Yellowstone, bison to be featured on postage stamp-
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Ah, yes. Reminds one of that bit of gallows humor about subdivision developers: Cut down the trees, displace the animals, and name the streets after them.
Apparently, the only way Americans seem able to honor iconic figures is to eliminate them and then make up stories and create effigies to tell their progeny how great they were… and or place them in our “fabulous” zoos for entertainment value.
Notice the official emblems for DoI and Ag…
Cultural conservatives love symbols. They mistake them for what they are supposed to represent.
I hope this postage stamp doesn’t reflect a prediction of the extinction of the wild bison.
Probably a “heads-up” for exactly that, Robert.
Well, not if I can help it.
Does any of the proceeds go toward the protection of bison? Probably not.
I doubt it. The proceeds will likely simply be plowed back into the bureaucracy’s budget. Plain and simple. Salle’s comments are particularly pleasing to read.
Expect a memo from the livestock industry indicating that these stamps may have to be killed due to the possibility of spreading brucellosis.
Maybe we should place a bunch of postcards with that stamp into the mail, to the EPA, DOI, Ag, etc? Simply place a message asking why we “place a piece of unvalued livestock on a postage stamp”. After all, we don’t put chickens, pigs, sheep and cows on a stamp, which is what is really valued by our government.
Then demand they list bison as wildlife and not livestock. I know it won’t get us far, but it will draw attention to the hypocritcial behavior.
I’m thinking of buying a bunch of sheets of these stamps and using them on all my mail. And on the back of each envelope, I’ll write the URL of the Buffalo Field Campaign web site, as follows:
Learn the truth about the Yellowstone bison!
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
When they toss us lemons, it’s time to brew some lemonade.
The cattle industry for the most part, HATES bison, falsely spreading the LIE that bison spread brucellis, when it is CATTLE that spreads this disease to the bison!!!
I’d rather have Ted Turner as Secretary of Interior……
Maska,
I like your idea. It’s time the general public learn the truth about the plight of the Yellowstone wild bison.
Did anyone look at the denomination of the stamp? $17.50
I doubt many of them will be used for letters.
Oops. No, I didn’t check the denomination. Seems odd that they’d put such an iconic creature on a stamp that will be so little used. Too bad, because I still like the idea.
I may just start writing the legend and URL on the backs of my holiday cards anyway. It’s an easy way to get the word out to people who would otherwise never hear about the situation–and in the case of our holiday cards, to people on whom we may actually have some influence.
The cattle industry has been running roughshod for too long in the West. It’s time that this travesty ends! Putting Salazar in a position to protect our lands is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. I am more and more de-impressed with Obama daily.