(March 24, 2015) Last year I wrote that most urban people have little conception of the vandalism of basic agricultural resources Ottawa is responsible for.
These resources have been paid for by all Canadians and include things like 2.5 million acres of grassland preserved by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration. These community pasture grasslands are an important part of the overall prairie ecology. A diverse ecology is more stable and resilient to change, and that is also good for grain farming as well.
Photo courtesy of Hamilton Greenwood
Ottawa wants to give these fragile grassland areas, home to a wondrous diversity of prairie plants and wildlife, to the Province of Saskatchewan and the Province has indicated it would like to break up this land and sell it to private owners. It is not too late to object. Go to the PFRA Grasslands web site for further information and how to register your objection to selling off an irreplaceable public asset of value to all Canadians.
These great grasslands are still home to many native wildlife species. This grassland ecology is dependent on grazing animals. For millennia bison were the major grazing species. After their decline, largely due to unregulated slaughter south of the medicine line, much of this fragile grassland was damaged by being broken up for grain production.
Photo courtesy of Hamilton Greenwood
However, since 1935 careful management by a partnership of cattle ranchers and Agriculture Canada scientists has restored, preserved, and enhanced this grass land ecology for its native species of plants and animals with cattle doing the ecological work the bison once did. Help preserve this legacy for future generations of Canadians by adding your voice.
Related post with source links & articles: Burning Bridges to the Future
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