Considered a sacred place by the Lakota, Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. It’s known for its outstanding display of boxwork — thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. Above ground, the park includes more than 30,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest that provide important habitat for bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes and prairie dogs.

In 2011, The Conservation Fund helped the National Park Service acquire an additional 5,555 acres at Wind Cave. The new tract, a historic ranch that formerly belonged to the Casey family, includes important Lakota cultural sites, a homestead, tipi rings and a 1,000-year-old buffalo jump where native hunters drove bison to their deaths.

Our Role

The process of expanding Wind Cave National Park began in 2000 when the Casey family approached the National Park Service about selling their ranch property to the park. In 2005, with support from South Dakota’s congressional delegation, Congress passed legislation to expand the park. When the Casey family put up their land for auction in 2010, TCF purchased the property and held it until federal funding became available in 2011. We transferred the property to the park service in October 2011.

Why This Project Matters

With the addition of the Casey ranch to Wind Cave NP, park visitors will have new opportunities to experience the history and culture of South Dakota’s Indigenous people. “We would like to thank The Conservation Fund for the critical role they played in acquiring this property,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. “Because of their help, we look forward to providing educational programs about the buffalo jump and historic ranch to area school children and all our visitors.”

Already an important tourist destination that makes a major contribution to the state’s economy, the new site is expected to drive even more tourism to the area and benefit the economies of the park’s surrounding communities.