A group of almost two dozen land managers, landowners, state and federal agency representatives, and scientists came together to develop a scientific/technical assessment of the conservation needs for the Central Shortgrass Prairie ecoregion. The Central Shortgrass Prairie ecoregion encompasses approximately 56 million acres and stretches across all of eastern Colorado, portions of southeastern Wyoming, western Kansas and Nebraska, the Panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas, and northeastern New Mexico. The conservation of the Central Shortgrass Prairie ecoregion is important because the temperate grasslands are one of the least protected major habitat types on Earth; less than 5% is protected globally. Temperate grasslands also are among the most highly converted habitats on Earth.
