Buffalo Commons

This was something I was not aware of till recently due to a discussion and a project I have to do for a class this semester. The reason I probably hadn't heard of it is because I grew up on the east coast so I didn't experience these problems.

When people think of the Great Plains of the United States they probably think of miles and miles of flat terrain covered in corn and other similar crops. While this is true of much of the eastern portion, Iowa good parts of Oklahoma and Texas etc, the western portion, from Montana and North Dakota south, is typically not as lucky. The western portion sits in the leeward side of the Rocky Mountains and this produces a rain shadow effect. North American settlers have tried to conquer this area for close to 200 years with agriculture, this is one of the leading causes of dust bowl. Much of the agriculture in this area is reliant on an aquifer, the Ogallala Aquifer, for their water. This has resulted in a severe depletion of the aquifer since it has been strongly pumped starting in the 1950s. All of these problems have led to this area drastically losing population over the last few decades.

In 1987 Deborah and Frank Popper wrote an article, the full article can be read, in Planning Magazine arguing for the creation of what has been called a Buffalo Commons. This area would be a massive area of land that would be returned to the native grassland conditions. In these areas cattle and other domesticated animals would be removed and instead be replaced by native animals such as bison, pronghorn, and deer (The first two have been greatly reduced in number and range since settlement began as can be read in their respective articles); on a side note I would hope they would also allow replacement of predators such as wolves as well. This land would be treated as a National Park, since it would be bought up by the federal government. This would hopefully increase tourism to this area and may slow or stop the depopulation of the great plains, or at least give those who stay another industry to earn money from.

When the idea was originally proposed there was a huge backlash against the idea. This would make sense many of the farmers and ranchers in this area are hard working, they have to be, and they don't want outsiders telling them what to do. This land still produces a large amount of cattle and the land is still worth a lot of money. Over time, however, there has been a slow growing acceptance for this idea including an article written about a year ago, November 2009, advocating for the creation of the Buffalo Commons (I would link to this but the link is no longer active).

Now I am not trying to advocate, one way or another, about this idea I am just trying to draw attention to this and maybe start a discussion. As I said I wouldn't have known about it had it not been for a project I have to work on in one of my classes this semester and but I feel it is an idea that should be talked about. I can see benefits; no more withdraw on the aquifers, increase in native grasses to help prevent erosion, and tourism being brought to the area; but I can also see negatives; this land will not be available for use later, what do the owners of the land do when their land is bought from them, and the cost of tearing down all that has been built in the area will cost just as much as buying up the land. I only want to bring this idea to a larger population.

Read more on the Buffalo Commons:
Great Plains Restoration Council article on the Buffalo Commons
Wikipedia article