What is Northern Plains Conservation Network (NPCN)?

We are an informal network of 18 local, regional, and national conservation groups working together to achieve large-scale conservation in certain parts of the Northern Great Plains region.  We have been working together since August 2000.

What is your goal?

Our goal is to restore at least a few large landscapes within the Northern Great Plains to how they were when Lewis & Clark traversed the region, including restoring wild bison herds. This effort will benefit local economies and improve recreational opportunities in large areas with abundant wildlife.

Where do you plan to achieve this large-scale conservation?

We have identified ten areas with excellent opportunities for large-scale conservation.  Each area could accommodate a herd of free-ranging bison (one-three million acres in size), but taken together, they amount to only 16% of the region.  See our Focus Areas for details on each site.

How did you identify these ten places?

They were identified through a two-year process of gathering human and wildlife data, overlaying the information, and identifying the areas with the best combination of existing healthy landscapes and opportunities for restoration.  Technical information is available in the full Conservation Assessment, available on-line at the Resources section.

How will large-scale conservation actually take place in these areas?

Many opportunities exist to restore large areas, from conservation incentives for landowners to collaborative efforts with tribes and local communities.  But one thing is clear: local communities are essential to the success of this project.  For this reason, we have not crafted a specific plan because first we seek local communities and individuals interested in exploring ways to achieve this vision.

Do you want to get rid of farming and ranching?

No.  Farming and ranching will always dominate this region’s landscape.  We estimate that 99% of this region is either in cropland or grazed by livestock.  Restoring abundant wildlife to a couple large areas in cooperation with willing landowners (including public and private landowners) will not threaten the livestock and farming economies.  It will, however, help diversify the overall land use and economy of the region.

Do you want to remove people?

No.  In fact, we believe large-scale restoration will help keep residents and attract people to those communities lucky to be nearby.

How long will this take?

In some areas, large-scale conservation could happen in 10 or 20 years; in others, it will take longer.  It will depend on the local communities and individuals.  However, in the initial stages, ranchers working to improve their land for wildlife can often see distinct improvement after only two or three years.

Is large-scale restoration work already underway anywhere?

Yes.  A few Indian Tribes are already restoring missing Great Plains wildlife.  For example, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe is creating a Tribal Park and reintroducing bison and black-footed ferrets.  Some private landowners are also restoring missing species.  For example, South Dakota’s Bad River Ranch is restoring swift fox and prairie dogs.  And some public land managers are doing the same.  South Dakota’s Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Montana’s Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge are increasing areas of prairie dogs and restoring black-footed ferrets.  Badlands National Park is restoring bison, swift fox, bighorn sheep, and black-footed ferrets. 

None of these organizations or individuals own enough land to achieve large-scale restoration on their own, however.  It will take collaboration with additional landowners.

Why do you want to restore wildlife to large landscapes in the Northern Great Plains?

Different people have different reasons.  Some want to restore what Lewis and Clark and the early inhabitants of the region once knew to personally experience this missing wildlife legacy and pass it on to their children.  Some want the opportunity to enjoy a large open landscape with the former abundant wildlife now missing.  Others want to help diversify local economies and breathe life into dying towns.

What is so important about bison? Can’t cattle take their place, with less bother?

Bison and cattle have very different behaviour, although they look similar, and in fact, bison are now considered important for the conservation of many prairie species.

Cattle seek out shade and shelter from storms, leading to negative impacts on trees and shrubs along the prairie streams.  In contrast, bison seek open spaces where they can watch for predators, leaving streambank vegetation undamaged.  Bison also graze unevenly, resulting in a patchy distribution of grass and wildflowers that provides better habitat for smaller creatures.  After a thunderstorm, buffalo wallows become mini-water troughs for small animals.  We are still learning how bison and other species affect each other in this complex ecosystem.

And bison aren’t any bother at all, if allowed large areas to roam.  Badlands National Park uses only a four-strand wire fence to keep them in.  Being wild animals, they calve without any help, and forage for themselves in places where cattle could never reach.

Did you know:

The Northern Great Plains Ecoregion spans some 279,000 square miles (722,600 square kilometers) - about 180 million acres (72 million hectares) - and is the continent’s largest grassland ecoregion. (T. H. Ricketts, E. Dinerstein, D.M. Olson, and C.J.  Loucks et. al. 1999.  Terrestrial ecoregions of North America: A conservation assessment.  Island Press,  Washington, D.C.)