Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa, was established to rebuild the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna that once covered much of the state. Named for Congressman Neal Edward Smith, who supported the project, it began with land assembled for a nuclear power plant and acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1990. Because little healthy native prairie remained, restoration has depended on local ecotype seed to reconstruct a working prairie landscape, including sedge meadow and oak savanna communities. Its bison and elk herds, along with the Prairie Learning Center, make it a major center for conservation, education, and large-scale prairie restoration in Iowa.