Yellowstone National Park

  •   Winter weather frequently drives wild Yellowstone bison out of the park seeking forage, where they are captured or killed at the park border. Photo George Wuerthner  Recently news media announced the transfer of 141 of Yellowstone’s bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Most of the media and many conservation groups hailed this as…

  • Yellowstone bison are part of the global wildlife heritage. Photo George Wuerthner A week ago, 116 bison captured in Yellowstone National Park were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation as part of the Bison Relocation Program. Since 2019, 414 Yellowstone bison have been transferred to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes at Fort Peck. Many…

  • Bison and Tetons, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming. Photo George Wuerthner  In a recent New York Times commentary, author Dayton Duncan celebrated what he termed as the ongoing restoration of bison across the West. Hundreds of thousands of bison reside in the US on ranches, Indian reservations, and state and federal lands. That may sound like…

  • Wildness in bison is maintained by evolutionary agents like harsh weather, native predators, competition for forage and mating. Photo George Wuerthner  Many bison advocates assert that bison have been “saved” from extinction because approximately half a million animals are now found in zoos, ranches, tribal reservations, state parks, national parks, and other public lands. Bison…

  •   Anthropocene boosters who criticize parks and wilderness as “colonialism, ‘imperialism,” and other pejorative terms that threaten conservation goals. Photo George Wuerthner  A growing debate has serious consequences for our collective relationship to Nature. Beginning perhaps twenty years ago, a number of academics in disciplines such as history, anthropology, and geography, began to question whether…

  • Old Faithful erupting, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Photo George Wuerthner  I just saw the movie Wild Life about Doug and Kris Thompkins’s efforts to protect wildlands in Patagonia. Doug and Kris Tompkins at Renihue Chile. Photo George Wuerthner  I am very familiar with that effort as I worked for Doug and Kris for more than…

  •   Harsh winter weather forces bison to seek forage outside of Yellowstone National Park where tribal people slaughter them. Photo George Wuerthner  https://helenair.com/outdoors/buffalo-field-campaign-yellowstone-national-park-bison/article_613ca670-2fbf-501c-b7a4-987bcff200ac.html#tracking-source=home-top-story A press release from the Buffalo Field Campaign described a proposal for the tribes to develop a  plan to assume “primary jurisdiction” over Yellowstone National Park’s bison. The first question anyone should…

  • Bison migrating out of Yellowstone Park where they are subject to capture or slaughter. Photo George Wuerthner  Bonnie Lynn, an activist who lives on the edge of Yellowstone Park, has produced a film that provides many voices (including me) discussing the tragic slaughter of Yellowstone’s unique bison herd. One of the people featured in the…

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