Fifteen years ago I spent most of my time with rattling, smelly farm machinery, either being severely jarred as I drove up and down the fields or lying under it trying to fix something. Our South Dakota ranch supported a couple hundred beef cattle and all summer long we rolled hay into huge, round bales in the blistering heat, and all through the freezing winter we rolled the bales back out on the ground so the cows wouldn’t starve. The smell of diesel fuel permeated my clothes and the skin beneath my fingernails was tattooed with axle grease.
One cold, snowy day, just after Christmas in 1996, as I lay under a tractor that wouldn’t start, it occurred to me that what this ranch really needed was an animal that could thrive without my help. I rolled out from under the tractor and rocked up onto my knees. Squinting against the brilliant snow, I tried to imagine our ranch before Europeans came to the Great Plains. I saw buffalo moving silently across the horizon, turning grass to healthy, red meat with no clattering of engines or fog of diesel fumes.
The Great Plains is the heart of our country. But like a human heart that has been stressed by abuse, it has been weakened and is in need of restoration. When Europeans first arrived here they found lean and healthy native people. They found seemingly endless pastures of indigenous grasses, huge skies darkened by migrating birds and about 60 million buffalo. American buffalo, also known as bison, were slaughtered in massive numbers in the late 1800s. By 1900 they were near extinction with only about 400 animals remaining. With conservation, their population has slowly rebounded and now there are about 350,000 on public and private lands.
Today the Plains are broken up by fences that hold cattle destined for feedlots. Most of the native prairie has been plowed under, leaving the land bare to the ravages of wind and water erosion. Native grasses have been replaced with government-subsidized commodity crops, such as corn, cotton and wheat. These crops grow with the aid of petroleum-based fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that run off into the water. With less available habitat, native animals and birds are being squeezed out. To complete the circle, most of the subsidized corn is fed to the cattle that replaced the buffalo.
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This post seemed like an appropriate place to voice my thoughts from the last week.
When thinking about how Americans could have allowed for the degradation of the Great Plains, a small piece of one of the essays in Dan’s book continues to reverberate with me. The essay suggests that the “perceived aesthetic deficiencies” of the Great Plains may be the reason why this is one of the least protected places on the planet. Why is it that we protect the land that we do while other areas are exploited, and what do we value in a landscape? Flat, open space does not captivate Americans the way the majestic landscapes that became Yellowstone, Yosemite or Grand Canyon National Parks did and continue to do. Do we protect land to preserve its aesthetic pleasure, to capitalize on tourism potential or to allow an ecosystem to continue to flourish unharmed? I would argue that the former two assert more pull than the latter. I do not advocate for the Great Plains to become an expansive preserved wilderness area. The idea of designating land as wilderness has never sat well with me, as I strongly believe that a dichotomy between humans and the land or any aspect of nature should never be promoted.
An optimistic future for the Great Plains has already begun with Wild Idea Buffalo and expectantly will continue with many more ecologically-minded farmers and ranchers. The return of the buffalo – an animal that helped shape the landscape of the plains alongside Native Americans – to the Great Plains in a sustainable manner seems like an appropriate step forward. I only wish there was some way to give Native Americans back the Great Plains they once knew as well. Maybe a program that helps those who are open to and interested in being involved with sustainable agriculture and ranching could be beneficial for all: the Native Americans, the ecosystems of the Great Plains and all of us who eat. Also, a particular beloved species can often win the public’s support for its habitat. Now that the buffalo are back, they can possibly fill this role for the Great Plains. I hope that Americans can come to see the value in the land of open space and big sky that makes up such a significant portion of our country. And let’s not just preserve the land, but instill a deeper connection between Americans and the Great Plains by using it sustainably and responsibly.
Sounds like you are warming up to the sequel to BFTB, “Buffalo for the CRR”, maybe! Sound good?
best to all
I have only seen a herd of buffalo twice in my life, but both times i was awe struck at the sheer size and apparent power that they behold. When i was younger i never would have thought that these animals were in any danger. The last of the wild mega-fauna resides in our Great Plains, areas that are now facing the most devastating effects of modern agricultural practices. When you think of a farm, you don’t think of buffalo, but you don’t think of caged animals, bread to be dis-formed either. If buffalo can sustain themselves on the plains, why not take advantage of their natural lifestyle and contribution to the plains ecology. By reducing CAFOs and supplanting local economies with buffalo meat, instead of beef, not only are you positively impacting the local lands, but on a grander scale using less fossil fuels, causing less pollution, and less depletion of local water sources.
The idea of utilizing buffalo for ‘agricultural’ means seems like a great idea. Unfortunately, there is the constant threat of overhunting/ overselling buffalo. This would be a step backward for the buffalo populations which are in recovery. Although the benefits of buffalo ranching are great, it is the opportunity of few to switch to ranching from cow factories. Any more than can be sustainable in the plains would end in devastation.
I would love to one day pass by another herd of buffalo. To see their brute strength and endurance in the wild. These last large mammals represent more than just a rancher’s dinner, they represent a lost grouping of the most powerful living land animals in the Western hemisphere.