| In
response to Bob Ross's letter (Nov. 17), I would suggest
a different perspective on Yellowstone bison. Ross complains
that bison are damaging the Yellowstone ecosystem as if
they were an invasive species. Let us begin with the fact
that bison are native to the Yellowstone area and were
here long before us. Bison have been key members of the
ecological community in this area for at least 50,000
years. It
is only due to "range ecologists" such as
Ross and the livestock industry they are beholden to
that bison are in the predicament they face today. If,
as Ross contends, bison are overusing certain areas,
it is only because they are not afforded the freedom
to migrate out of Yellowstone National Park. Provide
sufficient habitat and all of Ross's concerns will vanish.
In
terms of the threat to "our" cattle from brucellosis,
prove it! There has never been a documented case of
brucellosis transmission from wild bison to domestic
cattle. Ross seems to have bought into the same propaganda
used to justify the slaughter of 231 bison last March
by these same Yellowstone National Park officials that
he decries.
It
is time that we in the West get off our high horse and
learn to accept native wildlife as having as much right
to the land as we do. As many as 60 million bison once
roamed this country, it seems rather petty to complain
about the impact of the few thousand wild bison that
remain today.
Joshua
Osher
P.O.
Box 957
West
Yellowstone
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