The Conservation Department created this area in 1968 with the purchase of 1,024 acres from several landowners. Later acquisitions of 924 acres have increased the area's current size.
This conservation area was acquired in part through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Pittman-Robertson funds are generated from a federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition.

Because of its size and diversity of habitat, Bonanza Conservation Area is managed for a wide range of game and nongame wildlife species. The area's open fields are managed by farming, haying and controlled burning. Other habitat management includes tree, shrub and grass plantings and selective timber harvest. Native grasses have been planted and managed to improve nesting habitat and winter cover.
A few streams run through the area the largest of these are Shoal Creek and Crabapple Creek.
Bonanza Conservation Area is a quail emphasis area. This means additional emphasis is placed upon managing the area for early successional species such as Bobwhite quail.