European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse At Home on Iho National Bison Range a Buffalo Bull displays wariness befitting the species people a problem at wildlife preserve by Boris Weintraub National geographic it Here where the Bullaro roam and the Deer and Tho pronghorn Antelope play there is a dilemma that reflects in microcosm a similar problem a floating Yosemite Yellowstone and Glacier Parks and other better known pieces of Iha National heritage the dilemma is this How do you make such places supported by taxpayer dollars open and accessible to the Public without Ali racing so Many people thai the whole Point of the Enterprise is lost Moiese Mont is Home to the National Bison Range one of the oldest components in the us. Fish and wildlife service s Chain of wildlife refuges and one of the key elements in the successful Early Century Ballet to save the american Bison from sex line lion. Compared with the big National Parks the National Bison Range is Liny As is the number of visitors each year compared Wilh say fhe 2 6 million who annually visit Yosemite. Yet in 1983 when the number of visitors to the i8.s4i aerosol grasslands Low rolling mountains and gently flowing streams reached a record 132,000, Range manager Jon Malcolm feared that a further increase could cause grave problems in 1984, the number of visitors dropped by 24 percent to 106,000, and Malcolm noted in his annual report that his was optimum in terms of providing visitors with a Quality experience " partly because of unseasonably cold temperatures and Early heavy Snow the number dropped to 96,000 in 1985. Visits in 19b6 Are up however 10 percent higher in May and june Over the same months in 1985, a big 32 percent jump in july and Malcolm is worried. It s kind of hard to left people we a Don t come because we Vegol enough the Way it is he says. Bui that is one of our a 19b5 census on the Range counted a balanced population of Elk. White tailed and mule Deer Bighorn saturday september 20, 1986 where the Buffalo roam sheep prong porn Antelope and my Tarn goats there also were coyotes who did i hair Par to keep Down he population of Deer Antelope and sheep Bui the animal thai is the Range s reason Tor being is Ihn ving. Thero wore 332 Bison Wilh 90 calves and a mortality Rale of just 1 percent the Range annually auctions off what is known As excess last year 66 Bison were sold for display elsewhere or Lor i hair hides or Moal the current status of the Bison the Crealure s True Namo. Though most authorities use Bulla to interchangeably is a a cry from the animal s Peak in the mid 19th in Nhury when in estimated 60 million of roamed Norm America but it k a of ,1 cry Rorn the Hison s plight a a Cuartos Kito Many a orcs Hru Urjil Sihau the Bison a decline inc suppression of Plains indians who had lived in balance wih the animal Hunting Only what they needed for food and dolling massive Burtalo hunks thai accompanied inc sell Lement of the Wisl the Rise of trophy Hunting the desire of seniors to eliminate Buffalo so that they could Plant crops. When late Century scientists set out on expeditions to collect specimens before i was Loo Isle. They could hardly Lind any. By 1900, there were Only 39 wild Bison in the United states a Small Herd in Yellowstone. Alarmed the scientists and their supporters formed the american Bison society. They found an ally in president Theodore Roosevelt no in 1905 designated a 61,500-acre tract in Oklahoma As a game preserve. Ii was stocked with 15 Bison shipped ironically from new York s Bronx zoo the conservationist then moved to have the government establish a second Refuge. The Bison society persuaded Congress to buy land in Montana irom the indians and raised ,s6q from the Public to buy 34 Bison irom a privately owned Montana Herd. The animals the first Stock of the National Bison Range arrived in october 1909, what visitors to the Range Lind today is a situation vastly different from natural conditions. The other big game animals were introduced Over the years beginning with while tailed Deer and Eft heavy fencing surrounds the entire Range preventing the wildlife from roaming Over farms and ranches some areas Are fenced off to prevent overgrazing or to keep herds apart Tor their own Good. The populations we have Here Are probably As intensively managed As you h find on any Refuge Malcolm says. These animals if they re not managed can have a severe Impact on the habitat so on an area this size it s necessary to manage and manipulate them. Just the tact that we have big Gams Type fences around the perimeter is not natural to begin there Are however few concessions to humans. There is an informal Ion Center with exhibits Aboul the Range and the history and biology of Bison and a few animals Are kept in display pastures nearby. We find that a lot of people All they want to do is Stop by and see a Buffalo or to and hey re satisfied Malcolm says by providing for those people hat s one thing that limits the use on 1he longer tour the longer tour is a 19-mile self guided excursion Over a Dusty unpaved Road thai winds up and around red sleep Mountain. It can easily Lake two hours but visitors Are rewarded with a View of much of the Range s wildlife it is a daunting trip. Far fewer than Hall the visitors embark upon it. The stars and stripes o Page 17
