Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
Wild bison will be allowed to migrate out of Yellowstone National Park and stay in parts of Montana year-round under a move by Gov. Steve Bullock. The decision won’t end the slaughter of some bison that roam outside of the park, yet pushes against the collusion between cattle ranching interests and wildlife managers using the threat of brucellosis to justify private property and development rights over the spirit of the wild.
In the Court of the Forest, the captured hunter is released into the wild…naked, to seek his sport-kill with nothing but his wits.
“Severe grazing is absolutely essential to maintain biodiversity,” argues Allan Savory in a recent TED Talk. Of course, this is the opposite of scientific truth for the sensitive desert ecosystem. Advocating “holistic grazing,” Mr. Savory pieces together false assumptions to produce ineffective but popular recommendations on climate change.
California Fish and Game Commish’s mountain lion sport hunting, contrary to the assertions of many “sportsmen” does not provide a service of managing wildlife habitat. It typifies the senseless need for (usually) white men to shoot thriving wild animals for “fun.”
The bison slaughter is proposed to appease the intractable and unreasonable demands of Montana’s livestock industry to zero tolerance for native bison on Montana soil. All of this is justified in the name of controlling brucellosis, a disease that can cause domestic livestock to abort their first calf.
Fifteen years have passed since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and the results are in. The controversial experiment has been a stellar success. Essay by Chip Ward.
Montana and Idaho wildlife officials are seeking to resume “conservation hunt” alternatives on the gray wolves despite the packs being relisted for protections under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).