DO 276 - Peter Allen: How to Become a Keystone Species and Restore the Earth

Doomer Optimism

What if everything we think we know about "natural" ecosystems is wrong?

Peter Allen is a restoration ecologist and regenerative farmer, and learn how North America's pre-European landscapes weren't wild at all—they were sophisticated agricultural systems managed by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

Speaking from his 220-acre farm in Wisconsin's unique Driftless region, Peter shares his journey from academic ecology to hands-on farming, revealing how the oak savannas that once stretched coast-to-coast were the most productive ecosystems on the continent. He explains why megafauna like mastodons and giant ground sloths were the original landscape architects, and how their extinction 12,000 years ago began the sixth mass extinction we're still experiencing today.

Peter offers a practical roadmap for restoration, from understanding why our food has lost its ability to nourish us (spoiler: it's all about minerals) to how properly managed livestock can rebuild topsoil faster than nature ever could. He tackles controversial topics head-on, challenging the narrative that cows cause climate change and explaining why the war on beef might be about more than just the environment.