SUBMISSION: North American Prairie Engulfed by Suzanne Michele Chouteau

"The North American Prairie ecosystem embraced the Native Americans—it was a pinnacle time that people coexisted with the animal and plant communities to the benefit of all. Geronimo said: “I was born where there were no enclosures.” “It’s a land that has been plowed, developed, overgrazed, and abused to the point that only fragmented remnants of the original grasslands remain. Less than 5 percent of the original tall-grass prairie still stands unplowed, and about half of the original mixed-grass and short-grass prairies have vanished. Many prairie animals have been extirpated from the region, and grassland birds [like the Burrowing Owl] are disappearing at an alarming rate.” (The North American Prairie, Jones & Cushman).