In recent years there has been a controversial proposal put forth by easterners to
turn a large portion of the sparsely populated plains into a buffalo reserve. They call
this project of theirs, "Buffalo Commons".
While I do feel they may have made a good point about the depopulation of some
of our western counties, and while I agree that native species are best at protecting
an environment, a couple of things concern me about the implementation of their
buffalo commons.
Their plan is for a federally owned corridor stretching from Mexico to Canada so
the herd can migrate like geese. Buffalo are built to take the cold winters, and
actually thrive on them. Their existence does not depend on migrating south for the
winter, and I contend that historically they did not migrate.
I am convinced that a square shaped game preserve is more sensible than one long
skinny line, but aside from that I am also concerned because there is no plan for
annual expenses. There is no explanation how they will pay property taxes on their
million acres, or how they will pay for annual labor to keep 2,000 + miles of buffalo
fence in good repair. There is no plan for ensuring the health of the herd, no plan
for veterinary facilities. There is no mention of income generated from the project,
no food produced, only that we will have millions of acres of agricultural land taken
out of production.
But my main concern is this; there is no plan presented for controlling their bison
population. Difficult though it may be for some to accept, with no removal of
excess animals from the herd, Bison would overpopulate a given area and destroy
the native flora until the herd was on the point of starvation. We see this today on
Catalina Island where 14 head of American Bison were imported nearly a century
ago for film making and now the island must export several hundred head of the
herd because many of the plants native to that island are on the verge of extinction.
We also see this today in Yellowstone National Park where the herd must break out
of the park to forage.
Most national parks, and now Catalina Island, are actively donating excess animals
to the Intertribal Bison Cooperative, a non-profit tribal organization that is actively
building up herds on tribal lands, as well they should. The Native American tribes
also end up with excess animals as their herds reproduce and increase, but they
know what to do about that, harvesting the animals to sell meat and traditional
leather products.
Whereas native grasses are the most environmentally friendly crop for the plains,
native game animals provide the most economical conversion of those grasses into
people food because a minimum of labor and fossil fuels are required in this
process. Refusal to harvest these excess animals would be a waste of food in a
hungry world.
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