News
Nov. 11, 2019
Recent
Coalition Activity
Dr.
Jim Bailey represented the Coalition at the American Bison Society
meetings in New Mexico, October 28-30. The American Bison Society and
Wildlife Conservation Society had rejected our request to describe
our Coalition and its goals at the meeting, and also rejected our
submissions for 2 posters to be presented. Nevertheless, Dr. Bailey
was able to interact with several attending individuals who support
our cause.
The
theme of the conference “Restoration of bison on the edge of their
historic range” did not seem to fit most of the presentations.
Several presentations dealt with bison conservation in Mexico and
Canada and restoration of usually small “cultural herds” on
Native American reservations. There was a session on bison in
Yellowstone National Park. A session on metapopulations, viability
and domestication was most interesting. The U. S. Department of
Interior bison management committee presented important data on
genetic subpopulations within USDI herds, and Dr. Peter Dratch
addressed genetic issues related to insidious domestication of
federal bison.
A
highlight of the meeting was a keynote address on the very many
important ecological relationships of bison on the Great Plains, by
Wes Olsen, Canadian biologist. Watch for Olsen’s book, The
Ecological Buffalo,
to be released soon.
On
November 5, Dr. Bailey participated in a forum on Bison for the
Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge – at the University in
Missoula. Paul Santavy, manager of the Refuge, and Tom France,
National Wildlife Federation, were also on the program. Dr. Bailey
also discussed wild bison at a Philosophy Department seminar in the
afternoon.
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