To save the wild bison : life on the edge in Yellowstone / Mary Ann Franke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Franke, Mary Ann.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American bison--Conservation--Yellowstone National Park.

American bison.

American bison--Yellowstone National Park--Public opinion.

Public opinion--Yellowstone National Park.

Public opinion.

Americans--Yellowstone National Park--Attitudes.

Americans.

Physical Description:

xx, 328 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2005]

Summary:

Although the American bison was saved from near-extinction in the nineteenth century, today almost all herds are managed like livestock. The Yellowstone area is the only place in the United States where wild bison have been present since before the first Euro-Americans arrived. But when these bison roam outside the park, they pose risks to property and people, and measures to constrain the population threaten their status as wild animals.

Mary Ann Franke's To Save the Wild Bison is the first book to examine the ecological and political aspects of the bison controversy and how it reflects changing attitudes toward wildlife. The debate has evoked strong emotions from all sides. Park officials and environmentalists want Yellowstone bison to remain free roaming, and most prefer that population size be controlled by food supply, predators, and hunting outside the park. Livestock growers fear that the abortion-inducing disease brucellosis will spread to cattle unless it is eradicated from the wild bison herd through culling and an intrusive vaccination program. Indians whose ancestors depended on the revered animal argue that bison leaving the park should be sent to tribal lands instead of the slaughter-house.

In describing political compromises among the competing positions, Franke does not so much champion a cause as critique the process by which federal and state officials have made and carried out bison management policies. She shows that science, however valuable a tool, cannot by itself resolve what is ultimately a choice among conflicting values. By clarifying issues and showing policy successes and failures, Franke offers a useful guide for balancing human needs and wildlife autonomy, so that what is wild in Yellowstone's bison can be preserved.

Contents:

Part 1 Bison Without Borders

Chapter 1 Coming to America 5

Chapter 2 A Removable Resource 11

Chapter 3 A Park Is Born 20

Chapter 4 Not Just Another Buffalo 41

Part 2 Preserving the Survivors

Chapter 5 For the Great National Playground 49

Chapter 6 Under More Natural Conditions 75

Chapter 7 The Imbalance of Nature 100

Part 3 Brucellosis in Wonderland

Chapter 8 Outward Bound 129

Chapter 9 A Disagreeable Agreement 147

Chapter 10 The High Cost of Free Roaming 162

Part 4 Living in the Modern World

Chapter 11 Confronting People and Predators 193

Chapter 12 Winter Range for Snowmobiles 204

Chapter 13 Hunted Again 219

Part 5 Pushing the Boundaries

Chapter 14 Indians at the Crossroads 235

Chapter 15 A New Buffalo Nation 254

Chapter 16 Thinking Outside the Box 270.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-311) and index.

ISBN:

0806136839

OCLC:

57069390