Buffalo Commons

Ultimate goal- Give the Great Plains back to the Buffalo saving the American prairie.

     

"And so for almost a century we’ve watched stranded towns and houses fall one by one like autumn leaves in the chill of October. In most of the United States, abandoned buildings are a sign of change and shifting economic opportunities. On the High Plains, they always mean that something in the earth and the sky mutinied against the settlers"
(Bowmen,3)

Dust Bowl of the 1930's

-The rural parts of the Great Plans are suffering human population decline. Extreme weather such as droughts, harsh winters, bug infestations, and hot summers have caused agriculture and energy economy decline resulting in depopulation.  The sparse parts of the Great Plains are driving people out of their home states into neighboring cities to seek job opportunities.

With human population holes, what is the future of these historic Plains?

 BUFFALO COMMONS

                                                                     Looking at the deficient state economic statistics, the federal government is proposing to recreate the natural habitat of the Great Plains. This reestablished land would be known as the Buffalo Commons. Ranging  from Montana to New Mexico (139000 square miles), sectors of land, including private land, would be preserved only for the wildlife protection park. Buffalo and other wildlife species will be able to roam freely again in the land that they used to call home.  Present national parks, Indian reservations, grazing lands,  forest, and wildlife refuges borders will dissolve creating the biggest national wildlife preserve in the world saving  our American prairie.

(Novacek, 8)

•              Concept- The Buffalo Commons does not just give back to the buffalo and prairie, but also proposes an idea of redesigning land usage  that "fell between intensive cultivation and pure wilderness"   (Popper 5),  with less emphasis on farming and extraction and more on preservation and ecotourism bringing money and purpose back into the states. 
•             Steps- Farmers would need to voluntarily consent to give up their land and be responsible to bring back natural grasslands. Farmers would be compensated for their land loss and work to bring back the American Prairie. Ranchers must be convinced that roaming bison would not be a threat to cattle.  
•            Controversy- The Buffalo Commons proposal has been very controversial. Residents have revolted arguing that the states will bounce back and forceful land evictions is an assault to their livelihoods. People are convinced that most rural life if flourishing. Meetings have been canceled and halted due to death threats and violent outlashes. Without the state residents approval, the federal government will not assign land for the commons. With the proof of economic and environment prosperity in allowing and raising buffalo in these rural areas,  there is still hope for conformity.
•              Benefits- As I have already described the nature benefits due to the commons proposal, Great Plain residents have just as equal benefits. The commons would bring in a new source of revenue to residents that is eco-driven. Ecotourism to sight see the roaming buffalo and nature retreats would bring in high revenue during the summer months. These are the hottest parts of the year for the Great Plans where framing is almost impossible. New wind power energy plants would bring in new jobs for residents all year around. Bison are more resilient, easier to care for and less susceptable to abuse than cattle, the bison meat industry could put the Great Plans back on the map as a meat distributor. With these new jobs, families who  have resided on the Great Plans for centuries can say in their homes with a slight change of purpose. 

                        Buffalo Commons

 *This original graph demonstrates the positive balance effects the Buffalo Commons proposal brings to nature and  it's residents*