Public vs. Private American Bison

Guest post by Clemson Montana Summer Program student Amber Moore

As this life changing course is approaching the end quickly, we wandered from Montana to Wyoming and then South Dakota with Dr. McMillian, who introduced us to biodiversity of the Great Plains. While in beautiful South Dakota, we stopped at Wind Cave National Park to discuss bison management with Greg Schroeder, who is the Resource Management Chief for the park. We were also able to visit Dan O’Brien, who is an author of many amazing books and owner of a buffalo ranch, so that we could see the differences between a private and public buffalo operation.

My first thought about the West and Great Plains was that there were American Bison there, and I was beyond excited to get to see these iconic animals in their natural environment. Before managing bison, it is vital to know what distinguishes them from animals that look like them. Bison, or buffalo as some people know them by, contain huge humps, a wide, enormous head, thick and short neck, and small hind legs, which makes it easy to tell them from the numerous cattle that call the west their home. Their appearance also gives the majestic creature their rugged and stern look. Like Dr. McMillian stated, unlike domestic cattle, bison are able to withstand even the harshest weather, which I believe is due to their fur. In the winter, their fur is a deep brown to black color, and the length of it varies, but is roughly sixteen inches on the forehead and decreases in length going from the forelegs to hindquarters. They usually appear calm and unconcerned, but as Dan, Greg and Dr. McMillian stated numerous times, a bison’s temperament is always unpredictable, and they may attack without warning or reason.

Bison may give the impression as slow and stocky animals, but they are able to outrun and maneuver even the fastest horse, with females being able to move at speeds of thirty-five miles per hour, even though they weigh over two thousand pounds. Another weapon, more dangerous than their speed, are the horns that both males and females have. During the bison’s mating season, which usually lasts from June through September, the older bulls rejoin the herd of females, causing fights between one another. Another distinguishing characteristic of the bison is an activity that they partake in, known as wallowing. Wallowing creates depressions that do not contain vegetation and are usually just large dust bowls for the bison to take dust baths in, as well as be able to spread their scent around all over themselves.

In the early 1800s, there was an estimation of around forty million bison present in the plains, but by 1883, there were barely any bison remaining in the United States. By the time the 1900s rolled around, there were fewer than a thousand left in North America. That means that majority of the forty million were killed within only a fifty-five year period. The few remaining bison were housed at Yellowstone National Park, where the bison we know and see today originated from.

In the year 1923, six bulls and eight cows were donated to Wind Cave National Game Preserve by New York Zoological Society, as an effort by the American Bison Association to return bison to the Plains. There were an additional two bulls and four cows that were brought in from Yellowstone National Park in 1916. The bison that we were able to see and enjoy at Wind Cave National Park originated from those twenty bison, and they now all contain ten unique alleles making Yellowstone and Wind Cave Parks the most genetically diverse herds. Since they have such a large amount of genetic diversity, those bison populations are given conservation priority and are allowed to be isolated from other bison populations.

To manage the bison at Wind Cave as a public ranching system, Greg stated that they look at the animals as wildlife first, and then base all decisions off of that. Since carrying capacity of the park is very important to be able to continue to sustain the bison population, bison in excess of that capacity are removed from the herd. The park believes in a “take half, leave half” philosophy that helps maintain the amount of forage that is available for the bison, as well as the other wildlife that live within the park. According to Greg, there is only 25% of land allocated to bison with the rest going to other wildlife.

Black-tailed prairie dogs co-exist with bison, eating the tall grass to keep it cropped short, which improves the ecology of the prairie for bison. The short cropping of the grass makes it more nutritious to bison, which is why you can find more bison near prairie dog colonies. Of the take half-leave half philosophy, the prairie dogs are allotted 10% of the land. Bison are light grazers, meaning they don’t aggressively tear the forage from the root when eating, which helps to control the size of the black-tailed prairie dog colonies, as well as to decrease erosion.

To uphold that philosophy and the carrying capacity, because the bison no longer have any predators (wolves or bears) to rid of them as it would have occurred years ago, the park rids of the excess bison manually. Bison breed fast, with 2/3 calving every year, as well as them having the physical means to fight anything that they believed was endangering them. The Park seeks to have a 50/50 sex ration and tries to cull the yearlings and two year olds in an attempt to leave ten percent of each age group. At Wind Cave, they remove bison by two means of live distribution, by giving some to the Native American Tribes through the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative for use in herd enhancement and spiritual and cultural practices, or by giving them to the Nature Conservancy Ranches, to which there are currently five, that vow to follow the parks rules to enhance the herd.

To roundup the bison, Wind Cave National Park uses helicopters and horses, but Greg stated that he prefers horses. Helicopters are used since they can see from overhead and they do not easily tire like horses do. The park perimeter is fenced, making it easier to catch them, but since there is over 30,000 acres of park, they are still able to outrun man and machine at times. Another reason the park is fenced is because the rest of the state considers them as livestock if and when they escape, meaning they are going to be killed for escaping. It was stated that this is done because the farmers that own cows think that the bison still carry brucellosis. With the public being uneducated or stuck in their ways, they don’t realize that the bison at Wind Cave haven’t carried the disease for hundreds of years, and elk are the main carriers, causing regulations like this one to still be in place.  Running a public management of bison is trying to find the balance of keeping the public happy, as well as keeping the bison’s best interests at heart. With Greg over the management of the bison at Wind Cave National Park, I believe that the bison are in good hands with his wealth of knowledge and passion for the well-being of the beloved bison.

To see the difference in public and private bison management, we visited the famous Cheyenne River bison ranch of Dan O’Brien. Before visiting the ranch, I was able to read one of his many cherished books called “Buffalo for the Broken Heart”, which details the history of his ranch and the conversion from beef to buffalo. Dan and his wife Jill are the founders of their company, Wild Idea Buffalo Co. where they are focused on preserving the Great Plains ecosystem by returning the buffalo back to their native lands. He uses bison to help not only feed people, but also increase forage, flowers, and other grasses. After having cattle on his then 1,000-acre ranch in the 1990’s that left a battered landscape behind, he introduced bison back on the lands to nurse his ranch back to health. When mentioned by the many people in our tour group that he lives in the middle of nowhere, he said “like nowhere on earth.”

The ranch now consists of 28,000-acres, and Wild Idea has gained another ranch that is located on the edge of the Conata Basin, being run by Doug Albertson. Dan is unique in the fact that he uses a mobile harvesting truck that does humane field harvesting, and the truck was purchased for him by the owner of the Patagonia clothing company. The truck allows harvesting in all seasons on site, which has helped in the harvesting of 941 buffalo from his ranch and Indian reservations.  The moveable harvester undergoes an inspection before the harvest even begins, which is conducted by the state meat inspector. A sharp shooter and the inspector then head out to find a buffalo that is to be in good condition to harvest. The inspector also does an antemortem, a before-death inspection to ensure that the herd is in good health. The buffalo to be harvested is chosen based on age (two to three years old), size, and weight (900 to 1,000 pounds). Once the animal is shot down, it is taken back to the harvest truck where the carcass is halved and moved into the refrigerated cooler on the truck. The carcasses are then moved back to the Wild Idea plant in Rapid City to be cut into fine steaks, roasts, ground sausages, charcuterie items, and buffalo jerky.

I had the pleasure of picking up some different cuts of meat and sampling it the night before the tour for dinner, where my mind was blown by the fireworks of flavor and texture of something new occurring in my mouth. I highly advise that people visit their website, Wild Idea Buffalo Co., and order whatever their hearts desire, because having tasted something from each category, everything was amazing and makes you want to eat more grass finished bison than beef. He was such a genuine guy to talk to, with a wealth of knowledge that I was so happy to get a chance to hear. I loved the fact that Dan stated that responsibility does not end at the property line, which was a major difference in his ranch and the bison at Wind Cave National Park.

After visiting and comparing private and public bison operations to one another, Dan and Greg had similar thoughts on bison versus cattle being raised on ranch lands. Bison are native to North America, unlike cattle, which were domesticated and brought over.  Dissimilar to cattle, bison graze together in tight groups, whereas cattle spread out to graze, covering and trampling more forage than what they consume. Another major issue with cattle is that they spend more time in and near water compared to bison, who may get water once or twice a day. Also, cattle will stand in the water and defecate and urinate there, decreasing the quality of the water drastically. The animals also differ in the nutrition that they consume; according to Dr. McMillan, cattle eat 60-70% perennial grasses, with the rest being broadleaf plants, while bison prefer just grass. The less trampling and erosion damage in the long-run of the plains environment increases the chances of it lasting longer for others to enjoy. Bison require less maintenance in the winter since they are able to move and push snow away for the forages underneath, whereas cattle require supplements that are expensive. An interesting statement from Dan was that since bison are such rugged creatures, calving is easier for them and veterinarian’s assistance is rarely needed, reducing the need for antibiotics. Another statement that Dan had was that ranching does not have to be a deteriorating thing, which makes me think, are cattle just being ranched in a way that makes them seem unsustainable? Nonetheless, bison have been shown that they are better for the Great Plains since they were originally here and know how sustain their home. Ending the day by touring his vast ranch was such an awesome experience, especially since we were able to get so close to the majestic buffalo he owns and seeing how they act in their natural habitat.

I have had so many wonderful experiences that others wish that they could have, and am truly fortunate to be able to do and experience all of what the Plains offers to us and the animals that call this landscape their home. Extremely eager about the week ahead and what else I can learn about the Great Plains!