Native American lawmakers in Montana are requesting the Biden government to craft a strategy to reintroduce wild bison to regions in and around Glacier National Park and the Charles M
The petition had been made by eight members of this Legislature’s American Indian Caucus at a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. It comes after Gov. Greg Gianforte and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature have sought to make it more challenging to reintroduce bison into regions of the state the burly creatures once roamed.
Bison have powerful cultural importance for Plains Indians and have been relied upon by several tribes for meals , clothes and other essentials until the enormous herds that inhabited the U.S. West were phased from the late 1800s.
State Rep. Tyson Running Wolf stated the American Caucus members determined the government of President Joe Biden are more prepared to help bring back bison compared to Gianforte, who last week canceled a bison reintroduction plan adopted by his predecessor.
“Americans tribes in Montana have a deep-rooted relation to the buffalo, from trade to faith to cultural values”
However, ranchers in Montana have opposed efforts to revive the big critters, fearing they might compete with livestock for people grazing area and spread the disease brucellosis. That is an infectious disease carried by Yellowstone National Park bison which may cause animals to abort their young.
Haaland’s office didn’t have a direct reaction to Tuesday’s letter. Last year her predecessor, David Bernhardt, declared a 10-year initiative to progress bison restoration attempts that had languished for many years in the national level.
The Blackfeet tribe has its own herd and wishes to expand onto adjoining federal lands such as in Glacier National Park and the Rocky Mountain Front. However, it’s faced backlash in the regional agricultural community within its aspirations to set up a bigger place for bison to roam.
As many as 30 million to 60 million bison once occupied most of North America, based on national wildlife officials.
Yellowstone National Park is home to one of the largest remnant populations of these critters, and park administrators are trying for a long time to expand a program to ship parts of these bison herds to tribes. Countless bison yearly that leave the park are taken by hunters or sent to slaughter due to concerns about brucellosis.
Thousands and thousands of bison which were interbred with cattle are raised on private ranches in the U.S. and Canada because of their own meat.