A New Model: Prairie Restoration on Private Land

Introducing the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT), a group that recognizes the immense and immediate need to save the natural, shortgrass prairie ecosystem. Angered by the refusal of our public lands managers to adequately protect native prairie wildlife; frustrated by the destruction of thriving prairie by agriculture and development; and heartbroken over the continued poisoning, bulldozing and shooting of black-tailed prairie dogs; we joined together to prevent the total annihilation of the once richly diverse shortgrass prairie. Our purpose is simple and direct: establish a network of shortgrass prairie reserves in the Southern Plains and promote respect for the prairie dog ecosystem.

SPLT envisions an entirely new type of ecosystem restoration project, one that seeks to obtain reform on public lands alongside private land acquisition. This approach is the best hope for preserving a permanent, native prairie community.
 

Decline of the Shortgrass Prairie

Once the prairie was teeming with life. The "Serengeti" of North America is how the Great Plains were depicted before the rush to colonize, control, and modity the land by humans. Bison once roamed free, grazing vast grassy expanses to create an environment that prairie dogs like best: short-clipped vegetation enabling maximum viewing of would-be predators. Prairie dogs followed bison herds to colonize the newly "mowed" areas, bringing along a host of other species. The shortgrass region from Canada through northern Mexico was abuzz with wildlife rarely or never seen today black-footed ferrets, swift fox, mountain plover, ferruginous hawks, grizzly bears, wolves, elk, and bald eagles. Each species from the largest predators to the tiniest insects played an important role in this sustainable system, with the black-tailed prairie dog at the center: the keystone.

In less than 100 years, human settlers have nearly obliterated our Serengeti. Due to the perceived suitability of grasslands for monocrop agriculture, the prairies of North America fell victim to the plow. The forces of cattle ranching, prairie dog shooting, and municipal development combined to cause a severe state of biological imperilment. It took the U.S. Army and hunters just two decades to whittle a population of 60 million bison down to less than 1,000 by 1883. At the turn of the century, prairie dogs inhabited up to 700 million acres of the Great Plains. We reduced this down to less than 800,000 acres. The Southern Plains are now devoid of large, healthy black-tailed prairie dog complexes. Our campaigns to exterminate the prairie dog thrust the black-footed ferret to near extinction. Seven Great Plains species are already gone. Many more face a similar fate if we do not act now. Because of the high demand for beef and other food products provided by prairie agriculture, we all share the blame for the current crisis.

Scientists believe that grasslands are the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Fifty-five grassland species are already listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and 728 are candidates for listing. Two petitions to list the black-tailed prairie dog as threatened are currently being considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
 

The Failure of Public Lands Policy

We can't depend on our government agencies to develop and implement a sufficient legal framework that will bring the Plains back to a healthy condition. Our public land managers have proven that they can't be trusted as protectors of native wildlife. It is government prairie dog poisoning programs that, in large part, have beaten the prairie into this badly injured state. Local, state, and federal agencies continue to poison prairie dogs on our public lands without hesitation. Shooters take advantage of the open season on prairie dogs and destroy more imperiled habitat as they pump bullets into innocent animals. Though our National Grasslands hold the greatest promise for large scale prairie preservation, the U.S. Forest Service remains the greatest obstacle to that goal. The Forest Service allows less than 1% occupancy for prairie dogs on the grasslands.
 

A Project Based on Sound Science and Ethics

Responding to these dire circumstances, SPLT developed a plan to revitalize the Southern Plains. We seek to acquire lands near National Grasslands in southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas, northeast New Mexico, and the Oklahoma panhandle while simultaneously promoting grasslands policy reform. The aim is creating a reserve network to reestablish the natural mosaic of prairie dog colonies inherent to the shortgrass plains.

The SPLT reserve shall be allowed to flourish with minimal human intervention. Initially this may mean reseeding, burning, and mowing to restore native prairie vegetation. The reintroduction of other naturally occurring members of the prairie dog ecosystem may also be necessary. In addition, we will work to restore the American bison on the reserve and adjacent National Grasslands as wildlife, not livestock. However, the idea is to allow the prairie to heal itself.

Accompanying our land purchases and prairie restoration will be an energetic dedication to education and outreach to prevent the further decline of the prairie. We want to develop and present a model for peaceful human coexistence with native wildlife for the broader Plains community.
 

One Protected Piece of Native Prairie

SPLT is extremely encouraged by the public support of our first land purchase campaign. Within two months of launching the effort to acquire a 1,280 acre parcel in southern Colorado, SPLT was grateful to be able to purchase the first building block of the network on November 21, 1998. This is just the beginning.