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Last Wild Bison in the United States |
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Background
Information on the Last Wild Bison in the United States
With the complicity of U.S. government authorities, the American
bison was systematically slaughtered to near-extinction in the
19th century (Hornaday 1889). U.S. military
campaign strategy to impoverish the bison from the Great Plains
and forcibly restrict nomadic Indian tribes to reservations,
in tandem with commercial market exploitation (Isenberg
2000), led to the extirpation of bison from nearly
all of their original range.
The arrival of Spanish horses, Euro-Americans with repeating
firearms, expansion of the railroads, the emergence of a market
economy and commercial hunting trade (Isenberg 2000;
Flores 1991; Schullery and Whittlesey 2006; Boyd and Gates 2006)
devastated wild bison and reduced their numbers from as many
30 to 60 million to a few hundred by the end of the 19th century.
Climatic change including droughts, flooding, blizzards and
the introduction of non-native diseases and European and African
livestock into the bison’s range also contributed to the
destruction of bison on their native range (Isenberg
2000; Flores 1991).
Even after creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, weak
and ineffectual wildlife protection laws left the few wild bison
remaining vulnerable to poachers desperate for the vanishing
chance to kill a bison (Cope 1885; Meagher 1973).
By the turn of the 20th century, only 23 wild bison remained
in the United States within the refuge of Yellowstone National
Park under the armed guard of the U.S. Army (Meagher
1973).
Today, the descendants of those wild bison find themselves the
targets of another government led campaign that has slaughtered
over 6,700 wild bison since 1985 (Buffalo
Field Campaign winter count). The underlying cause of the
21st century bison slaughter is encroachment of domestic cattle
into the bison’s native range, which raises the specter
of disease transmission from bison to cattle, and intolerance
for wild bison by Montana’s livestock industry and the
state and federal agencies that back them.
A lack of credible scientific evidence supporting this ongoing
slaughter, including not one case of Brucella abortus (BFC
Brucellosis Fact Sheet) transmission from wild bison to
cattle, has not stopped the National Park Service, Montana Department
of Livestock, U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
and the U.S. Forest Service from permitting and participating
in the killing of American bison within and migrating from Yellowstone
National Park.
The government’s stubborn refusal to accept scientific
evidence supporting a more rational, natural, and humane bison
approach will, if the killing is not stopped, endanger the survival
of wild bison in Yellowstone.
Stopping the Slaughter. Yellowstone
bison warrant immediate protection as a distinct population
segment under the Endangered Species Act. Such protection would
mandate a cessation to the slaughter and compel the agencies
to develop ecologically responsible and scientifically based
strategies to protect, rather than prosecute, Yellowstone’s
bison. Endangered Species Act listing will provide Yellowstone's
bison and their native habitat with much deserved protection.
State and federal agencies will no longer be able to unilaterally
follow their plans to harass, capture, and wantonly slaughter
America’s last wild bison.
A Unique Population ~ The Last
of their Kind. Yellowstone bison represent a
distinct population both geographically and reproductively isolated
from other bison populations (USFWS 2007).
Bison’s nomadic nature and migratory behavior is still
intact but they are cut-off from historic migration corridors
(Berger 2004).
Throughout the United States, bison populations are intensively
managed on small ranges, fenced off, rounded up, artificially
bred, or have been found to have European or African cattle
genes (Boyd 2003). Only three bison populations
can be proven to be genetically Bison bison: Yellowstone, Wind
Cave and Grand Teton (Halbert 2003). Only the
Yellowstone bison exist in a unique ecological setting as the
last wild herd of bison in the United States to continuously
occupy their native range since prehistoric times (Gates
et al. 2005; USFWS 2007).
Indigenous Importance.
A rich, literary and oral tradition exists on the cultural and
spiritual significance of the Yellowstone bison to Native American
Indians (Greater
Yellowstone Science Learning Center 2006).
However, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service did not
evaluate cultural and historical significance of this last remnant
bison herd in its finding denying them Endangered Species Act
protection (USFWS 2007). Though scientific
criteria are used to determine whether a species is in danger
of extinction, the irreplaceable historical and cultural value
of wild bison as an indigenous wildlife species in its native
range is embraced by the Nation, the American people, and the
indigenous people of North America, and recognized by the U.S.
Congress in its findings creating the Endangered Species Act.
Millions of people throughout the United States and the world
who have experienced or contemplated the magnificence of this
last wild herd must come to the bison’s defense!
Tremendous Biological Significance.
The Yellowstone bison population has tremendous biological significance
for the conservation of bison as a wildlife species (USFWS
2007); America’s last wild bison are ecologically,
behaviorally and genetically unique.
Recent scientific studies provide conclusive evidence that Yellowstone
bison, unlike most other bison populations held in the public
trust, are genetically Bison bison (Polziehn et al.
1995; Ward et al. 1999; Halbert 2003). Evidence demonstrating
the distinctiveness of Yellowstone bison is even recognized
by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS 2007)
but the wildlife agency fails to acknowledge the urgency for
protecting wild bison in their native habitat.
Threats to Bison Habitat.
Wild bison currently occupy a fragment of their original range
(Hornaday 1889; Boyd 2003). With the exception
of Wyoming, wild bison are ecologically extinct throughout the
United States (Freese et al. 2007). While vast
tracts of the American bison’s historic range exist, current
government schemes (Interagency
Bison Management Plan) forcibly prevent bison from occupying
their native range.
As the nation's human population skyrockets and demand for natural
resources and land use grows, the ability to preserve large
tracts of bison habitat is undermined (Boyd and Gates
2006).
Human impacts to bison ecology and habitat are not confined
to Yellowstone's boundaries (Bjornlie and Garrott 2001;
Gates et al. 2005). Grazing cattle on the Gallatin
National Forest adjacent to Yellowstone National Park precludes
bison from occupying their native habitat (Geist 2007).
Human activities outside the Park is reducing the availability
of bison habitat and forage while land use and winter recreation
inside the Park has resulted in direct and indirect impacts
to wild bison and foraging activity that sustains them (Bjornlie
and Garrott 2001; Gates et al. 2005).
Forbidden to Follow Nomadic Instincts.
Existing bison management plans establish a near zero tolerance
policy for wild bison outside Yellowstone National Park (Interagency
Bison Management Plan).
Bison migrating to winter range north of Yellowstone National
Park are captured at Stephens Creek and shipped to slaughter.
The winter of 2005/2006 counted 849 bison captured and sent
to slaughter from Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens
Creek bison capture facility. Eight bison died while being held
in captivity or as a result of injuries received while held
in captivity. Eighty-seven bison calves were removed from their
family groups to the Brogan quarantine facility at Corwin Springs.
An additional 59 wild bison were killed by the Montana Department
of Livestock including two bison that fell through the ice on
Hebgen Lake during a bison hazing operation. Yellowstone National
Park shot one wild bison (Geist 2007).
Bison migration, and nomadic treks within their home range is
a natural phenomenon. Following their instincts for self-preservation
has turned into a deadly affair for wild bison. The ongoing
government-led slaughter of migrating bison threatens the wild
character of America’s last wild bison.
Brucellosis and the Cattle Lobby.
The encroachment of cattle ranching into the bison’s native
range creates the risk that the cattle industry decries.
Brucellosis was originally introduced to Yellowstone’s
wild bison and elk populations by domestic cattle (Cheville
et al. 1998; Meagher and Meyer 1994). The risk of brucellosis
transmission from wild bison to cattle is small (Cheville
et al. 1998) and there has been no documented case
of such an event. Despite these facts, state and federal agents
have spent millions of dollars in taxpayer money and killed
thousands of wild bison since 1985 that pose no risk to cattle.
Current bison management is fraudulent, wasteful and threatens
the survival of Yellowstone’s critically important, unique
bison population.
Livestock Interests Call the Shots.
Existing state and federal regulations, and the framework for
the Interagency Bison Management Plan poses a serious threat
to bison’s evolutionary potential.
In Montana, Yellowstone bison fall under the authority of the
Montana Department of Livestock (MCA
81-2-120), an agency with an institutional bias against
wild, free-roaming bison that exists to promote the cattle industry.
An effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its state
agency counterparts to develop a new, more deadly, plan to eradicate
brucellosis from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, (www.gyibc.com)
and other threats that, if not stopped, will drive America's
most unique, culturally irreplaceable and biologically distinct
bison population to extinction.
The federal and state agencies responsible for the ongoing destruction
of Yellowstone's bison must reconsider their actions. The agencies’
disdain for the evidence and disregard for the will of the people
has put the bison’s future at risk. Protecting the Yellowstone
bison under the Endangered Species Act is necessary to prevent
their extinction. It is time to restore this last wild American
bison herd in their native range.
PLEASE
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
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