The Prairie Farmers Preserving The World’s Most Threatened Ecosystem – Forever

The Prairie Farmers Preserving The World’s Most Threatened Ecosystem – Forever

The Prairie Farmers Preserving The World’s Most Threatened Ecosystem – Forever This story is one in a series about the confluence of capitalism, conservation and cultural identity in the Mississippi River Basin. It is part of Waterline and is sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation. D allas May spotted the first shoots of grass a few months after a wildfire tore across the ranch he runs with his family in Lamar, Colorado, in 2022. Propelled by winds up to 70 mph, the blaze killed some of his livestock, destroyed 42 miles of fencing, and burned through vegetation and beaver lodges along the creek. “It was a moonscape,” May recalls. “Everything was charred and gone.” Before the fire, May had barely noticed the spindly stalks of needle and thread grass amid the many types of grass on his pastureland. But after the rain came, the sprouts shot up from the scorched ground. Over the following months, a succession of different grasses sprouted from seeds stored in the soil. “We had an entire natur…