Charlie Carpenter, an Afro-Indigenous and Latino conservationist, is helping lead a movement to reintroduce one of North America's most iconic animals to the lands it once roamed freely — the buffalo.
Carpenter is the braided science program manager at Indigenous Led, an organization working to elevate Indigenous-led conservation by weaving traditional ecological knowledge with Western science. At the heart of this work is a mission to heal land and community by restoring the sacred relationship between Indigenous people and the buffalo, an animal once driven nearly to extinction through colonization.
In an interview shared by the Moab Sun News, Carpenter explained that buffalo were central to Indigenous life, providing food, clothing, shelter, and tools while shaping entire ecosystems. These efforts in cultural restoration are a holistic model that heals people and the planet together.
Carpenter's work focuses on helping tribes reclaim land and restore it for buffalo. That includes collecting soil and vegetation data, removing invasive species, planting native grasses, and securing funding and permits. "Braided science is all about pulling in the Indigenous knowledge, then mixing in some Western science … and it just turns into this amazing thing," Carpenter told the Moab Sun News.
Carpenter noted that while buffalo are classified as wildlife in some states, others define them as livestock, adding political and bureaucratic challenges to the process. So far, the group has sourced animals from Yellowstone National Park, private herds, and Canada's Oak Island.
In addition to their importance to Indigenous culture, buffalo are a keystone species. That means their return has ripple effects, from boosting biodiversity and promoting native grasses to restoring balance to the ecosystem. "The native grasses also tend to have longer roots so they can hold more carbon in the soil. So it's a very beneficial thing to have buffalo back on the land," Carpenter told the Moab Sun News. "The ecosystem thrives if buffalo are back on the land."
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While restoring the ecosystem has plenty of environmental pros, it also benefits people. Healthy ecosystems support pollinators (crucial for protecting our food security) and improve water and soil quality for local communities, directly supporting farmers.
Carpenter explained in the interview: "[Reintroducing the buffalo] is essentially bringing back what was taken from us. There's a lot of reconciliation that needs to happen with Indigenous communities, and bringing back the buffalo, I feel, is the number one way that it needs to happen."
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