Expanding Wildlife and Brucellosis

Post by Clemson undergraduate John Anderson

Wildlife, primarily including elk and bison expanding their range, interacting with domesticated cattle has created much concern for human management of the wildlife.  This week our Great Plains landscape consisted of the Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding Greater Yellowstone Area.  This defined area is a working conservation landscape because there are different parties trying to get the most out of the land in either ranching or in terms of wildlife, both being able to sustain the land’s value into the future.

The people of the Greater Yellowstone Area are trying to conserve the landscape in two different ways.  The traditional ranchers are trying to conserve their livelihood by continuing to use the grasses to effectively raise and sell cattle.  Another way conservation is taking place in this area, is the need to conserve wildlife.  Yellowstone National Park is a great reservoir for wildlife to live in, but with increasing populations, predator/prey relations, and limited land area, wildlife is expanding its range outside the park boundaries and into neighboring lands including many cattle ranches.  Conservationists are moving with the wildlife, lobbying for conservation in the outside areas causing conflict with the ranchers. 

In the past, animals and weather influenced this landscape.  Roaming bison would migrate depending on the time of the year relating to the weather and in turn the first inhabitants of this land, the Native Americans, would follow the migrating bison.  Once the Native Americans were forced onto reservations by the United States government, land was given to the homesteaders moving west to farm.  After struggling to farm in this freezing, dry climate, large cattle operations took over the landscape outside of Yellowstone.  In the present day, traditional cattle ranching has decreased in popularity while conservation efforts and hobby landowners are increasing in popularity.  After meeting with a traditional rancher, state senator, and field biologists, I believe that the wealthy, part-time ranch residents and the conservation groups/organizations will squeeze out the last of the full-time ranchers in the near future.  In talking with the long-time rancher, I now better understand the difficulty of raising calves each year to make a living.  Now with wildlife encroaching onto their lands, new conservation policies, and added stress to sell out, it is a miracle the Yellowstone Area ranchers are still around today producing food for Americans.  These variables are not a recipe for success; therefore, I predict there will be fewer and fewer traditional cattle ranchers each year in the Greater Yellowstone Area.  The wealthy vacationers and big business organizations like the American Prairie Reserve will gladly buy the land from them.

The main conflict affecting the Greater Yellowstone Area and leading to my prediction is the fear of Brucellosis.  If brucellosis, from the Yellowstone elk and bison, is detected in a nearby rancher’s herd, that rancher’s operation is shutdown for months and additional testing costs are piled up all while they most likely will have no calves to sell that year.  This added pressure on the ranchers brings much concern to them over the expanding wildlife.  In turn to that, they fight, fight, and keep fighting laws and policies concerning the conservation of wildlife.  After talking to the rancher, in my opinion, this fight is a losing battle as the other side has more money and their lively hood is not on the line.  Living in the fear of brucellosis, I think is enough to end the cattle ranching industry in the Greater Yellowstone Area. 

After visiting the Greater Yellowstone Area, I feel like I have been introduced to, included in, and a part of the Brucellosis conflict and the ranching, wildlife relations.  With that involvement comes responsibility that I hope to act on and further educated myself about.