Bison
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On May 31, 2023, the West lost one of its most ardent wildlife advocates, Dr. James (Jim) Bailey of Belgrade, Montana died peacefully at home. He was 89. I saw Jim in Bozeman in mid-April. He attended a lecture I gave for Earth Day Celebrations and then, during the same week, gave a talk on…
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Bison migrate from Yellowstone National Park to access snow-free areas where they can obtain forage. Photo George Wuerthner This winter, more than a thousand bison were killed by tribal members after leaving Yellowstone National Park’s protection. Last week, I found some recent carcasses killed by the tribes, but the good news is that most of…
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Tribal members gutting a bison killed on Custer Gallatin National Forest land near Gardiner, Montana. As of a week ago, as many as 1,139 bison have been slaughtered by tribal members. Yet the entire so-called tribal bison “hunt” may be illegal. Yet, no group, including those who profess to care about the bison, including the…
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Yellowstone bison are a globally unique animal. Harsh winters can drive bison out of the park where they are often killed. Photo George Wuerthner Yellowstone’s bison are unique, essentially influenced by natural evolutionary processes since the Park’s early days. Today the herd has grown to approximately 6,000 animals. Still, the ability of these bison…
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The wild beauty of the Little Missouri badlands within Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. Photo George Wuerthner Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) has proposed eliminating feral horses and domestic livestock from the Park. Unlike the fiasco at Point Reyes National Seashore, where the NPS appears to support maintaining domestic livestock within the park unit,…
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UPDATE: Since I wrote this piece, the number of bison killed near Gardiner and elsewhere from all sources has exceeded 1150 animals. You can read the report here. Yellowstone bison are used to being photographed not shot. Photo Bonnie Lynn As I write this essay, sources I trust estimate that at least 700 of…
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With the cultural appropriation of the horse, Indians became effective predators of the West’s bison herds. INTRODUCTION It’s often repeated over and over that commercial hunting by white sharp shooters led to the demise of the large western bison herds. However, there is plenty of evidence that Indian bison hunting led to the demise of…
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When Deb Haaland was nominated for the position of Secretary of Interior, I received dozens of emails from nearly every large conservation organization to support her nomination. She was appointed without having any particular experience or background in public lands issues and limited executive experience in running major federal land management agencies such as…