The narrative of how pioneers settled the American west is an important part of the American origin story. According to this narrative, industrious farming families travelled in their covered wagons to “unused” land and created European-style farms. Over the next 150 years, this region became a fertile breadbasket that still produces mega-harvests today.

This narrative isn’t the only one, of course. Indigenous peoples generally view the westward expansion as a great tragedy. And ecologists take a more critical perspective. Prairies in their natural state are complex biomes, home to many kinds of plants and animals. More than “just grass”, they are not suitable for agriculture without use of specialized dryland farming techniques. During the past century, high-tech modern farming has allowed farmers to produce enormous harvests. Water is pumped from deep aquifers in order to irrigate the fields of golden grain. But it isn’t sustainable.

The 1930s Dust Bowl was caused by human mismanagement. In the 19th century, a popular belief was that ”Rain follows the plow”. This meant that, if homesteaders planted their crops in the dry, prairie land, that rain patterns would alter enough to provide adequate moisture for the crops. Sadly, that was not true, and the result of trying to turn prairie into farmland was the Dust Bowl. However, thanks to extensive soil conservation initiatives from the Federal government, much of the damage was repaired.

Of course, we need farms! But some areas simply are not suitable for farming. Part of the answer involves using appropriate dryland farming techniques. And part of the answer involves rewilding the prairies. This is not as simple as just letting old agricultural land revert to grassland. Prairies store carbon through their rich soil systems and deep root structures. There is a lot more to prairies than “just some grass”. Successfully rewilding means reintroducing the native plants, especially Bouteloua gracilis and Bouteloua dactyloides, as well as removing invasive species.

Prairie plants, especially grasses, store carbon in the form of root biomass, which is a major carbon sink. When prairie plants die, their roots and other plant matter decompose and become part of the soil organic matter. This organic material holds onto carbon for long periods—often centuries. The soils in prairies can be a meter deep and rich in carbon due to these cycles of plant growth, death, and decomposition.

Renewed prairies retain and filter water thanks to the organic matter in the soil. This can reduce the need for irrigation in adjacent agricultural lands. This can be especially useful in regions with water scarcity or where groundwater levels are declining. In addition, periodic fires on prairies, whether natural or manmade, play an interesting role in carbon storage. Fire helps by removing old, dead plant material and encouraging new growth. The carbon that was in the old plants gets released into the atmosphere during a fire, but the new plants take up more carbon as they grow, continuing the cycle. Natural prairie ecosystems are important for carbon storage and climate regulation.