We quietly hiked up to the Gunnison's prairie dog reintroduction site, where a town of over 300 Gunnison's prairie dogs has now been reintroduced and are thriving as native wildlife in a wilderness-like setting.
We saw several birds attracted to the wildland prairie dog ecosystem, including a nesting pair of Western Bluebirds, and we did some light juniper removal work while the prairie dogs watched us from inside the entrances to their burrows.
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Western Bluebird
Photo: Cornell Lab of Ornithology |
It is remarkable to encounter wild, healthy prairie dogs as part of a wild landscape tapestry. All 5 species of prairie dogs are rare, and most people, if they see prairie dogs at all, only see survivors clinging to life in patches of development or on heavily exploited rangelands.
The land is recovering from centuries of livestock grazing but diversity of life still abounds and will only improve in time as the shortgrass prairie is healed. Last winter we even saw footprints of a black bear.
Galisteo Basin Preserve is owned by the Commonweal Conservancy, and GPRC is partnering with Commonweal to provide prairie restoration, wildlife protection, and outdoor health opportunities for youth and the general public to learn how we can take care of our own health through taking care of the land.
Reintroduction of a second species of prairie dogs (black-tailed prairie dogs) to appropriate habitat as well as buffalo (bison), potential wildlife corridor expansions, and many exhilarating outdoor work, educational and volunteer experiences for people lie in the future.
Next year we hope to stage a cultural InterACTION work week where some of our young crew from Black inner city Houston can travel to Santa Fe to work side-by-side with their northern New Mexico Hispanic, Anglo, and American Indian counterparts, and vice versa the year after that.
Young people from the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Prairie and the High Plains Shortgrass can work together and lead in the Ecological Health movement, much as Fort Worth and South Dakota youth with GPRC have.
Great Plains Restoration Council first began these Plains Youth InterACTION events in 2002.
For the public there will be volunteer, educational and experiential opportunities throughout the coming year. Please contact GPRC at 832-598-4772 if you'd like to join us.
See you in the land of sun, wind, grass and blue sky!
And please don't forget to
donate when you can to support the work of Great Plains Restoration Council. Thank you as always for being part of building a
new culture of caring.
- Great Plains Restoration Council
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