These great beasts once roamed the continent from Canada to Mexico east to the Atlantic. Now they exist in only a few small pockets.
When I see a wild bison for the first time, I feel a sense of joy, and then melancholy. This contradiction manifests into hope, as numerous groups work to expand bison habitat and improve living conditions throughout the lower 48.
Anyone who’s watched bison can’t help but feel thrilled at their sheer size and power, yet also at their playfulness.
I was lucky to be able to film these brutes a couple days ago in western Montana.
They are majestic!
However I am not aware of any Plains Bison that still exist; I believe they are all gone. Those that we see today are descendants of the Woodland Bison discovered north of present day Fort MacMurry. They are, I am told, 500 too 1000 lbs. smaller than the Plains Bison. We have several people raising them in Western Canada and there may be as many as 100,000 on Bison ranches. I just drove by a ranch with about 150 today.
Dave
http://www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com