History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but it Certainly Rhymes
Trump attacks the grazing rights for bison
For decades, people all over the West have been working hard to restore bison to their natural habitat on the great plains, and they have managed to overcome constant resistance and opposition to carve out a few small herds, many of them here in Montana. One of the most successful campaigns has been waged by American Prairie, an organization founded several decades ago with the sole purpose of restoring a huge swath of land along the Missouri River to its origins. After doing extensive research about what parts of the world had the potential for this kind of restoration, founder Sean Gerrity was thrilled to discover that one of the best possible locales for this kind of restoration lay right here in Montana, in the Missouri Breaks, and he proceeded to start raising money to buy up as much of the land in that region as possible, then working to restore it to its natural state.
The opposition from local ranchers has been fierce, especially when bison were introduced as part of the project, and the main reason for their opposition has been the completely unfounded myth that bison spread a disease called brucellosis to cattle. There has never been a single documented incident where this happened, as most cases of brucellosis are contracted from wildlife like elk, but this is one of those myths that refuses to go away.
And of course the other factor that comes into play is the fact that many locals see this as another case where outsiders are buying up land that should be going to local ranchers. A valid concern, of course. But American Prairie has always been diligent about trying to establish and maintain good relationships with the ranchers that neighbor the reserve.
Some of the tribes in Montana, including the Blackfeet, have managed to build a small herd of bison on their reservations. Montana documentary filmmakers Ivy and Ivan McDonald released a fabulous documentary, Bring Them Home, about the battle to find a home for this herd.
But it has been well established in the past eight years that the current administration in Montana is not a fan of American Prairie. And they are much more liable to offer up public lands in Montana to the highest bidder for corporate development than we have seen in decades in Montana. So it’s not hard to imagine that the Trump administration’s recent announcement that they are going to evict these small herds from their grasslands is easily linked to the office of Greg Gianforte, and it’s a travesty. There has been ample evidence to support the theory that restoring grasslands and wildlife to its original state has an extremely positive effect on the environment. Bison have always been much more suited for the dryland prairie than cattle, which is exactly why they thrived here for decades before the West was ‘settled’ The slaughter of millions of these animals in the late 19th century was a concerted effort to starve the Native tribes in order to get them to surrender to the government’s plan to confine them to reservations, and of course it worked. A herd that once numbered between 40 and 60 million was reduced to less than 1000.
The effort to bring them back has been much more than a bit of nostalgia. It has been part of a sincere movement to help rejuvenate the land and wildlife here. It has been well documented that overgrazing and abusive farming practices did untold damage to the plains when the homesteaders first arrived, and it is exactly the kind of damage that takes decades to fix. But of course Trump and his minions could care less about that. Nor does Gianforte, who sees Montana as his own private playground as he traps and kills animals illegally and has even tried to block access to lands that were supposed to be available to the public. Sadly, Montana is once again being raped by the people who see profit as the main objective. We have seen this story play out way too many times.
“Home on the Range no More: Trump Wants Bison Gone,” New York Times
Gianforte is monstrous, essentially a member of the Manosphere. Of all the ills he's done, working against American Prairie may well be the greatest. I learned to love buffalo/bison as a child traveling the American West with my family in the 1960s. Living the past almost 26 years in West River (Spearifish) South Dakota has made that love much more informed and personal. I've been friends with the O'Brien Family (writer Dan, Jill, Jillian and her family) for over 20 years now. They have done great work with their business and prairies through their business Wild Idea Buffalo.
GRRRRR. They both need to be gone. All the money chasing stuff hoarders gotta go. Polluters. Haters. No Moral sons of the devil