"The bison's territory once stretched from the forests of Alaska to the grasslands of Mexico." Also to the Appalachian Mountains and the forests of New York and Pennsylvania.
5
Am I the only one who remembers Stan Frieberg's iconic comic take on American history........ "What you put our national bird in the oven!!! .....The first Thanksgiving
Broadly speaking, exploitation of animal resources (think cod, beaver, whales, bison) was our economic equivalent of the internet for much of the late 18th-late-19th centuries (before the railroads took over that role), and this included the near annihilation of the bison population in North America. By some estimates, hunters, settlers, soldiers, and fortune seekers destroyed 50 million of these animals and had reduced the population to fewer than 2,000 by the 1880s. The impact on Native American tribes which depended on the herds was devastating, and the growing nation gobbled up the Native lands as it gobbled up everything else. I love that the bison is our new national mammal, but my inner cynic can't help but see it as "elevation" to mascot status, alongside Native Americans (in Cleveland, D.C., and elsewhere). But I don't see the bison organizing any protests.
3
I don't intend to try them out, but for those of you who cannot wait to dig in, be assured that our first national mammals are kosher.
http://www.aaronsgourmet.com/html/glatt_kosher_bison.html
http://www.aaronsgourmet.com/html/glatt_kosher_bison.html
3
We should reconsider the national mammal question after the election. I think the fake groundhog would be the perfect accompaniment to the fake president Trump.
Republican congress men should be included as a national animal, or they will become extinct.
Two enlightened moments in one month:
- Harriet Tubman, honored.
- Bison remembrance elevated. A nice touch for gratitude and conservation.
- Harriet Tubman, honored.
- Bison remembrance elevated. A nice touch for gratitude and conservation.
7
Great, with all the nations problems Obama wastes time on this ludicrous gesture. What about repealing the Patriot Act, a campaign promise he made back when there was Hope. As far as the Act goes it's another politically correct attempt at rewriting history to relieve our national guilt. Can you think of another animal we treated worse than Buffalo. We slaughtered them – for sport. We slaughtered them in order to drive Native Americans to the reservations while we stole their land. We used catchy nationalistic ideas like “Manifest Destiny” and “Go West Young Man” to ameliorate our genocide of both Buffalo and Native Americans. But I will say at least we are consistent – we just fixed our history of slavery by putting a Black on our money and now we fix our history of genocide by making the Buffalo our national mammal. Is there nothing Congress can't fix? Gee, what a great bunch of guys.
1
Phil, in complaining about Obama, you're forgetting how law are made in this country. The President signed the National Bison Legacy Act, which had already been approved by both houses of Congress by unanimous voice vote. So Obama could have ignored the unanimous will of Congress and vetoed this bill or simply signed a the bill into law, which he did. The "ludicrous" gesture, if there was one, was that taken by Congress. In any event, voice votes don't take very long, and neither does signing your name on a document, so not much time could have been wasted.
7
No one made the buffalo our national mammal...pay attention.
1
It must of taken President Obama 5 seconds to sign the paper put on his desk by an aide, making the Bison the official mammal of the USA. Take a few deep breaths and relax.
4
National Mammal? Why can't we just let bisons be bisons?
6
Fenced in on ranches, bison are just meat-on-the-hoof.
We harbor a few thousand in larger parks like Yellowstone, in zoo-like conditions - until they roam beyond Park boundaries to find food at lower elevations as they must during winter. Then many are exterminated as threats by ranchers who graze their cattle on millions of acres of public land. Again, they become meat-on-the-hoof. But, let's not tell Johnnie - that we are almost giving to ranchers the public ecosystems needed to support animals in the wild. The truth would be too upsetting - to the business model of ranchers dependent upon using public land.*
In the wild bison are noble animals that were a key part of the history of our land. They deserve the designation. But let's not kid ourselves. We are not allowing them to be what they once were.
*Ranchers - Don't get on your high horse. Go to a wide open space and stare truth in the face. My grandfather had a good-sized ranch. But he, like some of you, had a bigger herd than the acres he owned could support by paying a pittance to graze his cattle on surrounding public land. Last year BLM charged only $1.69 per AUM (animal unit month) when grazing contracts on private land required payments ten times that per AUM. In 2014 BLM's grazing contracts on 155 million acres of public land only collected $12 million in fees and BLM spent $34 million just dealing with the ranchers to administer the contracts. Ranchers, you may not like it, but that's the truth.
We harbor a few thousand in larger parks like Yellowstone, in zoo-like conditions - until they roam beyond Park boundaries to find food at lower elevations as they must during winter. Then many are exterminated as threats by ranchers who graze their cattle on millions of acres of public land. Again, they become meat-on-the-hoof. But, let's not tell Johnnie - that we are almost giving to ranchers the public ecosystems needed to support animals in the wild. The truth would be too upsetting - to the business model of ranchers dependent upon using public land.*
In the wild bison are noble animals that were a key part of the history of our land. They deserve the designation. But let's not kid ourselves. We are not allowing them to be what they once were.
*Ranchers - Don't get on your high horse. Go to a wide open space and stare truth in the face. My grandfather had a good-sized ranch. But he, like some of you, had a bigger herd than the acres he owned could support by paying a pittance to graze his cattle on surrounding public land. Last year BLM charged only $1.69 per AUM (animal unit month) when grazing contracts on private land required payments ten times that per AUM. In 2014 BLM's grazing contracts on 155 million acres of public land only collected $12 million in fees and BLM spent $34 million just dealing with the ranchers to administer the contracts. Ranchers, you may not like it, but that's the truth.
11
Not to mention that most bison alive today have at least some domestic cattle genes in them, thanks to interbreeding with livestock imported to the New World. So even the all-American bison is no longer really a bison.
3
The City and County of Denver/Denver Parks maintains 2 bison herds, both since 1912.
The herds are given expansive land to roam.
Their genetic makeup has been preserved, in fact, when the herd is thinned, by selling not killing, these fine genetic specimens are sought after all over the country.
Make a trip to Colorado, I-70 exit 254, there are numerous overlooks to learn about and enjoy our herds.
And while you're here spend an afternoon at the Wild Animal Sanctuary - another truly wonderful place for rescued animals who can no longer live in their natural habitat.
The herds are given expansive land to roam.
Their genetic makeup has been preserved, in fact, when the herd is thinned, by selling not killing, these fine genetic specimens are sought after all over the country.
Make a trip to Colorado, I-70 exit 254, there are numerous overlooks to learn about and enjoy our herds.
And while you're here spend an afternoon at the Wild Animal Sanctuary - another truly wonderful place for rescued animals who can no longer live in their natural habitat.
4
Bison once played an important role in the health of plains ecosystems now ravaged by mining, fracking, poisoning for critter control--the list is long. Maybe bison can be studied in school now as iconic species, their former presence a way of maintaining a balance of nature--a balance now looked upon as the enemy of capitalism and resource extraction.
Wolves in Yellowstone have now become courageous enough to hunt them, though bison often end up killing the wolves. This drama provides a dramatic contradiction to our Big Bad Wolf mythology. Check out the importance of wolves to the Yellowstone ecosystem--it's amazing. Too bad wolves aren't allowed to do their important work outside the protection of a national park. Maybe bison will stand a better chance to do so, now.
Wolves in Yellowstone have now become courageous enough to hunt them, though bison often end up killing the wolves. This drama provides a dramatic contradiction to our Big Bad Wolf mythology. Check out the importance of wolves to the Yellowstone ecosystem--it's amazing. Too bad wolves aren't allowed to do their important work outside the protection of a national park. Maybe bison will stand a better chance to do so, now.
3
And so we learn of an issue that both the Legislative and Executive branch agree warrants attention, demands finding common ground, and compels our nation to take decisive action. God help us.
1
"The destruction of the buffaloes, sudden and bloody, like man's awkward way of doing things, is a sad story, but I suppose in some form it was necessary...
The migrating of the herds was quite incompatible with civilization and agriculture, for no fence could stay their march or deflect from their course...
Another reason for their destruction however brought the remnant that was left to its final doom. The Prairie Indians were troublesome; a general massacre would not look well in the newspapers, so the best way to get rid of the Prairie Indian seemed to be to "wipe out" the buffalo on which he lived...
...the sentence of death was pronounced by the American Government in 1879, and carried out in this way. Along the 49th parallel--the Canadian and United States boundary--the Americans stationed a cordon of soldiers, hunters, and Indians, with orders not to let a buffalo pass alive. And there, in that year, in sight of the Rocky Mountains, in the land of the Blackfeet... 32,000 buffaloes were slaughtered in one great hunt, and their bones left to whiten the plain."
--excerpt from AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS, Chapter: "On the Wild Prairie," by William Spotswood Green, 1890, Macmillan & Co. pg. 27, 28.
That is why the bison almost became extinct!
The migrating of the herds was quite incompatible with civilization and agriculture, for no fence could stay their march or deflect from their course...
Another reason for their destruction however brought the remnant that was left to its final doom. The Prairie Indians were troublesome; a general massacre would not look well in the newspapers, so the best way to get rid of the Prairie Indian seemed to be to "wipe out" the buffalo on which he lived...
...the sentence of death was pronounced by the American Government in 1879, and carried out in this way. Along the 49th parallel--the Canadian and United States boundary--the Americans stationed a cordon of soldiers, hunters, and Indians, with orders not to let a buffalo pass alive. And there, in that year, in sight of the Rocky Mountains, in the land of the Blackfeet... 32,000 buffaloes were slaughtered in one great hunt, and their bones left to whiten the plain."
--excerpt from AMONG THE SELKIRK GLACIERS, Chapter: "On the Wild Prairie," by William Spotswood Green, 1890, Macmillan & Co. pg. 27, 28.
That is why the bison almost became extinct!
10
Thank you for this timely history. A reminder of how our "great nation" has often bumbled along through great mistakes at the expense of others.
Thankfully, this generation has attempted to ameliorate some of the mistakes of
the past.
Thankfully, this generation has attempted to ameliorate some of the mistakes of
the past.
6
i like the groundhog too. so cute and so friendly.
1
Let's be 100% American and call 'em buffalo.
5
The American animal's scientific name is Bison Bison (genus and species). The true buffalo is a far distant relation to Our National Mammal.
16
The creatures are majestic, and as they walk by your car, you can feel the immense energy they posses, the raw power.
Watching them walk in a large herd, was one of the best memories I have had.
So glad they received the respect they deserved.
Watching them walk in a large herd, was one of the best memories I have had.
So glad they received the respect they deserved.
29
Broken treaties "helped push Indian cultures into collapse."
8
I bet you didn't know there were once bison in the east. They lived in the woods and were larger and furrier than their western counterparts. I know because an ancestor of mine (Colonel Kelly) reportedly killed the last eastern buffalo in about 1800.
I find this an ironic pick, as the bison (or more precisely their near eradication) is to me a symbol of white greed and myopia. They'll never run in herds of millions as they once did, but perhaps the bison's modest revival and choice as national mammal is a sign that we recognize our faults and are willing to work to change them.
I find this an ironic pick, as the bison (or more precisely their near eradication) is to me a symbol of white greed and myopia. They'll never run in herds of millions as they once did, but perhaps the bison's modest revival and choice as national mammal is a sign that we recognize our faults and are willing to work to change them.
14
Our new national mammal is still being slaughtered outside Yellowstone to make our National Forests safe for cows.
20
What a fitting choice -- and what a perfect icon of America's indigenous wildlife! A hearty thank you to the President and members of Congress!
27
The part of the article about bison massacres is really badly written. The bison massacres were by white hunters and tourists who even hunted them from trains. They took the tongues and hides and left the rest to rot until nearly driven to extinction. Native Americans used every part of the animal to make products. Mass killing of bisons was part of the overall campaigns to move Native Americans from lands desired by European Americans.
They evolved to survive Western winters by finding forage under the snow that starves cows to death. They require nothing from humans to thrive in the wild.
As a food animal today, they are ranched and not hunted in the wild. Owing to their size and ornery dispositions, strong fences are needed and they are not bothered with antibiotics while growing up. In stores the meat is more expensive than beef, but leaner and, IMHO, a little sweeter. Nineteenth-century cross-breeding with cows failed, but polluted the gene pool. This mistake is being gradually reversed.
It is a nascent industry that, while posing no threat to Big Beef, could use some truth in labeling. Some ground bison packages that come to megamarts have water added, while Whole Foods bulk ground bison does not (obvious difference when browning it). Some bison is feedlot-finished, some is grass-fed in total, but information is not available.
Bottom line, the bison is a noble beast and this is a great choice.
They evolved to survive Western winters by finding forage under the snow that starves cows to death. They require nothing from humans to thrive in the wild.
As a food animal today, they are ranched and not hunted in the wild. Owing to their size and ornery dispositions, strong fences are needed and they are not bothered with antibiotics while growing up. In stores the meat is more expensive than beef, but leaner and, IMHO, a little sweeter. Nineteenth-century cross-breeding with cows failed, but polluted the gene pool. This mistake is being gradually reversed.
It is a nascent industry that, while posing no threat to Big Beef, could use some truth in labeling. Some ground bison packages that come to megamarts have water added, while Whole Foods bulk ground bison does not (obvious difference when browning it). Some bison is feedlot-finished, some is grass-fed in total, but information is not available.
Bottom line, the bison is a noble beast and this is a great choice.
36
I wonder if that will affect government organizations that continue to harass and traumatize the buffalo to please ranchers?
16
I doubt this will change the federal government's yearly culling of bison in Yellowstone. Wouldn't it be nice if the national mammal was left to live in peace for once.
13
Since they exterminated their natural predators, the numbers of bison, if left unchecked, would eat through the entire food supply, and the animals would starve. Because we exterminated their predators, not we have to cull their numbers.
4
Bison bipartisanship. And they say Congress can't get anything done.
22
"They were not fast enough, however, to outrun bullets, and their extraordinary size and tendency to travel in herds made them easy targets for hunters during the 19th century. Native American tribes survived on bison by following herds, and massacres of the animals helped push their cultures into collapse."
Native Americans were the ones that hunted the bison to near extinction? OK...
Native Americans were the ones that hunted the bison to near extinction? OK...
2
No. Over hunting by non-natives, habitat loss to ranches and farms, the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and a U. S. Government military strategy that involved destroying the food supply of native peoples in order to "pacify" them and ultimately force them onto reservations all contributed to the near extinction of the American Bison.
25
Native Americans hunted bison with bow and arrow, and sometimes spear. White men gave them guns but that was late in their long history. There were plenty of bison still alive after hundreds of years of being hunted by 'Indians'. It was the white man who killed the bison off for their hides using guns, not the Native Americans.
Pb in DC
Pb in DC
18
Bison are neat, but my votes for squirrels.
5
The founding fathers debated whether the bald eagle or wild turkey would better serve as the national symbol, with Benjamin Franklin rooting for the turkey because the eagle “is a bird of bad moral character.”
That's interesting. I wonder which of the two animals Franklin would feel is appropriate today.
That's interesting. I wonder which of the two animals Franklin would feel is appropriate today.
3
"Wild turkey" is a brand of whiskey, whereas the bald eagle is not associated with any alcoholic liquor. Given the founding fathers' propensity for drinking alcohol while writing the U.S. Constitution I imagine they would have had to favor the wild turkey.
1
It's a m y t h , and I'm sorry to see the NYT repeating it. Franklin's turkey passage is in a personal letter to his daughter, and those tongue-in-cheek words have more to do with his disdain for the Cincinnati than anything touching on national symbols.
2