Southern Bison Trails and the Return of the Southeastern Grasslands, a conversation with Jeremy French and Dwayne Estes of the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative

"Simplicity is extinction. The key to resiliency is biodiversity—saving enough species so that whatever happens next, we're okay." — Jeremy French, SGI Ecological Restoration Chief We’ve all heard the old myth: before European settlement, a squirrel could travel from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River without ever touching the ground. But it wasn’t true. From the wiregrass prairies of the coastal plain to the Barrens of Kentucky and all parts between and beyond, the American Southeast was a dramatically complex mosaic of forests, grasslands, savannahs and grazing-and-fire dependent wetlands, spiderwebbed with bison and human throughways, infinitely rich and complex, one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Most of it was long gone before it could even be recorded, known only from place names on old maps or the faded accounts of the Long Hunters like Daniel Boone or Uriah Stone.        In this episode of Carrying the Fire, host Hal Herring sits down in central Tennessee with Dwyane Estes (Co-founder and Executive Director) and Jeremy French (Ecological Restoration Chief) of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI). Together, they dig into the wild, unique and mostly forgotten history of the Southern grassland biome, a global biodiversity hotspot hiding in plain sight. Duane and Jeremy share their deeply personal origin stories, mapping out how childhoods shaped by poverty and isolation led them to seek shelter and solace in a profound immersion in the natural world. The life-force they discovered there saved them - and inspired in them a fierce determination to repay the gift with a hyper-focus on restoring one of the most beleaguered, complex and vibrant ecosystems on earth- the southern prairies and savannahs. From tracking the deep evolutionary memory of southeastern bison to launching a massive conservation movement across 17 states, this conversation is a masterclass in dreaming big, working hard, and looking at a landscape with entirely new eyes. Booklist, Podcasts, and Other Works Mentioned Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by E.O. Wilson The Long Hunt: Death of the Buffalo East of the Mississippi by Ted Franklin Belue  A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold Indian Harvest by Jannette May Lucas Backcountry University (Episode 1)  60 Minutes – The CBS news program, specifically a segment highlighting the economic hardships faced by soybean farmers in West Tennessee. The STRIPS Program – An agricultural research initiative out of Iowa State University focusing on integrating prairie filter strips into row-crop fields to mitigate soil erosion and water runoff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices