Editing Great Plains (section)

====Population decline====
{{main|Depopulation of the Great Plains}}
The rural Plains have lost a third of their population since 1920. Several hundred thousand square miles of the Great Plains have fewer than {{convert|6|PD/sqmi}}, the density standard that [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] used to declare the American frontier "closed" in 1893. Many have fewer than {{convert|2|PD/sqmi}}. According to Kansas historian Daniel Fitzgerald, there are more than 6,000 ghost towns in Kansas alone. This problem is often exacerbated by the consolidation of farms and the difficulty of attracting modern industry to the region. In addition, the smaller school-age population has forced the consolidation of school districts and the closure of high schools in some communities. The continuing population loss has led some to suggest that the current use of the drier parts of the Great Plains is not sustainable,<ref>Amanda Rees, ''The Great Plains region'' (2004) p. xvi</ref> and there has been a proposal to return approximately {{cvt|139000|sqmi}} of these drier parts to native prairie land as a [[Buffalo Commons]].