Gray County's national grassland began as Dust Bowl repair

McClellan Creek National Grassland began with damaged soil, not a plan for a park. During the 1930s, the federal government bought badly eroded Dust Bowl land here under the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. The 1,449-acre tract was assembled for reclamation. Lake McClellan Recreation Area now sits inside it.

The lake came later. The Panhandle Water Conservation Authority built it in the late 1940s for soil conservation, flood control, recreation, and wildlife. Native grasses and brush returned around the reservoir and helped hold the soil.

Open grassland, marsh, and woodland provide habitat for deer, coyotes, quail, and turkeys. The federal tract is managed for range, watershed, recreation, and wildlife. Camping, picnicking, hiking, and biking now share land once bought because it had been badly eroded.

Motorized riding has its own pattern. A separate UTV and ATV trailhead serves designated routes; the campground is not the riding area. That division fits the larger story. McClellan Creek became recreation ground after it was repair ground, and the grass underfoot is part of the repair.