The Associated Press

DAYTON - Nearly a century ago, the Wright brothers settled on a pasture known as Huffman Prairie to test and develop their airplanes.

What Wilbur and Orville Wright didn't know was that their exploits would lead to preservation of the 109-acre tract of natural grassland for future generations.

The establishment of Wilbur Wright Field and then Wright-Patterson Air Force Base prevented any development of Huffman Prairie, which remains one of the largest prairie remnants in Ohio.

"The prairie is still a prairie because the Wright brothers flew out here," said Terri Lucas, Wright-Patterson's natural-resources manager.

Though dominated by grasses that annually change hue from greens to golds to rusts, the prairie also is loaded with flowers, insects and animals such as woodchucks, fox and deer. A newly identified moth was first discovered at Huffman Prairie earlier this year.

Of the more than 180 plant species on the prairie, 121 are native to the state, said Marleen Kromer of the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

After the Wright brothers' first flight at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., on Dec. 17, 1903, the Wrights returned to their hometown of Dayton and looked for a place to test and develop their planes.

Orville recalled a wild area he had visited on a botany-class field trip during high school. The brothers asked the owner, banker Torrance Huffman, if they could use the property.

Mr. Huffman granted permission on condition that the Wrights drove the cows and horses from the pasture before flying their planes.