Respecting Our National Mammal
On May 14th, National Public Radio host, Scott Simon shared a thoughtful commentary on his show regarding the plight of our new National Mammal and the potential for greenwashing by the bison industry. Mr. Simon referenced a recent story by Christopher Ketchum in Outside Magazine. Below is Wild Idea co-founder, Dan O’Brien’s thoughts on the issue. Let us know what you think in the comment section below or on Facebook.
Some individuals and recent media coverage claim that the National Bison Legacy Act, declaring the Bison as America’s National Mammal that was signed into law last week, is more greenwashing than conservation. It is hard to argue that there is no greenwashing involved in the legislation that was backed by an array of commercial interests. But arguing that there is no conservation value in bringing national attention to the plight of the bison, who were reduced from tens of millions in the days before Europeans moved onto the continent to perhaps a few hundred at the turn of the twentieth century, is equally difficult to defend.
Deriding the passage of the National Bison Legacy Act is a classic example of making the good the enemy of the perfect. It is particularly counterproductive when, as in this case, the perfect is unattainable in the foreseeable future. Complaints against making the bison our national mammal seem to be centered in cities and coastal regions with little direct connection to the American Great Plains, which is the natural habitat of the bison. (The mountains, including Yellowstone Park, do not seem to have been a preferred habitat for bison.) Because the bison is a keystone species of the Great Plains, declaring it as our National Mammal throws a bright light on America’s most abused and least protected ecosystem. This is a good thing. By bringing attention to the plight and history of the bison we bring attention to the processes that once made our country’s plains a grassland paradise. If our national bison herd is healthy it is likely that species diversity, grazing balances, carbon and nitrogen cycles, and water system are healthy too. At present, those processes are not as healthy as they should be and without improving that health, bison will never recover to anywhere near their past glory.
The often-ignored fact about the hoped-for bison recovery is that restoring a “wild” population bison herd would necessitate the forced removal of tens of millions of people and agricultural valued in billions of dollars per year. The other fact that precludes a truly “wild” population of bison is that, in the twenty first century, no matter how large the tract of land, by law must be encircled by a fence or other barrier. Beyond those barriers is private property owned by people who do not want bison eating their crops and grass, and running through their back yards. Bison are not birds that fly over fences and do little damage on the other side. If Bison do not have what they need on their side of the barrier (as with Yellowstone bison in winter) they will go over or through the barrier and can easily cause trouble before they can be brought back. With the economic system that is in place now, fences are a necessity. Many of us wish that this was not the case but, alas, for the near future it simply is. For now, we are stuck with a continent that is hostel to bison herds that are free to roam anywhere they please.
Some have said that the National Bison Legacy Act is little more than an attempt by private bison ranchers to further commercialize bison. The drive toward the commercial is alive and well in all contemporary pursuits – including publishing, broadcasting, and conservation. Commercialism may well be a more worthy target of our outrage than the National Bison Legacy Act. People have accused the bison industry and the Native American Tribes that raise bison of being little more than farmers of bison. Sadly, there is some truth in this statement. Despite the fact that the bison industry is responsible for bringing the total number of bison up from a few hundred to a half a million, almost all (about 92%) of the bison that are sold as meat are raised in the cattle feedlot model. They are kept in confinement and feed mostly the same genetically modified corn and soybeans that is causing the conversion of the bison’s diverse grasslands into a sterile monoculture, devoid of birds, insects, and native plants. But the critics of the National Bison Legacy Act have not done their homework. There are other business models of bison husbandry that put species diversity and soil health as important as profit.
The entrenched enmity of the American Bison debate may be an extension of the acronym in Washington but in the case of bison, compromise does not seem impossible. The National Bison Legacy Act encourages a way forward and, for the sake of those regal beasts and as a token of repentance for what we did to them, we owe them our best efforts.
Well said, Dan. I agree that we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.. What disturbs me most is commercialization based on the cruel feedlot model. I really appreciate the way you integrate the well-being of the bison and the Great Plains in your business. This country needs more like you.
My first encounter with bison was as a child, when my mother, who was trying to feed grapes to a cow through a fence at a zoo in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, was sneezed on and drew her hand back covered in a gift she hadn’t expected. A memorable experience, but hardly in a natural setting. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to follow a herd, at an appropriate distance, on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve with my oldest daughter and her new Nikon camera for an afternoon.
The 45 intervening years represent an enormous change in our thinking, as a nation, of what the appropriate place for these amazing creatures is in our world. We are at a new place in our national dialogue about the buffalo that I consider an opportunity to outgrow some of our thinking about the world and our place in it. We humans as a species are just a little too clever for our own good sometimes and our big brains don’t always recognize that the instincts that drive us didn’t necessarily evolve with our personal longevity in mind.
A wise man once wrote, “A million years of coevolution produces communities of species whose relationships are symbiotic, and that concept extends to man’s relationship to buffalo as a food source.” It’s unfortunate that, due to how clever we are, we’ve been able to so thoroughly and efficiently disrupt this process and these communities without having the slightest idea of how they work or what their value to us is, and that extends to the Native American community as well as the plains ecosystem.
The National Bison Legacy Act, though largely symbolic, creates an opportunity for a conversation about some of our history and the consequences, both intended and unintended that have resulted. That conversation can help move us forward as a nation in recognizing the things we could have done better and make us more cautious in how we use the tremendous resources we have that took millennia to develop, as we seek a path forward that considers all constituencies and will leave a more sustainable future for the generations of all creatures that follow us.
It is presumptuous in the extreme for us to think that any of us has the answer to relieving the angst we have over what was done in our names by our forebears or that we can somehow turn back the clock to redress the regrettable actions of our national past. It would truly be amazing to sit a horse and watch a herd of bison take days to pass by. But, time being what it is, we have only to move forward and look to each other to make progress. Collaboration and patience are the keys, much as we want it done now and think of ourselves as independent. We won’t be able to undo what it took 150 years to get to in a single lifetime. We must take the long view and inspire each other and each generation to come to do the same with the certain knowledge that we can do better. It’s the long haul. Endurance is our byword and our Native American sisters and brothers and the American Bison our example.
Who is Bob Jackson? We could learn a lot from him. His article was interesting and right on. I am a customer of Wild Idea and support their efforts, that is why I ordered from them. I found them by accident because I read about them when I purchased their first book on my Nook. I have written a book about my 26 years of observing my llama herd. I took a different approach to owning llamas and allowed my llamas to create a llama family, which I have observed all these years. Animal families are smarter than we are when it comes to forming and maintaining their family units. They are intelligent and have feelings and emotions. They are loyal, protective and dependable. They teach their children well. Most of our human problems stem from the fact that we no longer maintain extended family unity. Helping the Bison maintain their family unity will greatly enhance their lives and enrich ours in ways that we can’t even imagine.
What gets me is how we as tax payers can subsidize and bail out farmers for raising corn a high energy input crop as well as cattle which also require a lot of work and energy yet we have Bison a much healthier food source that is adapted to the environment and needs little energy input from humans to raise, especially when looking at the water crisis so many states are having and trying to raise cattle in the SW is complete stupidity, it is about time this wonderful animal is finally recognized and instead of growing corn or paying farmers NOT to plant crops this land should be reverted back to Prairie and these animals should once again be able to graze on their grasses and those ranchers who raise Bison should be the ones who get tax cuts/ subsidies Not Cattle/Corn/Soybean Farmers.
I agree with your feelings and thoughts about the bison. I’m one of those who cannot fathom that two humans picked up a baby bison and gave it a ride. How crazy was that? We appreciate your attentiveness to the bison and it’s growth. We enjoy your products because you care how the animals are raised. Our Creator surely is pleased with your care of his bison and his planet.