A Buffalo Commons by Michael Blake
There is a shining dream that has been alive in the United States for at least one hundred
and seventy years, a grandiose vision passed from generation to generation that would restore an irreplaceable part of our country and raise the national spirit for as long as we exist.
It is the dream of a Buffalo Commons for America.
The artist George Catlin, whose body of work is now a national treasure, first put the idea into words in the early 1830's when he said that the Great Plains, "might in the future be preserved in their pristine beauty and wildness what a thrilling, beautiful specimen for America to preserve. I would ask no other monument to my memory, nor any other enrollment of my name amongst the famous dead".
By 1895 the buffalo, once present in the scores of millions, had been reduced to a few hundred. Plains warriors and their families, now fully subjugated, were expected to become extinct early in the twentieth century. Prominent historians proclaimed the American frontier closed forever.
None of this has come to pass. The buffalo is back in America. For a century their numbers have swelled quietly. At last count there were three hundred thousand of them, scattered on ranches across the country where they are raised for the superior meat and hides they provide. While white populations continue to plunge on the plains, the descendents of free roaming hunters of the
buffalo are seeing their populations increase. And the land, having survived the plow and the cow, is still mighty, its soaring, limitless grandeur intact.
The region that has inspired awe for centuries needs but one, indispensable element to bloom again. It needs what was and is the life of the American Prairie the
buffalo. When the buffalo returns it will bring with it a power of creation that will sew the self-generating seeds for a wild array of life. Its presence will ignite the most magnificent restoration in American history. Animals hovering at the lip of extinction will re-enter our world. Grasses unseen by living Americans will shoot through the earth again. The indescribable panorama that George Catlin was lucky enough to see will be seen again.
The long life of this vision, so ripe for fruition now, has most recently been championed by two renowned professors of planning, Frank and Deborah Popper. Since the late nineteen eighties the Poppers have been propelling a concept that would begin with a million acres, evolving over time into a ribbon stretching from Mexico to Canada that will renew the grace and beauty of the nation that has been deemed the greatest on earth.
While still actively promoting their marvelous vision, the Poppers' profile has recently begun to blend with those of many others from all levels, disciplines and colors of American life. The move for a
Buffalo Commons is still silent but it has reached national proportions.
Precisely how such a plan might be implemented remains unknown but that is as it should be. The reality of a
Buffalo Commons should grow as all positive movements do from the hearts of a people.
The only barrier standing between the dream and reality is will. The same grit and belief in ideal that is now restoring New York City and deploying United States forces around the globe should fuel the establishment of a
Buffalo Commons. All that it takes for our country to achieve a Buffalo Commons is to want it.
Argentina has its Pampas, Brazil its Amazon, Russia its Steppes, Kenya its Serengeti but the greatest nation on earth has nothing comparable with which to lead the world.
A Buffalo Commons will do far more than bring people from across the planet to see a mighty American symbol running free.
A Buffalo Commons will infuse the national spirit with new vitality, creating a living celebration of history and heritage which our descendants will thrill to and cherish as a source of national pride for many lifetimes to come. A
Buffalo Commons has always been right for America and now is the time to begin the gratifying process of spreading its lovely light over a suffering world.
Michael Blake is the author of Dances With Wolves and its recently released sequel
The Holy Road.
