Donald R. Russell Nature Preserve

In mid-1991, Don Russell donated two tracts of land in Adair County, Oklahoma, to the NSS to create a 20-acre biological preserve. There are several cave remnants and two major caves on the property. One of the main caves, Linda Bear Paw Cave, is used by a large colony of endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens) and one of the cave remnants is a hibernaculum for a colony of Ozark big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii ingens). Pleistocene vertebrates have also been found in caves on the Preserve.

Because this property was acquired with the purpose of establishing a biological preserve, visitation is extremely limited. This is an extension of the longstanding policy of the previous owner.