How to Restore Native Prairie and Lost Ecosystem? Prairie Restoration Project and Techniques.

Restoring a native prairie, lost and damaged ecosystems at the Dalles Mountain Ranch, Columbia Hills State Park, Washington State. A successful prairie restoration project.
Prairie restoration techniques to restore ecosystem: limited, prescriptive grazing.
The story of the prairie restoration project:
At a time when there can be diverse and even hostile attitudes and feelings in the West between ranchers and the environmental community, Washington State University Extension Services’ Steve Van Vleet successfully demonstrated the need and benefits to restoring a native prairie using limited, prescriptive grazing.
In less than 10 years, a mono culture of grass cultivars was and is being transformed to a botanically diverse native plant community.
This transformation is resulting in greater diversity in the other elements of the prairie Eco-system including insects and bird species.

[@otherwiseoutside]

Great little documentary,, beautfully shot! Maybe some references to the many scientists and organizations who have been putting this practice to use for years would help redirect the nay sayers to more solid proof. Like: the Savory Institute, Polyface Farms, and the many prairie resoration federations across N.America.

[@unionse7en]

why not Buffalo?

[@etherico3041]

Those are from Africa

[@jesswatt5824]

Hm, it was always my understanding that fire was a natural, integral, part of grassland ecology and evolution.

[@S200103151]

WOW That rancher put it so well.

[@deannelson9565]

Seriously I'm just in the beginning of this and Im already like what the fuc kind of conservation story is this supposed to be! Talking about fire on the Prairie being a bad thing is automatically a red flag that this is not exactly a very accurate project and then why did I choose cows over bizon...... that's a good damn question cuz they sure the hell don't have anything to do with the nature of that farm I don't give a crap what little farm was sitting there before!

[@chucktaylor4958]

I hope that more grasslands are produced in areas that have suffered from forest fires, rather than planting more trees.

[@webbess1]

Obviously, instead of cows, you should be using buffalo. That's the native grazer for the prairie.

[@monkeymarie85]

I keep thinking this when watching these videos. I need to start looking at bison rehab projects. (They're bison btw! not buffalo).

[@otherwiseoutside]

well bison are hard to fence and keep contained and the whole point is Intenisve, Short term grazing... I suspect getting ahold of the right number of cattle and getting them on site is far easier than bison. and more importantly it worked~!

[@tas5622]

Cattle can be used to manage invasive species though.

[@etherico3041]

@@tas5622which cattle do you refer to? Bison are the obvious native cattle choice if we’re only considering the prairie and no other factors. Cows aren’t native to North America. You can’t fight one invasive species with another. And because of the devastating effects farming has had on the ecosystem they are definitely invasive even if we want to call them domesticated. That’s more the fault of human farming practices than the cows

[@johnos4892]

The music really detracts.

[@Kneenibble]

No it doesn't John, don't be a fat grouch.

[@squirtnugget5717]

What a beautiful Project. I have always been weary of cattle and their environmental impact, but it’s not the animal that is the problem, it is indeed how they are used. And when they are stuck in feedlots for meat and dairy they are no good, but when strategically used they can transform entire landscapes and create biodiverse native ecosystems! Definitely a new strategy for native restoration I will be pushing for