In 1988, a program was under nomination in the Ozarks for a possible biosphere. The project proposed the development of a biosphere to study the effect of man on the eco system.
The draft was completed in 1994 and exposed to the public as a way of creating wildlife and native plant sanctuaries. The citizens interpreted the information to suggest that the central core of the biosphere would revert to nature without any interference from humans. The Buffer Zone around the central core would be closed to the public and maintained by a select few personnel.
Citizens attending the meetings, in which the authors of this book also attended, began to question the program. Would anyone be allowed to live within the biosphere? Would they be removed from their homes and property? Would they be fairly compensated if they had to move? Would they be removed by force if they did not want to move? These questions were asked in meeting after meeting. The people began to view the program as a huge threat to private property.
Although from an article on the subject, in a research report by Theresa L. Goedeke and J. Sanford Rickoon, called Ozark Highlands Man and the Biosphere Reserve (OMAB), it tells there are no confirmations to the allegations presented by the citizens. In one instance the article mentioned an agency investigated the possibility of the federal government possibly taking private property.
In 1996 the citizens began to write letters of opposition and organize politically against the program. By 1997 the citizens’ efforts paid off and the proposal was abandoned.
Currently if you research MAB, you will find that portions of the original proposal are being instigated and used both in the U.S.A. and across the world today.
This book is a work of fiction loosely based on the peoples’ fears and possible outcomes that may have happened if the program had been instigated as the people perceived it.