Winter Camping: BIG TENT Season is here, THANK YOU for 40,000 subs!!!

Hey Everyone! I'm out winter camping in the Flint Hills of Kansas and wanted to post up a quick video to say THANK YOU for allowing me to reach 40,000 subscribers! I never thought my channel would take off like this so I wanted to say how appreciative I am of this milestone. I'm really excited for this winter season and wanted to start it off at one of my favorite places in the United States - the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve - the only National Park/Preserve in Kansas. I went to college just up the road at Kansas State University and used to drive down to this area for my nature fix. The Konza Prairie just up the road was listed by Traveler Magazine as one of the Top 7 Places in the World to watch a sunset. I can vouch for this ranking, the sunsets here are UNREAL.
This place is special to me, I hope you get a chance to experience it one day. This National Park/Conservation area is a bit unique, here are some details on the park and how it was created...

From Wikipedia...

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Of the 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 km2) of tallgrass prairie that once covered the North American continent, less than 4% remains, primarily in the Flint Hills.[2] Since 2009, the preserve has been home to the growing Tallgrass Prairie bison herd.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a new kind of national park. The preserve of 10,894 acres (4,409 ha) was the Spring Hill/Z-Bar Ranch, purchased by the National Park Trust in 1994.[4] Legislation introduced in 1991 called for the creation of the Preserve, but local interests objected to the condition that the National Park Service would own it all. From 1991-1994, U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum-Baker convened a group of stakeholders, many with opposing views, to seek agreement on the formula for a tallgrass prairie park. The group began work in January 1992, and a different model for a national park emerged; it would be a public/private partnership, managed by the National Park Service, but the land privately owned.

In 1994, Senators Kassebaum-Baker and Bob Dole introduced Senate bill S. 2412 Congress, which would allow the Federal government to create a national preserve, under the public/private partnership ownership arrangement. The bill,[5] limited National Park Service ownership to no more than 180 acres (73 ha) of the preserve, the remainder owned by the National Park Trust; both would manage the new park cooperatively. On November 12, 1996, the bill became Public Law 104-333, later codified under Title 16 United States Code Section 698u.

On September 20, 2002, National Park Trust donated approximately 32 acres (13 ha) to the National Park Service; it included the 1881 historic ranch house, limestone barn and outbuildings, and one-room schoolhouse. National Park Trust worked with the National Park Service to plan and develop the park from 1996 to 2005.[7]

Though National Park Trust was named in the legislation, the law allowed for successor non-profits to own the land and continue the unique public/private ownership and management relationship. So, in 2005, National Park Trust sold the approximate 10,862 acres (4,396 ha) to The Nature Conservancy, which specializes in the protection and management of unique, irreplaceable landscapes and perishable resources the world over.

Today, the NPS and The Nature Conservancy work toward preservation of the tallgrass prairie, while sharing the story of ranching legacy, American Indian history, and the diverse tallgrass prairie ecosystem in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills of Kansas.[7]

Tallgrass Prairie is the nation's second newest national preserve and the park is still under development with visitor opportunities continually being expanded.

There are over 40 miles (64 km) of maintained hiking trails in the preserve allowing visitors access to the tallgrass prairie. During the summer, narrated bus tours of the prairie are offered.

On January 29, 2008, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve was named as one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.

In 2009, The Nature Conservancy introduced a small herd of bison into the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.