Just about everything is connected
Guest post by Clemson student Joseph Romano
After a late arrival on the second day of our stay in Montana due to a delayed flight and missed connection, I was immediately hurled onto the massive Montana landscape. I’ve never seen anything like the open expanse of the sky and the stretching of the plains in my life, so I spent most of the first day constantly stunned. Not only was there stretching expanse, mountains were almost always on the horizon, and the hills and ruts sculpted the land in many places. The uniqueness sculpted by glaciers and a slowly drained ocean is majestic and the soils with equally unique mineral deposits prepared the way for the vegetation we know now as native to the region. The region has been drastically changed over the past couple centuries. Tilling of the soil, introduction of invasive species, extirpation of wildlife, division of habitat by harmful barbed wire fencing and roads have all had impacts. At least dozens of species of flora and fauna need good research for better understanding to manage and possibly restore.
Learning from several researches from various colleges provided me a lot of knowledge on each of the species they worked with, but also different perspectives from each of them on the bigger picture of what is going on with conservation and how it should be pursued. Conservation NGOs want to change some of the practices that are negative to wildlife. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) uses a model that rewards positive practices by landowners. The American Prairie (AP) seems to cut out the landowners from the equation by buying up available land to perform ecosystem restoration work. The Rancher’s Stewardship Alliance (RSA) pursues solutions that the Ranchers themselves can implement by working with each other and supporters. Each of these groups has a different idea of sustainability. I think they have very similar goals, but how they go about it is a different story.
American Prairie’s idea of sustainability seems to be based on a fully functioning, resilient ecosystem that has most or all of the constituents it used to host, and very little of the modern constituents. For AP that means blocking off a huge reservation of land by buying it a little at a time. As such it is understandably contentious because it doesn’t seek to significantly involve the locals.
The Rancher’s Stewardship Alliance is completely non-conflicting with the Rancher’s because it gives the power to them, and works with them to provide solutions for both their wellbeing and the ecosystem. Sustainability in this approach accounts for the persistence of the culture and lively-hoods of the families who live here as well as the ecosystem. It finds ways to continue the way of the rancher without taking away from the resources and richness of nature for future generations.
Coming back to the researchers, regardless of approach and vision of sustainability, the researchers can provide invaluable insight into how to achieve those goals by expanding knowledge of individual species so the most effective methods can be determined for their management. Politics and special interests can always potentially crowd out or manipulate what the best practices really are, but it’s still great that the knowledge is being expanded and put out there.
I didn’t have a clear concept of what Montana was before coming here. I’d have to say mostly ranches and mountains if anything. Now I realize grasslands is the most important and widespread area that the region has to offer. Undamaged grasslands are limited though, so their preservation in keeping them grasslands is paramount. So many species depend on it and interdepend on each other. Often removing one part hurts the rest. Prairie dogs need the grasses to feed and many species need their burrows to also live in. Black-footed ferrets depend exclusively on prairie dog’s as food and require a very large prairie dog town in order to sustain their population.
Just about everything is connected. Grazer’s maintained this land in the past and grazers maintain it now. We just need to find ways to manage everything in as much harmony as possible and bring people around to stopping negative practices and attitudes towards certain wildlife.
