Ice Storm & NY Maples

[Susan112]

Larry said:

>I'm not sure there is any such thing as native prairie.  Buffalo killed off
>all the trees on the Great Plains.  Wildlife Safari has several plains
>buffalo here in western Oregon, and you wouldn't believe how much damage
>they do to trees.  They go out of their way to kill trees.  And of course,
>the oak savannah of the west coast was created by diligent arson on the
>part of the native Indians over thousands of years.  
>
>If the wheat farmers ever go broke, it won't be a hundred years before folks
>are talking about the "great Kansas forest."
 
No such thing as native prairie?!!  Native prairie is a system strongly
dependent on disturbance (fire, drought, windstorms, grazing etc.), but I don't
think that disqualifies it from being termed "native".  

Susan