buffalo commons

Jun 17, 2008 08:53

something to work and lobby for:

"The Buffalo Commons is a cultural and social movement for positive, restorative social and ecological change on the Great Plains.
There once were over 400 million acres of wild prairie grasslands in the central part of North America. The backbone of the Buffalo Commons movement is the work - over a period of decades - to re-establish and re-connect prairie wildland reserves and ecological corridors large enough for bison and all other native prairie wildlife to survive and roam freely, over great, connected distances, while simultaneously restoring the health and sustainability of our communities wherever possible so that both land and people may prosper for a very long time. Future generations may choose to expand these reserves and corridors, as the new culture of caring and belonging we have started today becomes an integral, ingrained part of life in the world of tomorrow, especially as extensive grasslands become needed to help absorb carbon from the atmosphere. (Highly biodiverse native prairies are excellent carbon sequesters.)"
(quoted from http://www.gprc.org/buffalocommons.html )

"The concept of the Buffalo Commons was floated by New Jersey sociologists Frank and Deborah Popper in 1988. The Poppers observed that agriculture had failed miserably on the Great Plains, and noted that the region would probably be almost wholly depopulated save for a few cities by the mid-21st century.

The highest and best use for the area, the Poppers argued, was in its pristine state: A restored prairie cleared of fences and abandoned ranches, reseeded with native bunchgrasses, teeming with wildlife. And foremost among these resurgent animals would be the emblematic beast of the Plains: the buffalo. Back by the tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands.

Plains residents, both white and Native American, would earn their money through ecotourism and franchise hunting, not punching cows and growing dryland wheat. "
(quoted from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/22/MN39309.DTL )

more...

The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust
A daring proposal for dealing with an inevitable disaster.
By Deborah Epstein Popper and Frank J. Popper
http://www.planning.org/25anniversary/planning/1987dec.htm

Frank and Deborah Popper's 'Buffalo Commons' is creeping toward reality
http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=10194

THE BUFFALO COMMONS AS REGIONAL METAPHOR AND GEOGRAPHIC METHOD
http://www.gprc.org/buffalocommons_method.html
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