Thursday, August 18, 2005

American Pleistocene Park?

For several years I have been keeping track of Sergei Zimov's Siberian Pleistocene Park, where with the help of Universty of Alaska biologists he hopes to at least begin to bring back the Mammoth Steppe and, in the words of California beat poet Michael McClure, to "Revive the Pleistocene!"

Now from Peculiar comes the welcome news that an American group wants to try the same thing. The present scale is just plain nuts-- the whole great plains!-- and if the Buffalo Commons didn't fly then the same thing with lions and elephants is hardly more likely to gain acceptance. But now the meme is out there...

Personally I'd start more modestly, say for instance with the Henry Mountains in southern Utah-- public land, a huge montane wilderness, a sky island contained by desert, with no towns as large as-- even-- Magdalena nearby. And they already have bison and bighorn. See here and here for some info on the Henrys-- well worth knowing for their own sake.

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