Transcript:

One hundred and fifty years ago, areas of eastern Washington and Idaho were blanketed in perennial grasses, wildflowers, and native shrubs.

It was an ecosystem known as Palouse prairie.

Ignace: “It contained really important medicinal and food plants, such as camas and bitterroot.”

Danielle Ignace of Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Tribe is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

She says the grasslands also help the climate, because the soil and the plants’ deep roots store carbon underground.

And they can soak up a lot of water, which makes the area more resilient to both floods and drought.

But over time, most Palouse Prairie has been converted into farmland.

And in some of the small areas where intact prairie remains, invasive species crowd out native plants.

So last year, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe was awarded a grant of almost $1 million to restore areas of remnant prairie on tribal land.

And they’re creating a seed bank, in the hopes of reestablishing prairie plants in former farm fields.

Ignace: “The idea is to restore these agricultural fields back to Palouse prairie.”

… to help revive this endangered ecosystem, and reap its cultural and climate benefits.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media