Eli+O

The Buffalo Commons Project For years the Great Plains served as the home to thousands of Native Americans as well as the natural species they lived in accordance with. As the human population expanded, however, Native Americans repeatedly found themselves being pushed off their land for American occupation and use. After many unsuccessful attempts of driving the Native Americans away, the US Army made one final attempt in what was later known as the Plains Indian Wars—to slaughter their primary source for life in the thousands: The buffalo. Lo and behold, the buffalo were brought to the point of near extermination, and Native American life where these buffalo once lived was soon to follow. Enter: the American frontier settlers. After many attempts—some successful but ultimately failing, being unable to keep up with the move to farming—agriculture began to take its stand on seemingly un-farmable grounds. Despite the many challenges the Midwest imposed on farmers, by the early 1920’s the wheat crop was breaking all time records over and over again with each successive year, and the land once covered with millions of acres of grass was instead subject to dry plots of pure monoculture. Ten years later, the Dust Bowl began to take shape, and millions of acres of topsoil eroded away into the wind, leaving behind only the destruction of the dangerous dust storms.

Today, the Great Plains are a sad sight: dry land with farmers robbing what is left of the soil, depleting the last of the Ogallala Aquifer, and miles and miles of corn (now referred to some as no longer a food product, but rather industrial one). In addition to what seems to be already too many problems, population declination has increased to the point where the Great Plains are once again considered “frontier” land, by late 1800's standards In 1987, as a response to the continued degredation of the land, Frank Popper and his wife, Deborah, proposed what seemed only Native American fantasy—to restore the Great Plains to it’s original form, where buffalo in the millions can once again roam their natural land and restore nutrients and local species to their original condition.

Seem a bit over ambitious and complicated? Let's try to break it down in more realistic terms:

Making this project a reality is something easily seen in the future, but the main trouble lies in convincing skeptics that the utilitarian and ecological benefits are something we need for //today//. Buffalo were once considered a near extinct species, and the Buffalo Commons Project will not only restore their population to much higher and stable numbers, it will change the Midwest back into its natural state—and that’s not something we can afford to lose again.
 * **The proposal:** to slowly return large portion of the farming land of the Midwest to its original, native grassland state for the use of ranching. This would be possible by forming voluntary agreements between the Forest Service and local famers, paying them what //would// have been earned in a 15 year period, had they farmed the land for the long, in exchange for reintroducing native flora back to the environment. The Forest Service would then buy the land and give the farmer a 40-acre homestead, as well.
 * **The down side:** This is a win-win situation for the Forest Service and local famers; however, there are two possible roadblocks: a decrease in food productions, leading to possible population loss; and a lack of money required to pay farmers. Taxation is always a possibility, as is private funding, but there is a huge amount of money needed for this project.
 * **The Results:** Implementation for this project has not gone into effect, but that has not stopped people from hearing about its end goal and acting to reintroduce buffalo in the plains on their own accord. In 1992 (5 years after the introduction of the Buffalo Commons Project), 57 Native American governments in 19 states started the InterTribal Bison Cooperative, aiming to reestablish the buffalo’s value in Native American culture. The increase in bison population due to this program has been tremendous. In fact, the Cooperative managed 15,000 bison alone in 2009. This isn’t the only good news, though. The bison population has risen to 300,000 with the help of various private owners and Not-For-Profit organizations.



Source: Harlan, Bill. "Buffalo Commons: Professor believes its ("Wildlands") time has come ." //Rapid City Journal// 25 8 2001, n. pag. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. .