European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                              National geographic near buffaloes roam the Range in growing numbers Byre Bayles the associated press hey come plodding out of the foggy Dawn lured by the bleat of the truck s Horn and its Promise of Alfalfa and molasses cubes a tempting treat compared to their sturdy diet of native Blue Stem and Indian grasses. The morning ritual is to prepare 300 buffaloes for release onto the sepia toned Hills and Swales of ranch land owned by the nature conservancy in Pawhuska okla. Gambling around the slow moving truck the Buffalo Grunt a murmur of reassurance that Ripples slowly through the Herd. You know they belong when you see them out there says Bob Hamilton a biologist charged with growing the Herd into 1,800 head Over the next decade. They re a major cog in the ecological  the Buffalo release this fall at the 36,600-acre preserve on the Kansas Border is but one piece in a mosaic that for some is beginning to resemble the prophesies made by Indian mystics a Century ago. In the ghost dance of the late 1880s, Plains indians spoke of a time the Buffalo would return signalling the collapse of White society and a reclamation of lands taken from the tribes and their Buffalo Brothers. Now the Buffalo Are returning. Their numbers have quadrupled to 135,000 since the 1970s exponential growth is expected to continue As the herds expand for commercial conservation and cultural reasons. And As the Buffalo move onto the land people continue to move off. Montana Nebraska Oklahoma and the Dakotas have Scon populations in More than a Hundred Rural counties drop to half their 1930 Levels. Railroad and bus services have declined. Schools and hospitals have closed. Working farms and ranches have disappeared. There Are those who see a connection. The Buffalo Tell us what is happening and what is Likely to happen in the great Plains said Frank Popper a Rutgers University Urban planner who has been predicting the Plains will revert to a Frontier of Buffalo and open spaces. V. Buffalo Are the Only animals in America that have commercial wildlife and mythic value he said. They Are important because they represent a different use of the  those seeking Buffalo signs can find them up and Down the great Plains a 1,500-mile, 10-state Region stretching from Montana to the rip Grande. The signs Are fuelled by different unrelated sources from ranchers and conservationists to Indian tribes. But whatever their motives each is contributing to the rapid growth of the herds. In Yellowstone National Park a policy of. No intervention has seen the Herd triple to 3,300 Over 20 years and push beyond Park boundaries. There Are plans for herds on Public Park lands and private conservation tracts from Wyoming to Texas. Ranchers Are turning to Buffalo. Naturally adapted to Prairie life Buffalo Are cheaper to raise than cattle their now in fat High in hype meat brings in More Money. The incentives Are such that the american Bison association has grown from 14 members in 1974 to 1,200 today. Buffaloes also Are returning to Indian lands throughout the Plains. Economic and ecological benefits Are cited but there is an emphasis too on their spiritual Impact. When native people see a Herd for the first time the moment is incredible said Donna House a tribal organizer in Santa be . There is a breath a sigh us if they had been waiting for something for a Long time and it s finally  but there also is a considered hesitation As some wonder if it is the time or the Way for the buffaloes return. They worry about the imposition of feedlots and Breeding strategies on an animal that symbolizes the ethos of the american Frontier. We be seen people manipulating Buffalo to behave like cattle and we believe the Buffalo has an intrinsic spirit that won t stand to be treated like that said Mark Heckert director of the inter tribal Bison cooperative a group of 26 tribes raising Buffalo on Indian lands. It has some tribal elders saying we have to ask the Buffalo if they want   it is too Early to Tell if the Buffalo will even come Back. Their total population represents Little More than one Day s cattle Slaughter in this country. The future of the animal and its habitat remains As Crowfoot a Blackfoot Warrior poet once said ethereal As the breath of a Buffalo in the Winter  what s developing is a new West that s similar in some ways to the old West said Robert Pickering head of anthropology at the Denver museum of natural history. It s visionary stuff. It s just not Clear what the vision  the vast grasslands of the great Plains folded and were folded by the partnership of Buffalo and indians that lasted a Hundred centuries before the White Man came. Some 700 varieties of plants formed the great sea of grass that covered 20 percent of the continent. The Buffalo grazed the grasses into a balance of annuals and perennials that provided Home for a Rich diversity of animal life. Buffalo manure provided a Rich compost for Plant and insect species. The tribes had their Impact too setting Prairie fires in is a for x at left Birds hitch a ride on the Back of a Buffalo looking for food in tall grass. Above protected herds have been slowly rebuilding. Ceremonies and warfare that kept Eastern forests from invading the Plains. In turn the Plains shaped the Buffalo. The big animals adapted to a climate that produces the nation s hottest Summers and coldest Winters a landscape with the shortest growing season and a succession of miseries ranging from Hail windstorms and blizzards to drought and locusts the herds prospered in sizes estimated Between 30 million to 50 million animals. But it took Only a generation and the introduction of railroads and Buffalo Hunters to wipe them out. They were replaced by settlers lured to the Region by the free land of the 1862 Homestead act but continuing drought in the 1890s sent Many Farmers packing they were followed by a second wave of migration enticed by even More generous Homestead Laws and Europe s hunger for american wheat during and after world War i. Then came the dust bowl and the depression of the 1930s, and the land emptied again a third Boom bust Cycle ended in the 1980s with the farm crisis and the dramatic plunge in the Energy Industry. The results can be seen in the 1990 census of the great Plains counties in Nebraska 50 out of 52 counties lost population and North Dakota lost people in 38 of 41 counties. Oklahoma had Only one county that did not lose people. The Only growth in Rural counties is among the Indian tribes rising births and a return to the land by tribal members has doubled the Indian population in South Dakota alone since 1960. This resurgence among the native tribes is boosted by the Buffalo s return. Every indigenous people have something to say about Buffalo said de Valandra a Lakota Sioux activist and writer. It s a relationship that goes Back to the  Lakota Sioux narratives Tell of a time when Man and Buffalo were one helping each other in times of crisis. They lived in a balance that made it possible for both groups to As the Lakota say live Well in the natural  today on Many reservations animals Are culled for food and Money. But the Buffalo also bring a return of old ceremonies and sense of tribal identity it is a Way of getting to know our spirituality. It gets the younger generation talking about re establishing their roots said Gerard Baker a Mandan hid Atsa Indian and superintendent of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument who has helped establish herds on Public Parkland and reservations. Controversy surrounds plan to revive by Tom Kenworthy Ashington Post after years of Effort the Federal government has produced a revised plan for recovering the grizzly Bear population in the lower 48 Stales. Not unexpectedly it has come under Strong attack by conservation groups and some Bear scientists As a prescription for eventual extinction. There Are now fewer than 1,000 of the animals in the lower 48 states. Listed As a threatened species in 1975, grizzlies Are found primarily in two Rocky Mountain areas one anchored by Yellowstone National Park and the other by Glacier National Park. Far smaller populations exist in the Northern cascades Region of Washington state the Selkirk Mountain Region of Northwestern Idaho and northeastern Washington and an area straddling Northwestern Montana and the Idaho Panhandle. Grizzly bears now occupy Only about 2 percent of their historic Range and because of their reclusive and wide ranging habits require Large blocks of relatively undisturbed habitat. Human activities such As logging and Road building have put enormous pressures on remaining grizzly populations. The . Fish and wildlife service s recovery plan r which will guide All future Federal action Butl Jnes population criteria for each of the Bear zones. The entire species would not be removed from the list until populations in All the zones have been recovered. It also Calls for recovered populations in two other areas where habitat is deemed suitable the bitterroot mountains of Idaho and the san Juan mountains of Colorado the plan also endorses a five year study of How to construct linkages Between the different Bear habitats a politically volatile Issue in the West because it opens up the possibility of restrictive management of More Public lands and possibly even interspersed private lands. Conservationists applauded the plan for beginning to grapple with the linkage Issue. But they roundly criticized it As a timid Effort that would at Best assure Short term stabilization of Bear populations because it limits the geographic scope of recovery areas and is too optimistic in assuming what population Levels guarantee survival. If they would expand the recovery zones and Speed up introduction of the Bear to Central Idaho and establish an aggressive program for developing corridor areas and apply Road densities that scientists say Are necessary then we would have a recovery. Plan we could live with said Mark sniffer a scientist with the wilderness society. Conservationists say More must be done to save the grizzly Bear. 16 the stars and stripes tuesday january 11, 1994 the stars and stripes 17