Shifting Eras of Ranching and Ranges
Guest post by Summer Program student CJ Linder -
Over the second section of the course, we obtained many different perspectives regarding land use in the prairie and experienced many different wildlife techniques used to help research the flora and fauna of the area. The people who live and work here both in the past and present have undoubtedly shaped this ecosystem that is continuing to change today and working towards a sustainable future. That was the main overarching theme of this section as we spoke with researchers, conservationists, and ranchers alike regarding the problems that the prairie faces and what is being done to protect this vast ecosystem.
During Dr. Jachowski’s section, we camped on American Prairie campgrounds and met with some people from American Prairie whose mission was to reestablish a Bison population on sections of prairie that they are buying and to ultimately create a continuous nature preserve where their Bison can graze and other wildlife such as elk, pronghorn, mule deer, and prairie dogs can exist in a non-fragmented section of northern great plains. While we were talking with Danny, I started to form my own opinions about American Prairie and their methods of conservation and while the thought seems pure, one large organization buying up thousands of acres of prairie to manage it the way that they see fit, for me just feels like one entity shouldn’t have that much power over an entire area. They are grazing Bison at extremely low stocking densities which may or may not be good for the prairie and are often squeezing ranchers out of their land to buy it for their nature preserve. The Bison on these lands is also controversial because ranchers who run cattle don’t think Bison should be on the land due to disease and their worse temperate. Indigenous people want to have Bison on the land too and the government and the cattle industry have limited that goal massively and it has only been until recently that Bison have made their way back to tribal lands. However, I do know that the land needs to be grazed whether it be cattle or Bison. I love to see Bison on the landscape but I just don’t know if it is possible with the segregated lands that exist nowadays to run wild bison across the plains like they would be doing naturally 200 years ago.
After American Prairie we visited with the TNC, WWF, and RSA where we saw what other organizations were doing for conservation in association with ranching to try and keep people on the land without having to sell and get out of ranching. The Nature conservancy buys areas of land that are good for conservation and also bought the Circle C ranch and it’s properties like these that are used to give ranchers an area to graze for a price, but is discounted if they do things to protect wildlife on their property. The RSA also helps ranchers with funds from the government and WWF to improve their ranching and explore wildlife friendly practices while still being able to maintain their livelihood. I think that keeping individual ranchers on the land is good for the prairie as it protects the ground on which the cows graze from being plowed. It also keeps large organizations and rich hunters that aren't going to work the land from buying up all of the property and not grazing the prairie like it has been for thousands of years causing woody brush, tree encroachment, and degraded soils.
Finally, we went into the field with a couple of different research teams studying ground nesting birds and Sprague’s Pipit. Andrew and Nancy allowed us to follow them on their research and showed us different trapping and transect techniques as well as showing us how they handle the birds that they find. This research that they are doing for endangered birds on the prairie helps to bring awareness to the fact that this vital ecosystem needs to be protected from degradation to preserve the biodiversity that is there. These researchers agreed that if the land is going to be used by people, it is better for there to be cattle grazing the land rather than it being destroyed and becoming row crop agriculture or wind/ solar energy farms which majorly disturb wildlife.
Therefore, in sustaining the ranchers way of life we can ultimately sustain wildlife populations that are still on the prairie minus the Bison. Though the American icon should be present all over the landscape, if we can preserve all the other wildlife and aspects of this wild land I think that can be regarded as success. Through the trials and tribulations of this past section I can truly appreciate this remarkable ecosystem for not only its wildlife, but the people who live here now and who once lived here. Being able to admire what is here and the science, research and work being done to protect this place from further human encroachment gives me hope. The prairie ecosystem should not be viewed as large flat land for farming, but as its own wonder of the world so even though there is conflicts regarding bison or cattle, American Prairie vs ranchers, everybody loves the ecosystem and wants what is best for it and as long as that is true, hopefully the current wildlife can continue to call the prairie home.
