Op-Ed: Calling the Bison Our National Mammal Is the Worst Kind of Greenwashing

With President Obama’s signature on the National Bison Legacy Act https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s2032 this week, the iconic species Bison bison, better known as the buffalo, has been declared a "national mammal," joining the bald eagle, the rose, and the oak as quintessential American symbols.

The groups that pushed the legislation-notably the National Bison Association and the Wildlife Conservation Society-bid us to celebrate http://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8895/AMERICAN-ICON-Congress-Passes-Bill-to-Make-Bison-Our-National-Mammal.aspx "the resurgence of bison as an important part of the American environment, diet, and an emerging part of the agricultural economy." We are told by Wildlife Conservation Society bison program coordinator Keith Aune that passage of the bill "signals the beginning of a grand American adventure to carry out ecological, economic and cultural restoration of American bison into the future."

Really? If we like our bison domesticated, held behind fences, and commodified for the dinner plate, then there is much to celebrate: Of the approximately 500,000 buffalo in this country, the majority are privately owned, have been interbred with cattle, and are raised for meat production. These would be more accurately classified as "beefalo." Fewer than 10,000 remain genetically pure, and almost all of these exist within fenced areas that prevent them from doing what bison do best, which is roam. Buffalo ranching is unquestionably doing well in this country, with commercial buffalo grown in all 50 states. But that’s hardly a conservation success story.

Christopher Ketcham is a freelance writer for Harper’s, National Geographic, VICE, and many other publications. He is working on a book about wilderness, ranching, and the American West.

Full Opinion: http://www.outsideonline.com/2078981/why-its-hypocritical-name-bison-our-national-mammal?utm_source=dispatch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=05122016&spMailingID=25466905&spUserID=MjE0MTUzMjczOTY5S0&spJobID=801792261&spReportId=ODAxNzkyMjYxS0