u/KagamiRyuunosuke

Spent a few hours just wandering over the endless aeolian (wind sculpted) dunes of the Sheyenne Grasslands, through Bur Oak Savanna clinging to dunes interspersed with upland prairie. Some of these Bur Oaks are very old despite their appearance. The well drained sandy soils that characterize the upland sites can shunt the growth of the oaks in dry years, compounded by their open exposure to repeated wind events, blizzards, fires...

The upland Oak Savanna and prairie are ecosystems of resilience and disturbance. Imagine what these oaks have seen through the decades!

The northern tip of the Prairie Coteau in far southern Sargent county at Head of the Mountain nature preserve. The point where the Des Moines lobe and James lobe diverged, carving out the land below... leaving behind the Coteau escarpment that abruptly rises above the surrounding prairie.

Looking north from here, you see the low, rolling drift prairie landscape blending into the distant horizon. Windswept Elm and Ash on the slightly more moist slope standing as tough survivors that refuse to die in the unforgiving wind. This land tells you a story if you know how to listen. A tangible reminder of the glaciers that formed the landscape we know today.