This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Last Stand

People I think this is of interest to us.
Glenn Pollock

Press Contact:
Gabrielle Torello, gab@rothenberg-pr.com <g*@rothenberg-pr.com>
Karen Reynolds, Karen@rothenberg-pr.com
SUZANNE ROTHENBERG COMMUNICATIONS, (212) 431-6623

Lyle Lovett Hosts
Michael Murphy Narrates

"Last Stand Of The Tallgrass Prairie"

A Stunning New Documentary About
North America's Most Endangered Ecosystem
Premieres in April on PBS
Hauntingly beautiful, with its pristine sea of grass and vast horizons,
America's tallgrass prairie once stretched over a third of North America.
Once the romantic domain of the American cowboy, the Plains Indians, Abe
Lincoln, Davey Crockett, Willa Cather's pioneers, and other national
legends, the prairie now covers less than five percent of the continent.
Scientists warn that it is, in fact, in danger of disappearing completely --
taking with it not only the evidence of much of our national heritage, but
also nature's most important secrets to producing food and cleansing our
atmosphere.
Hosted by Lyle Lovett and narrated by Michael Murphy, Last Stand of the
Tallgrass Prairie, a one hour documentary about North America's most
endangered ecosystem, premieres on PBS, Friday, April 20, at 9 PM ET. (Check
local listings.)
Filmed over five years in the serene and beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas,
and in former prairies from Minnesota to Texas, Last Stand of the Tallgrass
Prairie chronicles the history of this imperiled ecosystem through the lens
of the last remaining stretch of America's grasslands.

Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie/2
While it took nature millennia to build the prairie soil, in only 150 years
since European settlement in the tallgrasses, 95 percent of the former
prairie has been turned into row-crop agriculture. Converted prairies are
now the core resource for feeding hundreds of millions of people around the
world each year with corn and wheat, domesticated cousins of the native
grasses.
"The irony is that prairie grasses, with their dense, intricate root systems
and belowground biological processes, are the creators of the tremendously
fertile soil that has made America 'the bread basket of the world'," said
Aimée Guignon Larrabee, producer, with John Altman, of the documentary.
"As important," said Altman, "is that this ecosystem of prairies and grasses
has the potential to pull tons of carbon from the atmosphere and sink it
into the ground, playing a major role in combating global climate change."
Listening to the Prairie: The Konza Prairie Biological Station
What has remained unplowed in the American prairie now supports a thriving
cattle ranching industry, a land use that is often criticized for its
perceived environmental impact.  Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie reveals
the irony of that perception as well, as scientists concerned with
preserving the prairie now identify grazing as the ideal use of the land.
It is grazing that mimics the natural processes started by migratory herds
of bison well before humans existed on the continent, and that were later
adapted by Native Americans, North America's first settlers.
After 25 years of rigorous study sponsored by the National Science
Foundation, scientists at Kansas State University's renowned Konza Prairie
Biological Station in the Flint Hills -- the world's leading grasslands
research site -- have determined that the Plains Indians' historic practice
of setting fire to these grasslands and covering them periodically with
bison and other grazing animals is, indeed, the key to their survival.
The Konza Prairie Biological Station draws scientists from around the

Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie/3
globe to study ways to preserve the Pampas, Steppes, and Serengeti - all
grasslands that have been diminished by soil erosion and mineral depletion.
Ranchers and Cowboys:  A History of the American Prairie
Informed by the cutting-edge science of the Konza prairie, Last Stand of the
Tallgrass Prairie leads viewers into the economic and social history of the
tallgrass prairie -- from the culture of the Plains Indians, the arrival of
European explorers and settlers and the eradication of the bison, to the
creation of row-crop farming, to the beginning of a vast new ranching
industry based on cattle, and the mythology and realities of the cowboy
culture, which survives to this day.
Excerpts from more than 30 hours of filmed interviews with scientists from
around the world, spiritual leaders of Plains tribes, ranchers and cowboys,
are intercut with voice-over narration by actor Michael Murphy.  Music
includes audio performances by Lyle Lovett, folk singer Connie Dover,
guitarist Roger Landes, and Native American flutists, intertwined with an
original symphonic score.
The magnificent film footage may be the biggest surprise to many viewers, as
they witness the subtle yet powerful beauty of this all-but-forgotten
ecosystem. But viewers will soon feel at home on the prairie: after all, the
film posits, all humankind is a species that lives only because of its
relationship to the grass, a relationship that it is now imperative to
remember.
Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie is written, directed, and produced by
award-winning filmmakers John Altman and Aimée Guignon Larrabee of Inland
Sea Productions, through Kansas State University.  Altman and Larrabee are
joined by key members of the nationally ranked Division of Biology at Kansas
State University:  David Hartnett, Ph.D.; John Blair, Ph.D.; and Alan Knapp,
Ph.D., who lead the scientific team at Kansas State University's renowned
Konza Prairie Biological Station near Manhattan, Kansas.
The film uses the wide range of research undertaken for more than 20

Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie/4
years at Konza, which is the longest continuously operating Long-Term
Ecological Research (LTER) site of the National Science Foundation and is
jointly operated by The Nature Conservancy and KSU's Division of Biology.
The Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie project includes a companion art
book written by Aimée Guignon Larrabee and John Altman and published by
Barnes & Noble.  A national touring museum exhibit, Listening to the
Prairie: Farming in Nature's Image, funded by the USDA and the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation, has been mounted by the Smithsonian Institution's National
Museum of Natural History.  The exhibit will travel to libraries throughout
the United States from May 2001 to August 2004.
Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie is written, directed and produced by
John Altman and Aimée Guignon Larrabee of Inland Sea Productions, Inc
through Kansas State University.  Major funders include the National Science
Foundation, Archer-Daniels-Midland Foundation, Koch Industries, National
Endowment for the Arts, Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, and the
Smithsonian Institution.
#   #   #
Press Contact:
Gabrielle Torello, gab@rothenberg-pr.com <g*@rothenberg-pr.com>
Karen Reynolds, Karen@rothenberg-pr.com
SUZANNE ROTHENBERG COMMUNICATIONS, (212) 431-6623



---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PRAIRIE
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index