Another keystone species. Here are wild bison released in Colorado. More than 6 feet high at the shoulder and weighing up to 2000 pounds, they are the largest living land mammals in North America. Here is a paper from the buffalofieldcampaign that describes their role in shaping the plains.
Colleagues and friends were the "parents" of something called The Buffalo Commons. It was a paper that they wrote for a planning journal about 25 years ago. It suggested that with the outmigration of young people from the Great Plains and the freeze and drought cycles that were wiping out cattle herds, it was time to return the Plains to its natural landscape flora and fauna--the short-grass prairie and reintroduce the buffalo to graze there in large numbers. While there were contracts out on their lives for some years thereafter, that program has been wildly successful. It has provided income and tourism to an area that was dying. It has also provided some return to the symbolism and economic base of a number of Native American tribes. If you are interested in this, check out the work of Deborah and Frank Popper.
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