Human Benefits from the Ecosystem

          The human has benefitted throughout centuries from the Great Plains, but the argument can also be framed that the same benefits to humans have caused disturbance and trauma to the ecosystem of the Great Plains. The European settlers benefitted from the burgeoning fur trade of bison and beaver furs which they were able to transport via Missouri River from trading posts to St. Louis (Wishart 2006) which though led to the drastic decrease of bison and beaver populations. Since the early settlers populated the area, the Great Plains has been used extensively for agriculture. Enterprises like cropping, mining, forestry and tourism were developed which yielded resources to humans and provided them with aesthetic pleasures (Mather 1972). The agriculture has been important for the local economies in the Great Plains. For example, the Glaciated Missouri Plateau has been the most heavily farmed areas in the northern Great Plains, with wheat being the no.1 cash crop (Mather 1972). Moreover, livestock production also contributed to the Great Plains economy. It was estimated in 1970 that the livestock production has acted a big role in maintaining the economy, with the northern Great Plains area supporting about 12 million livestock like cattle or sheep (Wight 1976). Although deeply traumatic to the Great Plains ecosystem, the mining industries have been in action in Great Plains. An amount of 50,000 to 120,000 methane wells were estimated to be drilled in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming for the mining industry (Wishart 2006) which would benefit humans but at the jeopardy of the ecosystem.
   

      What contributed the well-being of both human beings and the Great Plains ecosystem are the numerous National grasslands and wildlife refuges as most of the National Grasslands in the US are located in the Great Plains (Wishart 2006). Those areas could be used to raise livestock but more often are provided as scenery attractions for their aesthetic beauties.