Nothing is feared more than fire in the tallgrass prairie country of Osage County.
And, it's a firestorm of controversy that has swept across the rolling plains of Oklahoma's largest county, scorching longtime friendships, and some claim charring prospects for the area's future. What has sparked the inferno is a proposal that the U.S. Park Service purchase 50,000 acres and acquire scenic easements on an additional 50,000 acres here for a Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Supporters, including national environmental and conservation groups such as the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, and Audubon Society, contend the preserve will save from extinction the last remaining tracts of what was once the vast American prairie. They boast that new tourism dollars will be attracted and serve as a firebreak against future bankruptcies and losses here because of Osage County's struggling oil and agriculture economy. Today, Osage County oil production is but a fraction of what it was 10 years ago.