Many Americans trace the modern conservation movement back to
President Theodore Roosevelt, known for his love of the outdoors and for
creating the U.S. Forest Service and the national parks system. But what if government isn’t the only, or the best, entity to protect America’s natural wonders? The American Prairie Reserve
is a nonprofit group that wants to establish the largest nature reserve
in the lower 48 states and it aims to do so with private funding. So
far, American Prairie Reserve owns or leases more than 300,000 acres
with a goal of stitching together 3.5 million acres of private and
federal land across to create a reserve 1.5 times the size of
Yellowstone National Park. And they believe that their unique approach
will reduce the tension with local ranchers and farmers that national
parks often experience. "Currently, wildlife has no economic value to ranchers and, as
such, the ranchers don't want them around," says Pete Geddes, managing
director of American Prairie Reserve. But American Prairie Reserve aims to fix that problem with its Wild Sky Beef
program. Wild Sky is a brand associated with a for-profit company, and
the proceeds from its profits go towards funding incentives for ranchers
to engage in wildlife-friendly practices
such as creating gaps in their fences for herd animals to pass through,
planting native grasses, and allowing prairie dogs to establish
colonies on their property. The more benchmarks the ranchers meet, the
bigger the payout. "As we're successful and we gain more attention over time, you'll see
other groups trying to put this together at a much larger scale," says
Geddes...more
Here is the video:
https://youtu.be/txgs6ZqWV5s
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