Wyoming bison rancher weighs in

Dear Editor,

As bison ranchers for 23 years, we would like to comment on the APR’s proposal to tear out their interior fences and let bison graze all year long, apparently without grazing management of any kind. As we suspect you are aware, it is a myth that bison do not overgraze their habitat. They have preferred plants, just like any species, and they will hit the same plants over and over, until those plants are severely damaged or gone.

Let us give you a personal example, when we first started raising bison, we adopted the “free-ranging” ideal. We had a small herd of 200 bison on 11,000 acres of diverse habitat, ranging from creek bottom to pine-covered foothills, about 5,200 feet elevation to around 6,400 feet. We did not supplement with mineral tubs, because we had been told by other “knowledgeable” ranchers that with that amount of ecologically diverse habitat our herd would find the mineral it needed naturally. After about five years of such misguided management, we noted that the Indian paintbrush was almost gone. The bison were hitting all the selenium concentrators, and using them heavily, because they could not find enough selenium in the environment. Once we started adding mineral tubs and using rotational grazing, the problem ceased. The bison were healthier and the plants were definitely healthier.

Even a small herd in vast acreage will overgraze the grasses, brush, and forbs they need or prefer. In fact, one of the ways you can tell a herd has a parasite problem, or is sick, is when you find them remaining stationary in specific areas filled with medicinal plants—plants they use for medicinal purposes. The plants in such situations understandably suffer greatly.

The BLM has always taken grazing management on public lands seriously, please don’t stop now just because the “free-ranging” ideal has swept the country. If we can be of any assistance to you in this matter, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear

Red Canyon Buffalo Ranch

Thermopolis, Wyoming,