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Where the Buffalo Roam: Restoring America's Great Plains
In 1987 Frank and Deborah Popper proposed a bold solution to the decline of America's Great create a vast nature preserve by returning 139,000 square miles in ten states to prairie and reintroducing the buffalo that once roamed there. In Where the Buffalo Roam , Anne Matthews follows the Poppers from Montana to Texas as they try to sell their idea called the Buffalo Commons; in the process, she introduces us to the people who love these arid windswept lands.
This edition includes a new foreword by environmental historian Donald Worster. Matthews's new afterword describes how with growing support from Native Americans and private groups like the Nature Conservancy, the Poppers' dream of a Buffalo Commons is becoming a reality.
"An admirably crafted book, as poignant and entertaining as it is informative."— Seattle Times
"A priceless piece of Americana."— The Boston Globe
"Matthew's delightful account of the Poppers, their proposal and the controversy surrounding it does focus new attention on the region and its problems."— The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Bright, active, effective journalism. . . . An extremely savvy overlook of the dilemmas of the Great Plains."—Wallace Stegner
This edition includes a new foreword by environmental historian Donald Worster. Matthews's new afterword describes how with growing support from Native Americans and private groups like the Nature Conservancy, the Poppers' dream of a Buffalo Commons is becoming a reality.
"An admirably crafted book, as poignant and entertaining as it is informative."— Seattle Times
"A priceless piece of Americana."— The Boston Globe
"Matthew's delightful account of the Poppers, their proposal and the controversy surrounding it does focus new attention on the region and its problems."— The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Bright, active, effective journalism. . . . An extremely savvy overlook of the dilemmas of the Great Plains."—Wallace Stegner
222 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 7, 2019
Okay -- every once in awhile one hits upon a book that both challenges one's assumptions or world views AND is fun to read.
Where the Buffalo Roam
qualified for me.
It is the November, 2019, selection for a local book group that reads on topics about the physical environments of our planet. A chance discussion led me to learn about this upcoming selection. So glad I did. Anne Matthews, the author and a leading writing professor at Princeton University, took me on a delightful journey into a part of the country where I spent most of the first twenty plus years of my life, the Great Midwest. She challenged what I thought I knew and introduced to me to a whole cadre of people and ideas about the present and future of the region, particularly that west of the 98th parallel. (And included references to many sources that have long been base line to me on this country, adding credence to her "homework.")
I don't know what has happened to Matthews' voice on these matters since this book was published in ~1990. That is thirty years ago now. I suspect it is going to be fun to explore more of what is happening today on the issues about land usage and the shape of mid-America that she raises.
I am sorry that an initial search has left open Matthew's on-going voice relative to these issues. Given their fundamental importance to the shape of the country we call the United States and the inheritance with which our children may well need to deal, I am curious as to what I shall find as I now have incentive to look further. Can I have any impact? Probably not, except to perhaps help others be aware, both the generation that is following my own as well as perhaps members of my own family.
Matthews is fun to read, if simply for her oft acerbic descriptions of place and people. As one who sometimes attempts to write myself, I admire the fierceness and deep perception of people, groups, and of the environment and nature that are captured in her metaphors, her similes, her sentences.
Why is she not as well known as other Princeton U writers, e.g., Adichie or Hamid or ...?
It is the November, 2019, selection for a local book group that reads on topics about the physical environments of our planet. A chance discussion led me to learn about this upcoming selection. So glad I did. Anne Matthews, the author and a leading writing professor at Princeton University, took me on a delightful journey into a part of the country where I spent most of the first twenty plus years of my life, the Great Midwest. She challenged what I thought I knew and introduced to me to a whole cadre of people and ideas about the present and future of the region, particularly that west of the 98th parallel. (And included references to many sources that have long been base line to me on this country, adding credence to her "homework.")
I don't know what has happened to Matthews' voice on these matters since this book was published in ~1990. That is thirty years ago now. I suspect it is going to be fun to explore more of what is happening today on the issues about land usage and the shape of mid-America that she raises.
I am sorry that an initial search has left open Matthew's on-going voice relative to these issues. Given their fundamental importance to the shape of the country we call the United States and the inheritance with which our children may well need to deal, I am curious as to what I shall find as I now have incentive to look further. Can I have any impact? Probably not, except to perhaps help others be aware, both the generation that is following my own as well as perhaps members of my own family.
Matthews is fun to read, if simply for her oft acerbic descriptions of place and people. As one who sometimes attempts to write myself, I admire the fierceness and deep perception of people, groups, and of the environment and nature that are captured in her metaphors, her similes, her sentences.
Why is she not as well known as other Princeton U writers, e.g., Adichie or Hamid or ...?
March 11, 2025
The author followed two researchers/professors from New Jersey (Frank and Deborah Popper) through the “Great Plains” as they travelled to talk about their idea of a “Buffalo Commons”. (I believe this happened in the 1980s.) The Buffalo Commons was their idea to revert the land in places that are emptying of people, anyway, to their natural state and reintroduce buffalo. Of course, there was much push back from the people who did still live there.
I grew up in what would be the Canadian equivalent of the Great Plains, so I could picture some of the people. And yes, the towns are dying out and the majority of people left in them are mostly older. But of course, people will react badly; I think most people would. There were some nice descriptions of the areas they visited. Since this idea by the Poppers was from the 1980s, and the book was originally published in 1992, it has been a while; I read the 2nd edition, published in 2002. I expect that many more of the towns have died out since they did their tour, but I also suspect there are still some hanging on.
I grew up in what would be the Canadian equivalent of the Great Plains, so I could picture some of the people. And yes, the towns are dying out and the majority of people left in them are mostly older. But of course, people will react badly; I think most people would. There were some nice descriptions of the areas they visited. Since this idea by the Poppers was from the 1980s, and the book was originally published in 1992, it has been a while; I read the 2nd edition, published in 2002. I expect that many more of the towns have died out since they did their tour, but I also suspect there are still some hanging on.
February 15, 2016
American buffalo numbered 60,000,000 at the beginning of the 19th century. At the close of the century they numbered only 300. Nearly extinct.
In 1992 professors Frank and Deborah Popper proposed re-establishing the buffalo on the Great Plains in areas with a population of less than 2 people per square mile with no ongoing agriculture. I know from personal experience the land is not suitable for agriculture. My father and his brothers tried many different ways to make a living in the early 1900s in eastern Montana. But the Rock family homestead in Prairie county is now home to only prairie dogs. Similar homesteads throughout the Great Plains have met with the same fate, most notably in the 1930s, 1970s, and 1990s.
The time has certainly come to develop a “Buffalo Commons” on the plains. Author Anne Matthews presents the details, research, and public opinion behind the proposal. Initially met with hostility, as expressed in newspaper editorials, many of the same newspapers today support the concept. It’s an interesting story told well by Matthews.
In 1992 professors Frank and Deborah Popper proposed re-establishing the buffalo on the Great Plains in areas with a population of less than 2 people per square mile with no ongoing agriculture. I know from personal experience the land is not suitable for agriculture. My father and his brothers tried many different ways to make a living in the early 1900s in eastern Montana. But the Rock family homestead in Prairie county is now home to only prairie dogs. Similar homesteads throughout the Great Plains have met with the same fate, most notably in the 1930s, 1970s, and 1990s.
The time has certainly come to develop a “Buffalo Commons” on the plains. Author Anne Matthews presents the details, research, and public opinion behind the proposal. Initially met with hostility, as expressed in newspaper editorials, many of the same newspapers today support the concept. It’s an interesting story told well by Matthews.
November 12, 2011
Charming, provocative, observed with an eye both gimlet and sympathetic, an insider-outsider who sees all sides and also offers the longer perspective on America's most neglected and most necessary region. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction, and deservedly so.
January 31, 2023
A bit outdated (I read the 1992 edition; the second--presumably updated--edition appeared a decade after the first edition), but extraordinarily well written and compelling.
June 18, 2010
Another book about the Great Plains, but not as good as Ian Frazier's or the Dust Bowl book. It reiterated a lot of information regarding the Great Plains; its main draw was the proposal by the land planners at the heart of the book( Frank and Deborah Popper) calling for the Great Plains to be restored and preserved as a vast Buffalo Commons. The book became more interesting as it progressed, particularly when discussing how to think about land uses that are on the way to becoming obsolete, even when the people who live in a space believe their way of life is not obsolete. The book gives a clear sense of how contentious land use and planning can be, but equally shows how petty and superficial academics can be. (Not the Poppers themselves, but some of the other academics who appear in the backgrounds at some of the conferences.) Recommended for people interested in the prairie or planning (rural and urban).
February 19, 2015
Fascinating concept that has clearly started to take form naturally. Looking forward to learning more about Bison and the role they may play in the future. Wish I had read this before my trip to the Plains a couple of years back. Spent a lot of time in the places discussed in this book and by this theory.
June 29, 2019
Journalistic.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews