GPCN Steering Committee Retreat — October 3-5, 2025, American Prairie

The GPCN Steering Committee represents folks from a wide geographical area, as far north as Calgary, Canada and as far south as Mexico City, Mexico. Technology allows us to connect monthly for meetings to update members on working group projects and discuss opportunities and challenges in grassland conservation across the Great Plains. However, there is something special about being able to connect with colleagues in person, especially when that time involves time on the land, hearing stories about conservation success, and seeing the species we are so often working to protect from behind a computer screen.

A half dozen of us gathered at American Prairie’s Haub Lodge – an impressive building overlooking pine forest from the peaks of the Larb Hills. We spent our first day reflecting on the creation of the GPCN organization, and revisiting some of the ideas that were central to GPCN’s predecessor, the Northern Plains Conservation Network (NPCN). We were fortunate to have Cliff Wallis and Jonathan Proctor in the room, who were both instrumental in the NPCN. The guiding document for the NPCN was the Ocean of Grass, and it is still an important snapshot of the Northern Plains 20 years ago.

There was great discussion had over the future of GPCN, and how we can continue to further our mission by keeping our view wide, looking at large, landscape-level conservation. And what a fortuitous place to do so! American Prairie (AP) was born out of the ideas of the Ocean of Grass document and continues to be a leader in showcasing the possibilities of large-scale conservation projects.

We enjoyed an unseasonably warm October evening with dinner on the back deck, while the kiddos explored down the coulees. Nothing like an evening outside in the fresh sage and pine scented air to buoy our spirits and inspire everyone. The following morning we drove out to meet AP’s bison manager Pedro, who graciously gave up his morning to tour us around the bison handling facilities and show us their bison herd. We had a fascinating discussion of how they manage their bison herd, and how they are working with their neighbours to steward these landscapes together.

In the afternoon we visited with Dan Stevenson, who showed us around some of work they are doing to improve the health of riparian areas. In particular, we visited an area where they had installed beaver analogues. Already, there were some pools in the mostly dry creekbed, and the kids found two leopard frogs! It is always inspiring to see successful rewilding in action. Our final visit that day was to on of the smaller prairie dog colonies. As dark clouds rolled in, we drove the rough, winding gravel road back to the lodge, past sage grouse friendly fencing and expansive views across a sea of grass. It was easy to imagine enormous herds of bison dotting the landscape into the distance.

A final night on the prairie left us reflecting on the importance of connections and our network to connect conservationists and prairie lovers from across the Great Plains. Our working group chairs will have lots of inspiration to help guide them and their working groups as they consider priorities for 2026.