Kaw Lake - Kaw City, Oklahoma
Kaw Lake's beauty is like a beacon urging you to come romp and play in nature's playground. Here you won't find wall-to-wall houses, you'll find well-designed public campgrounds tucked into the many coves and inlets. You won't find traffic jams or hear screeching tires, but you will find roads that take you where you need to go and trails for hiking, horseback riding and mountain hiking. You won't find polluted air or acres of parking lots, but you will find clean fresh air, sparkling water, the earth beneath your feet and a clear sky - give or take a cloud or two - above your head. It's an ideal vantage point to view nesting eagles in winter.

For more information on the Kaw Lake Eagle Watch, call the Kaw Lake Office at 580.762.9494 or 877.671.6985.

January Bald Eagle Viewing - Kaw City, Oklahoma
Kaw Lake is home to both wintering and nesting eagles. A total of 275 American Bald Eagles were released as part of a reintroduction effort by the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center (GMSARC) between 1984 and 1992.

January is known as optimal eagle viewing time in Oklahoma. Kaw Lake hosts a special eagle-viewing weekend every year during January, providing information about eagles and a chance to see these magnificent birds in their native habitat.

For more information on the Kaw Lake Eagle Watch, call the Kaw Lake Office at 580.762.9494 or 877.671.6985.

The Bivin Garden - Shidler, Oklahoma
The Bivin Garden is located one quarter of a mile west of Shidler on Highway 11.
Shidler is situated 12 miles from the west entrance to The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (Hwy 18) and 12 miles east of Kaw Lake (Hwy 11).

Ray and Mollie Bivin constructed their home on six acres of virtually uncultivated prairie in November,1981. They started preparing the landscaped garden in June, 1982 and have now reached their goal of spacious lawns, numerous flower beds and hundreds of trees and shrubs.

The Bivins' are not trained horticulturists but have a love of nature and this has been their motivation. They have tried, and are still trying, to produce an unusual garden by planting any item that may be adaptable to the extreme climatic conditions in northwest Osage County,Oklahoma.

The Bivin Garden has been the recipient of such prestigeous awards as th 1990 Award of Excellence by Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Inc. and the 1991 Conservation Award from the Daughters of The American Revolution.

The Tallgrass Prairie - Shidler, Oklahoma
Originally spanning portions of 14 states and covering over 142 million acres, the tallgrass prairie was one of North America's major ecosystems. Today, less than 10% of the original tallgrass prairie remains. Large, unbroken tracts of tallgrass prairie only exist now in the Flint Hills of Oklahoma and Kansas. As a functioning ecosystem, the tallgrass prairie is extinct.

In 1989, The Nature Conservancy purchased the 30,000 acre Barnard Ranch north of Pawhuska, Oklahoma as the cornerstone of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve which now spans over 37,000 acres. The Conservancy's goal is to recreate a functioning tallgrass prairie ecosystem using fire and bison. Fire has been reintroduced to the landscape by using carefully controlled, or "prescribed" burns. Burns are conducted at different times of the year to mimic the original seasonality of presettlement fires. Fire removes dead vegetation, controls encroaching woody vegetation, and increases the vigor and flowering of many plant species.