| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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Article 5/12/05 |
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| Wyoming
Outdoors: Buffalo should be treated like other wildlife
Bob Krumm, Wyoming Outdoors, Billings Gazette
5/12/05 |
WYOMING
OUTDOORS
In last Saturday's Billings Gazette, John Potter wrote
a guest opinion article that was headlined: "Fear,
loathing over buffalo treatment." In the article
Potter stated, "I love everything about the buffalo."
That's fine for Potter, I guess. But I think it needs
to be put in perspective.
To my way of thinking, I'd like to see the buffalo treated
like any other big game animal in Wyoming, Montana and
Idaho, namely that the population be managed by the game
management agencies of the states to protect their welfare
and keep them in balance with their habitat.
Just as elk, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep and pronghorn
antelope have their populations kept within bounds by
hunting, so should buffalo.
Yet somehow the buffalo has become a sacred cow - an animal
that is worshiped and treated as a god. That's carrying
it a bit too far.
In my estimation, the buffalo is like any other wildlife
species that should be reverenced and appreciated, but
no more so than the other animals and plants that inhabit
the Yellowstone ecosystem. The buffalo is a product of
Mother Earth, but so are the millions of plants and other
animals that inhabit this world.
Potter stated that the Yellowstone buffalo "are the
last genetic descendants of the ones who fed and clothed
and nurtured everyone from the Plains Ojibwe to Mountain
Flathead."
That may be so, but these Indians didn't just look at
the buffalo. And they seemed to understand when some were
removed from the population. They did provide much to
the Native American, but so did elk, mule deer, bighorn
sheep and pronghorn antelope.
Potter seemed to be alarmed that the buffalo might be
obliterated, wiped off the face of the earth, but I don't
buy the argument. Some years ago, hundreds of bison were
shot as they left the park. At the time, there were doomsayers
that cried that the buffalo herd would never again reach
3,000, but now the herd is at 4,000 - and still growing.
When are enough buffalo going to be enough buffalo? Let's
face it, we're not going to repopulate the Great Plains
with wild, free-roaming herds. It's just not going to
happen.
The bottom line is that Yellowstone National Park needs
to be managed for the good of the entire ecosystem. Too
many bison have caused the decline of many plant communities
and the loss of some keystone animal species, such as
beaver. The gray wolf has helped pare down elk populations,
but the wolf has done little to control the buffalo.
Wyoming has a hunt plan in place for the North Fork of
the Shoshone River. It has a policy that no more than
15 bull bison and no cow bison can wander into the territory.
Any bison over that and hunts occur. There hasn't been
a hunt since 1997 but the mere fact the plan allows for
a limited number of bison to wander into Wyoming is a
start.
When the environmental impact statement is finished, there
will probably be bison hunts on the National Elk Refuge
in Jackson Hole. As it stands now, buffalo are hunted
on the Forest Service lands around the refuge.
Contrary to what the buffalo backers would have us believe,
the buffalo in Wyoming haven't been exterminated. It won't
happen. The herd isn't going to be exterminated in Yellowstone,
either.
It is time for a common-sense management approach to the
Yellowstone bison. I propose that the Forest Service,
Park Service, and the state game management agencies agree
to allow the bison to wander out of the park. In exchange,
the buffalo will be subject to a permit system hunt like
elk and bighorn sheep.
The buffalo herd should be reduced to 2,000, or 2,500,
or 3,000, or whatever number the agencies agree on, and
then it should be kept there. The remaining buffalo will
be healthier, the Yellowstone ecosystem will be healthier
and the Buffalo Field Campaign can go home.
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