Great Plains: checkered past, hopeful future

The US Great Plains has suffered from too many people, farms, ranches, towns, railroads, and roads for the land to take. Restoring the health of this troubled region may require re-creating elements of the 19th century. Such restoration could be achieved through an initiative dubbed the Buffalo Commons. The Buffalo Commons would tap local and federal governments, American Indian tribes, and the private sector to restore the Great Plains by tearing down fences, replanting native shortgrass, and restocking buffalo along with other native species. The initiative has won the support of the Nature Conservancy, which is now purchasing large tracts of land in the Plains to be used to raise buffalo and boost ecotourism. Though few of the region's agriculturists openly support the project, many acknowledge humankind's efforts to tame the Plains have wrought environmental damage. -from Authors