Kansas’ prairie grasslands are America’s forgotten treasure. They support a web of wildlife, from bison and prairie-chickens to tiny sparrows, making them ecological treasures few realize they have.

The cover of "Sea of Grass" and authors Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Chris Bentley/Here & Now) Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on Sept. 1, 2025.

Prairies once extended in a broad, almost continuous band from southern Saskatchewan, Canada, into the Midwest and Central United States and southward to Texas and New Mexico. These vast grasslands ...