Restoration of wild bison will require large landscapes. Photo George Wuerthner
Bison were critical ecosystem influences on grasslands of North America, particularly in the Great Plains “bison belt.” They provided prey or carrion for wolves, grizzlies, other smaller predators and scavengers, and food for humans. In addition, bison grazing patterns influenced vegetation […]
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Bison herd. Photo George Wuerthner
Many authors today suggest that Indigenous people somehow behaved differently from other humans, particularly western culture that now dominates the globe in their relationship and exploitation of natural lands. The general theme is that while the human influence pre-European contact was significant, human exploitation was tempered […]
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Due to gross similarities in size, food preference, and appearance, it is often asserted that bison and domestic cattle are ecological analogs. However, a review of their evolutionary history demonstrates that they have significant differences in evolutionary pressures that manifest themselves in strikingly different modes of resource exploitation.
Compared to domestic cattle, bison wander […]
Continue Reading →Cattle grazing in the Mojave Desert, California. Photo by George Wuerthner
Livestock advocates often state that cattle and sheep have merely “replaced” the native herbivores. And since plants are “adapted” to herbivory from native grazers, then “obviously” livestock grazing is compatible with ecosystem preservation. Some even go so far to claim that […]
Continue Reading →State, federal and tribal representatives voted again to slaughter 600-900 Yellowstone Park bison this winter. The agencies and tribes use the less offensive sounding euphemism “cull”. But let’s be honest, what happens is nothing more than butchery done to appease the livestock industry.
It is shameful that these agencies and tribes legitimize the annual […]
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The Louvre Museum in France houses some of the most famous art works in the world, including paintings by such well-known artists as Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
What would you think if you heard the famous Louvre Museum began to throw out and burn in the streets these priceless masterpieces saying […]
Continue Reading →In response to a guest editorial I published in the Missoulian on the shameful slaughter of Yellowstone’s bison, a group of three retired USDA range managers wrote a commentary that was published in the Missoulian on December 30th on Yellowstone’s bison. They argue that bison numbers must be reduced, and thus implicitly supporting the Dept. […]
Continue Reading →A number of environmental organizations, Western Watersheds Project, The Buffalo Field Campaign, and Friends of Animals, have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Yellowstone bison under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Some may be baffled why any bison deserve listing under the ESA when there are at least 500,000 bison found […]
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What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset.
Crowfoot, Blackfoot, 1890, on his deathbed.
Whether you identify as religious, spiritual, or agnostic, the […]
Continue Reading →In a recent blog post, Defenders of Wildlife is grossly misleading the public claiming that they have “saved the last wild bison” by participating in and supporting the quarantine of buffalo that originated as wild calves from Yellowstone. Quarantine is a domestication process. There is no benefit from quarantine to bison as wildlife. Quarantine […]
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