Mammoth Cave National Park - Grasses

Kentucky once had a vast area of savannah grassland known as the "Barrens." This was in part a human-engineered ecosystem maintained through intentional burning by Native Americans before European contact in an effort to attract deer and buffalo. Although largely eliminated from the region because of agricultural practice and fire suppression, small remnant stands of native grasses still exist and consist of varieties of Indian Grass, Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, and others genetically distinct from their cousins in the Great Plains.

Efforts at native Kentucky prairie restoration have begun in the park at the old Job Corps area and at the old Wondering Woods site.