, and Final Agenda will be sent to RSVPs on Friday, June 20, 2025.

*Times and agenda order may shift, yet the gather time, tour content, and end time will stay the same!

10:45AM – Gather at Research & Conference Center.

11:00AM – Lunch at Research & Conference Center - lunch and beverages provided.

11:45PM – Bathroom break & move to Conference Auditorium.

12:00PM – Lunch & Learn Presentation by Bob Hamilton and Sam Fuhlendorf covering:

  1. Ranch History
  2. Main Grazing, Fire, Invasive Species, and Wildlife Management Practices and Research since 1989
  3. 32+ years of Summer/Growing Season Prescribed Fire and Grazing impacts
  4. 32+ years of Patch Burn Grazing, including 25 years of Beef Cattle Patch Burn Grazing impacts
  5. 29+ years of Prescribed Fire X Herbicide Use on Sericea Lespedeza impacts

1:10PM – Bathroom break & load into vehicles to start Main Ranch Tour.
Portable bathrooms and a shade tent will be available at the second and third tour stops.

1:25PM – Head out for Main Ranch Tour with three (3) pasture stops covering the following topics:

  1. 25 years of Beef Cattle Patch Burn Grazing Pasture-Level Research including:
  1. Beef Stockers Responses to Spring & Summer Burned PBG Pastures
  2. Response of Sericea Lespedeza to Spring & Summer Burned PBG
  3. Impacts of PBG on Greater Prairie Chicken & other Grassland Wildlife

  1. 29+ years of Sericea lespedeza Responses to Burning & Herbicide Use, including:
     
    1. Spring & Summer Burning
    2. Spot, Boom & Aerial Herbicide Spraying
    3. Beef Stocker & Grassland Responses to this Burning & Spraying program

  2. 32+ years of Spring & Summer Burning Impacts, including:
  1. Beef & Cattle Gains, Utilization & Use
  2. Forage Production and Prairie & Wildlife Responses
  3. Tree & Shrub Responses

4:30PM – Arrive back to Research Station.

4:45PM – Snacks & Drinks.

5:00PM – Evening Ranch Tour with three (3) stops, including:

  1. Viewing and discussing Bison areas that have been periodically Summer Burned for over 30 years
  2. Viewing and discussing the Ranch’s Dry Creek bank stabilization project
  3. Viewing and discussing the John Joseph Matthews Cabin as well as his Osage Nation Legacy and Impact as an Osage Nation Member, Council Person, and Historian

7:30PM – After the final stop at the John Joseph Matthews Cabin, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and TLA Staff will head into Pawhuska for an evening meal with all that would like to enjoy a meal together in historic downtown of Pawhuska, OK.

If requested: TLA will assist any meeting participants in securing a room in the Pawhuska area if they would like to stay the night and enjoy more fun and exploring Thursday night and beyond!

Things to Do and Place to Stay:

  1. The Osage Nation Visitor's Center and Osage Nation Musuem are both excellent visits - you can learn more about the Osage Nation's Culture beforehand by reading the Nation's Wahzhazhe Welcome Guide and by visiting the 'Historic Preservation' tab on the Osage Nation's Osage Culture Website;
  2. The Osage Nation has a brand-new casino and hotel on the edge of Pawhuska;
  3. The Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce has a Osage County Lodging page;
  4. There are several new bed & breakfasts and a newly restored building in the Pawhuska area that provide many overnight stay options;
  5. The Pioneer Woman franchise of restaurants, shops, and tours is headquartered in downtown Pawhuska, as well as the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum; and
  6. There are many other historic sites, businesses new and old, musuems, and culture to explore and experience in town and throughout Osage County - the Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce 'Directory' page as well as the Pawhuska Attractions Map and History page are other great options to help plan a visit to the area.