American Prairie Reserve - Nothing new

Gila said:
She feels that AP’s effort is entirely futile to the point of being nothing more than a money making scheme that will continue to damage the prairie, maybe forever this time. Clarence Mortensen conducted a 50 year experiment to try and bring the prairie habitat on his ranch back to the way it was before the settlers with their cattle and sheep devastated the prairie. And of course they extirpated the buffalo which were vital to maintain the prairie habitat.

She said the buffalo (the lakota language doesn’t correlate to bison) are gone and there is no way they can return to a prairie which is barren and completely devoid of their required habitat. She said there is no way wachichu could implement the circle of life because they don’t understand it. Other Tribal ranches are using the same methods from the Mortensen Ranch to restore the habitat on their own ranches. This effort is on a small scale and it takes decades before the habitat actually comes back. However as a result, cattle ranching has become more sustainable.

The tribes have their “pet“ herds of buffalo, but they understand that there is no way that the buffalo can roam free on their cattle ranches, or leased grazing land for that matter. The cattle are moved over seasonal plants much like the way that the buffalo herds used to move only on a small scale. What this does is to simulate how the buffalo actually aerated the soil and “chisel” plowed the seeds into the soil. As a result, previously extinct plant species are now growing on these ranches. These previously extinct plant species maintained the buffalo herds.

That is the plant issue but then there is a water issue to be solved. The damaged habitat caused natural springs to dry up. Clarence found a way to re-connect the aquifer and then the springs came back to life and trees were growing where previously, grass woudn’t even grow.

So there you have it. She also said that in order to repair the prairie habitat, the plant species that were indigenous to that particular area must be reintroduced.
Click to expand...

If you're as into peer-reviewed research as you claim to be, surely you're familiar with these two studies showing similar and improved ecosystem health in upland and riparian systems where AP has reintroduced bison. Incidentally, even though biodiversity (birds in this case) is similar in bison and cattle pastures in the uplands...bison don't require rotation so this is achieved with way fewer miles of fence in areas with bison.

uplands: https://www.ace-eco.org/vol16/iss2/art13/
riparian areas: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.821822/pdf

-A
 
Montana's candidate for Congress, Ryan Zinke, former Congressman then US Secretary of Interior (but resigned due to investigations and alleged abuses and "lack of candor") must have gotten some of his talking points from Gila. In the debate with his rival candidate Zinke reiterated some of the same distortions and criticisms of American Prairie, even going so far as citing it as an example of reducing the potential for US food production. It seems the right wing paranoia about expanding open grasslands and conserving bison and other wildlife seems to have expanded. Gila's goofy message is finding roots.

Libertarian candidate John Lamb wisely sat this debate out, as it was a contentious Republican vs Democrat exchange of accusations ... interesting, but much like an elementary school cafeteria food fight. One said, "You lied!" then the other said, "No, you lied!" :D
 
Straight Arrow said:
Montana's candidate for Congress, Ryan Zinke, former Congressman then US Secretary of Interior (but resigned due to investigations and alleged abuses and "lack of candor") must have gotten some of his talking points from Gila. In the debate with his rival candidate Zinke reiterated some of the same distortions and criticisms of American Prairie, even going so far as citing it as an example of reducing the potential for US food production. It seems the right wing paranoia about expanding open grasslands and conserving bison and other wildlife seems to have expanded. Gila's goofy message is finding roots.

Libertarian candidate John Lamb wisely sat this debate out, as it was a contentious Republican vs Democrat exchange of accusations ... interesting, but much like an elementary school cafeteria food fight. One said, "You lied!" then the other said, "No, you lied!" :D
Click to expand...
When the game plan works, you stick with it. Zinke knows his voting base can be scared into believing just about anything. No reason to stick to the truth. I would hope the moderator would ask some questions about the problems we face as a country that are a bit higher on the list than the APR buying the occasional ranch and raising some bison.
 
SAJ-99 said:
No reason to stick to the truth. I would hope the moderator would ask some questions about the problems we face as a country that are a bit higher on the list than the APR buying the occasional ranch and raising some bison.
Click to expand...
The false claim that APR has taken lands out of agricultural production is simply refuted by the statement in APR published information that 88% of APR property is leased back to local ranchers for cattle grazing.
 
 
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