In an e-mail to one of our supporters, the Center for Biological Diversity refused to support restoration of a public, wild bison herd on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, CBD is not alone. All the major national environmental organizations are likewise ignoring this issue.
Referring to itself as “a relatively modest sized group”, CBD states, “We don’t have staff on hand who could properly engage in bison restoration.” (CBD’s website lists a staff of 177 members.)
It was not clear if CBD recognizes bison restoration as only a Montana issue involving only numbers, not quality, of animals. Their message did not refer to the national problem of bison domestication.
Admittedly, CBD has a huge task. The number of imperiled species is immense and accelerating. Yet, bison should not remain at the bottom of that list.
CBD works largely with the Endangered Species Act which is focused mostly on numbers of animals. In contrast, the problem of domesticating plains bison, and of no wild bison on the largest federal refuge within the historic range of the species, is largely addressed in the Refuge Improvement Act where quality as well as quantity of animals is addressed. Taking on the Fish & Wildlife Service for ignoring Congress’ mandates in the Refuge Act would be a new challenge for CBD. Perhaps it is a challenge they cannot imagine?
The general American public does not recognize domestication as an endangered species issue. They see only an abundance of bison in private, commercial, Tribal and mostly small “conservation” herds. But we expect more from major environmental organizations that emphasize wildlife, including CBD. These “big green” organizations have a duty to educate their constituents.
All it takes for the complete domestication of plains bison is for (hopefully) aware organizations to do nothing.
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