Geographer, land-use planner to discuss sustainability in the great plains at OU

The use of an ecosystem to satisfy current needs without compromising those of future generations is the topic of a free public lecture scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday on the University of Oklahoma campus.

Deborah Popper, a geographer at City University of New York, and Frank Popper, a land-use planner at Rutgers University, who invented the concept of the Buffalo Commons, meaning restoring Plains land to native habitat, assert that it is necessary to aim for radical changes in land-use practices in the Plains states, including Oklahoma.

They believe that Oklahomans should think in terms of sustainability and, in particular, respond to the environmental concerns created by oil and gas booms and busts and agricultural practices that have left depleted water supplies, overgrazed lands and depopulated small towns.

During their lecture, titled "The Buffalo Commons in the 21st Century," which will be held in the David L. Boren Auditorium in the National Weather Center, the Poppers will explore current conditions and future directions of agricultural, energy and environmental conditions in the United States' Great Plains.

A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture, and refreshments will be served at 5 p.m. in the National Weather Center atrium. The lecture is offered through the university's "Dream Course" program, which gives OU students the opportunity to learn from top national and international experts in a particular field.

In addition, a President's Roundtable Dinner featuring the Poppers and designed for OU students is scheduled for Tuesday at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

For more information on the lecture, please contact Fred Shelley, professor and chairman of the Department of Geography at OU, at 325-5325. For more information on the President's Roundtable Dinner, call the Office of Special Events at 325-3784.

-- Transcript Staff