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Last October Ted Turner offered to give the city of Boulder a herd of 25 buffalo to put on city open space along the Boulder-Denver Turnpike.

鈥淭he city of Boulder will have an ecosystem that is pretty much exactly like it was 300 years ago 鈥� right here for local citizens to see,鈥� Turner told the聽Daily Camera. 鈥淚t will be an attraction.鈥澛�

The idea was thought up by Boulder City Councilman George Karakehian and George McKerrow Jr., the CEO of Turner鈥檚 Ted鈥檚 Montana Grill, where the specialty of the house is buffalo. The Boulder outlet is at 17th and Pearl.

鈥淲hat a cool idea,鈥� I thought at the time. 鈥淭he city will jump at it. It鈥檚 a real no-brainer.鈥�

鈥淣ot, so fast,鈥� chorused the city moms and pops. 鈥淲hat about funding?鈥�

鈥淎nd liability?鈥�

鈥淎nd the rare prairie grasses? They might walk on them or even eat them.鈥�

鈥淎nd conflicts with other open space users like mountain bikers.鈥�

Everyone was stunned. It was the first time that anyone in city government had said anything nice about mountain bikers since the Triassic period. Trust me on this. I checked the geologic record.

鈥淲e need a study,鈥� said the city manager.

At which point the city moms and pops fell to debating whether the beasts in question should be called bison or buffaloes, which continued until Mayor Matt Applebaum declared 鈥渢hey鈥檙e familiarly known as American buffalo.鈥�

Three months later the study arrived.

鈥淎ccepting the big guys is gonna cost you $470,000 to $750,000 up front, and $100,000 a year until the beginning of the next Ice Age (which has been postponed indefinitely due to global warming),鈥� the consultant opined. 鈥淢ost of that will go for fencing.鈥�

鈥淗ow are the buffalo gonna roam if they鈥檙e fenced in?鈥� said the city moms and pops.

And quicker than you can say 鈥渒illjoy,鈥� they voted to look the gift herd in the mouth.

This decision may turn out to be imprudent, especially in a city already brimming with prairie dogs.

It turns out that in addition to having 55,000 head of buffalo roaming his ranches, Turner has about 250,000 prairie dogs on his land. The day he was in town to announce the buffalo gift, he also was due to receive the 鈥淧rairie Dog Protector of the Year Award鈥� from the Boulder-based Prairie Dog Coalition.

At the time he told the聽Camera聽that creating a market for buffalo meat 鈥� i.e., putting them on the menu at Ted鈥檚 Montana Grill 鈥� has been key to helping the species thrive.

鈥淵ou either eat them or they鈥檙e gone,鈥� he said.

Then, the聽颁补尘别谤补听reported, 鈥渉is eyes lit up with an idea to help another species.鈥�

鈥淚f we could just eat prairie dogs 鈥� there would be millions of them,鈥� he said.

Photo courtesy Casey A. Cass