The Return of the North American Bison: Restoring a Cultural Icon

 The Return of the North American Bison: Restoring a Cultural Icon

Colin Glover

" They were so numerous they frequently stopped boats in the rivers, threatened to overwhelm travelers on the plains, and in later years derailed locomotives and cars, until railway engineers learned by experience the wisdom of stopping their trains whenever there were buffaloes crossing the track…."

While hunting North American Bison (Bison bison) was a feature in the computer game,
"Oregon Trail", herds of them derailing trains weren't one of the dangerous encounters that could hinder your journey.  But according to William T. Hornaday, a conservationist and zoologist in the early 1900's, these sort of obstacles were all too common.  He also writes on the origin of the plains of bison,"The Indians of some tribes believed that the buffaloes issued from the earth continually, and that the supply was necessarily inexhaustible." (VI)

But the next line of his "The Extermination of the North American Bison", written in 1889, is a little haunting. 

"And yet, in four short years the southern herd was almost totally annihilated…."

A Mound of Bison Skulls

Over hunting was the killer of the expansive herds that roamed the plains, meadows, mountains and woodlands, as frontier men and women expanded west.  Now, free roaming, wild bison inhabit around 1.2% of their original range, and their numbers, while stable, are maintained solely due to conservation efforts.  These 1000+ pound beasts that once ruled over this land, are now dependent on human management, who put them in this dire circumstance just over 200 years ago(I)(IV).

And not only were the bison population and range decimated, but a way of life of other groups seemed to being going down with them.  For many Native American tribes, bison served an important economic and cultural role.  Their meat, hides, sinew, bones and more were used to feed, clothe and house the members of many tribes like the Assiniboine and Sioux.  Horns and hides were also used for ceremonial garbs and artifacts(II)(III)(V)(VI). Now, many Native American tribes and reservations are stepping up to conserve and restore the bison population.

Today, with only 4 viable wild, free and semi-free roaming herds (which have greater than 1000 individuals) and an estimated total of around 12,000 individuals in these wild herds, this cultural icon is always at risk without management in such a fragmented landscape(I)(III). All of these herds inhabit Yellowstone National Park and are especially important as they serve as a source population for pure-bred, wild bison, which means that they do not contain the 1-2% of cattle DNA that most domestic bison have. Bison that wander outside of the Yellowstone are commonly targets of culling by farmers who fear transmission of the disease,   brucellosis, to their domestic cattle(V).  Reintroducing pure-bred bison to tribal lands, and eventually public land, offers economic benefits to the peoples that live on the reservations, and provide an insurance to extinction if something were to happen to the population in Yellowstone(III). 

There are multiple treaties and partnerships in which conservation organizations like the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Native American tribes, and reservations cooperate to help the bison population for decades(I). In 1997, the NWF and 40 Native American tribes of the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) pledged to host bison from Yellowstone(V).  Again in 2012, The NWF  partnered with the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck reservations to adopt American Bison from Yellowstone as well. The head of this program at Fort Belknap, Mike Fox, hopes to reach a population of 1,000 or more in the long term(III). The Northern Tribes Buffalo Treaty afforded 6.3 million acres of tribal land to be used for translocation(II).  

This animal that made such an important contribution to the cultures of Native Americans and to the expanding frontiersmen came very close to extinction.But now this management dependent species can rely on the people that once depended on them for their livelihood. 

Citations:

 I) Aune, K., Jørgensen, D. & Gates, C. 2017. Bison bison. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T2815A45156541. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T2815A45156541.en. Downloaded on 01 May 2018.

II) Hofberg, Mark. “Tribes and First Nations Sign ‘Buffalo Treaty.’” THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY, 19 Oct. 2014, wildlife.org/tribes-and-first-nations-sign-buffalo-treaty/.

III) Nwf and Tribes Seek to Establish Genetically Pure Bison Herds." National Wildlife (World Edition), vol. 50, no. 1, Dec2011/Jan2012, p. 23. 

IV) Shackleton, David M., and Alton S. Harestad. "Bovids I: Kudus, Buffaloes, and Bison (Bovinae)." Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, edited by Michael Hutchins, et al., 2nd ed., vol. 16: Mammals V, Gale, 2004, pp. 11-25. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3406700962/GVRL?u=uno_eklong&sid=GVRL&xid=ce803467. Accessed 2 May 2018.

V) Van Putten, Mark. "Restoring an Important Part of America's Heritage." National Wildlife (World Edition), vol. 35, no. 3, Apr/May97, p. 19. 

VI) Watt, Donald A. "THE MIDDLE YEARS: William T. Hornady: The Extermination of the American Bison." ["Defining Documents: Environment & Conservation (1791-2015)"]. Defining Documents: Environment & Conservation (1791-2015), 4/1/2016, pp. 57-60. 

Not Factoring in, Environmental Destruction with Good Intentions

Not Factoring in, Environmental Destruction with Good Intentions

by Phu Ho 

The Aral Sea (left) taken in 1989 and (right) taken in 2014

  There is an old saying that “water is life”, so it would be logical that the amount of water and the quality of water correlate with the quantity of life and the quality of life.  Throughout human history, people always use sources of water to build a better life for themselves.  People have always built water-related projects for the betterment of society.  In recent history, water-related projects are built by three groups of people: the science people, the engineers, and the politicians.  The science people like geologists, chemists, and ecologists would study the surrounding area where the water-related project would take place and give data, prediction, and feedback on how the projects affect the area.  The engineers would design the structure, such as a dam.  And the politicians approve the projects and give permission to start the projects.  Sounds easy right? What could possibly go wrong?  There are cases in modern history that water-related projects caused environmental disasters due to an over looked or disregarded factor.

In the 1950’s, the Aral Sea was one of the four largest lakes in the world.  Located in Central Asia, between Southern Kazakhslan and Northern Uzbekistan; the Aral Sea covered over 26,000 square miles.  During this time, the Soviet Union decided to dam off the Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya River to divert water that was feeding the Aral Sea to crop fields, mainly cotton.  Many miles of canals where dug to guide the divert water to the crop fields.  Due to an engineer flaw, a cascade of environmental and ecological disasters followed. 

The engineering design flaw was that the canals that guide the water to the fields were not waterproof, thus up to 75% of the water was wasted by getting absorbed into the ground and never made it to fields.  However, the crop production was successful.  If the canals were waterproof, the water diversion project would have only needed 25% of the water feeding the Aral Sea.  So, due to the engineering flaw and mishandling of water; the Aral Sea was depraved of water.  This lead to a salinity level increase in the sea water and loss of most of the sea from evaporation.  Prior to the 1960’s, the Aral Sea region was home to about 24 fish species, 200 invertebrates, and 180 land animals.  There were fishing boats in the sea and a thriving community by the sea.  Now, all the native fish are dead, about 30 invertebrate species, and a few dozen land animals species survived.  The Aral Sea is a now mostly a salty desert with remains of ships scattering about.

Without water, the sea began to desiccate.  The Aral Sea turned into a desert.  The soil in the area of the sea had so much salt that the land could not support plant life.  The desiccation of the Aral Sea created dust storms and salt storms in the region.  And with little water remained, a study showed that from 1960 to 2000, the average temperature in the region increased on average of 2°C to 6°C during the summer.  The dust storms and salt storms coated mountain glaciers, causing a decrease in an overall of ice built up, which also contributed to temperature changes.  In addition, the United Nations reported salt storms have damaged 46% of Uzbekistan’s irrigated land.  The people of this nation have to depend on their neighbor country, Kygyzstan for fresh water.  All the disasters could of been avoided. There was enough water for both the crop fields and the Aral Sea, if only the engineers waterproofed the canals.

Fast forward to 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used heavy machinery to make a safe way into the old mine in Colorado. They wanted to access the contaminated water, so they could investigate and treat the water to make it less metal polluted.  Ironically, through carelessness or by incompetence, the plug holding in the polluted mine water was released.  They failed to factor in a safety rule when working around such a plug.  That caused the spill of 3 million gallons of metal polluted water into the Colorado River and the San Juan River, turning them pale yellow.  The EPA tested the water and the results came back with a higher level of lead and arsenic. This is another environmental disaster with good intentions.

There is a river diversion project called the Mid-Barateria Mississippi River Diversion Project in the works for the future of Louisiana’s wetlands.  Its goal is to feed the Barateria Basin with sediment to help restore Louisiana’s wetlands.  The basin was disconnected from the river since the 1930's by levees. This time people not factoring in that the Mississippi River is full of pollutants could cause a cascade of environmental and ecological disasters. These pollutants such as arsenic, bezene, phosphorous, uranium, fertilizer, and other chemicals could cause unknown harmful effects upon the wetlands' plants and animals.  The Barataria Basin makes up 72% of Louisiana freshwater commercial fishing industry.  If the chemicals make the fish, crabs, shrimps, and oysters toxic, many people who eat them could become sick, restaurants that serve the seafood would go out of business, and the fishermen, crabbers, shrimpers, and oystermen would lose their livelihoods. The EPA and state governments should at least clean up the Mississippi River first before releasing the  Mississippi River water into the Barateria Basin to prevent an array of environmental disasters and public illnesses.  People should look at a problem from all possible angles, from scientific study to engineering study.  Politicians should  give consideration to all the studies in regards to water projects, not just the ones that fit their agendas. Edmund Burke, a British statesman and philosopher once said, "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."  It seems that people never learn.

 Work Cited

Lydia Ramsey. “The EPA accidentally ripped a hole in a toxic mine in Colorado — it ruined a river and people are furious.” Business Insider Magazine. August 11, 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/epa-caused-colorado-river-disaster-2015-8  Accessed 29 Apr. 2018

The Aral Sea Crisis. Columbia University.  http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm . Accessed 29 Apr. 2018

John R. Garbarino et al. "Heavy Metals in the Mississippi River." Contaminants in the Mississippi River U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 1995. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1995/circ1133/heavy-metals.html . Accessed 30 Apr. 2018

 

Caffey, Rex and Janis Breaux. “Portrait of an Estuary: Functions and Values of the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary System.” Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, http://www.lsuagcenter.com/~/media/system/5/6/3/5/5635979f07fb448d940949504037497a/pub2802estuary2.pdf Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.

“Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast.” Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Office of the Governor: Coastal Activities, 2 June 2017, coastal.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-Coastal-Master-Plan_Web-Book_CFinl-with-Effective-Date-06092017.pdf . Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.

  

Shehu Usman Inuwa

Avian Invasion

The phenomenal European starling, Sturnus vulgaris, has caught the eye of bird lover’s delight. Who wouldn`t admire the vibrant burst of iridescent green and purple coloration on such an eye catching bird? The European starling has got itself in quite the pickle, in order to have been nominated as one of “100s World`s Worst” invaders (Linz et al.). An initial release of 100 starlings into Central Park, New York City in 1890 has their entire North American population over 200 million individuals (Cabe). Much if this success is due to the starling’s hardiness from long migrating patterns and rapid reproduction.

According to the International Symposium, along with the USDA and Federal Wildlife Services, European starlings are native to Europe, northern Africa, and southwest Asia. Due to introductions they are currently found in North and South America, Australia, and parts of Africa. European starlings remain the second most populous bird in North America, only outcompeted in numbers by the red-winged blackbird.

According to the USDA, European starlings are not protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. European starlings compete with native bird species for nesting sites, therefore it is not listed under Depredation Order (50 CFR 21.43) issued by the FWS. This entitles that the birds nest may be removed, without a permit. The European is not to be confused with other native birds, as males and females are hard to distinguish amongst their own species. The European starling exhibits little sexual dimorphism, as one of the only traits to distinguish males and females is their bill color (Linz et al.). The starling`s bill color transitions from bright yellow to blue-gray for males and pink for females, during the March-July breeding season. Starlings may produce up to 6 eggs in a clutch, but they have the potential to lay up to 2 clutches per year. Availability of nest sights and extremely hot or cold temperatures may reduce the number of fledglings.

A starling`s natural diet consist of plant and invertebrates, but become pest when they root in large aggregations. The starlings remain a constant nuisance for farmers and ranchers alike, as they contaminate feeding and watering troughs, along with damaging crops (USDA). Starlings may carry a wide variety of diseases, ranging from salmonella to E.coli. In the US cattle industry alone, E.coli treatment ranges up to $267 million annually, due to starlings. Starlings also cost American farmers $800 million annually by damaging crops. Netting, repellants, and scaring devices are common practices implemented by farmers to protect against the starlings (USDA). More conclusive test must performed to under the European starling`s success, and as means to control their population (Linz et al.). But remember, “Don’t feed the birds”.

References:

1.) Assistance to Dairy Farms and Facilities, 2010, Maryland. United States Department of                Agriculture.https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/wildlife_damage/content/printable_            version/faq_dairy_farms.pdf

2.) Cabe, P. R. (1993). European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), version 2.0. In The Birds of North              America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.48

3.) Linz, George M.; Homan, H. Jeffrey; Gaulker, Shannon M.; Penry, Linda B.; and Bleier,                William J., "EUROPEAN STARLINGS: A REVIEW OF AN INVASIVE SPECIES                    WITH FAR-REACHING IMPACTS" (2007).Managing Vertebrate Invasive Species. 24.             http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nwrcinvasive/24

Humans: An Invasive Species

Humans: An Invasive Species

by Kelly R Estilette

"You are your own worst enemy" Proverbs 29:24

An "invasive species" is defined as a species that is: 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. Invasive species can be plants, animals, and other organisms (NISIC-What Is An Invasive Species, 2016). I have spent years studying science, often learning details of the damage done to various parts of our world by invasive species and the different ways to combat them. My studies have culminated in my realization that the cardinal invasive species, is us. Here I dissect the definition of invasive species with regard to human activity.

Non-native or alien to the ecosystem under consideration is the first determination of an invasive species. What ecosystem is “native” to humans? Current genetic evidence implies original dispersal of humans from a single Siberian population toward the Bering Land Bridge no earlier than about 30,000 years ago (and possibly after 22,000 years ago), then migration from Beringia to the Americas sometime after 16,500 years ago (The Late Pleistocene Dispersal of Modern Humans in the Americas, 2008). Fast-forward to now, 43% of earth's land surface is covered by humans (Map of Human Migration, 2005). Based on this information, most of Earth’s surface is now covered with humans that arrived there as aliens to the ecosystem.

Economic harm due to the species introduction into an ecosystem is the next characteristic of an invasive species examined. In the case of humans, the economic impact of global warming is costing the world more than $1.2 trillion a year, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP. By 2030, the researchers estimate, the cost of climate change and air pollution combined will rise to 3.2% of global GDP, with the world's least developed countries forecast to bear the brunt, suffering losses of up to 11% of their GDP (Climate change is already damaging global economy, report finds, 2012).

The next requirement of an invasive species is the likelihood of causing environmental harm. Research shows that humans’ simple, physical presence in a habitat is more damaging than one of the twentieth century’s worst environmental catastrophes, Chernobyl (Do Humans Cause More Environmental Damage than a Nuclear Disaster? 2015). The primary causes behind declining global biodiversity include habitat loss and fragmentation as a result of human activity. Even some of our most well-meaning environmental efforts, such as the fight against climate change, have led to the expansion of the human presence into previously untouched wilderness. Demand for biofuels, for example, has been linked to deforestation. A further atrocity at the hands of humans are the intentional acts of environmental destruction such as nuclear weapons tests and chemical weapons usage (such as agent orange use in Vietnam) as these tests/uses are intentionally meant to cause widespread devastation and have severe environmental impacts. A rupture from a defective dam containing gold and copper mining “tailings” sent tons of heavy metal wastes and around 120,000 cubic meters of water saturated with cyanide into the Somes, Tisza and Danube rivers. Massive loss of aquatic life was documented, especially in neighboring Hungary and Serbia, Test of river water and sediments after the accident, found cyanide levels between 300 and 700 times above pollution standards. Copper and zinc concentrations also exceeded by many times “safe” pollution thresholds. Exposed metal ore tailings, when dry, can produce toxic dust. To reduce this problem, and to extract any remaining gold, the process of gold cyanidation is employed, which uses cyanide to extract any gold traces from mineral ores. The by-product of this controversial process is vast quantities of cyanide-laced water and heavy metal waste.  Cyanide is a highly lethal chemical. There are thousands of mining waste dumps (many without dam containment) scattered all over the world, most situated near streams, rivers and large bodies of water (PlanetSave, 2010). The list of examples is unending, in fact, according to a recent analysis by Trucost, the estimated cost of environmental damage caused by human activity reached $6.6 trillion in 2008, or 11 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Humans Caused $6.6 Trillion in Environmental Damage in 2008, 2010).  

Human health, our fellow species health and environmental health are undeniably bound together. It is our responsibility as the cardinal invasive species of this world to utilize our higher order thinking and processing power to learn from our surroundings, respect our environment and cease the madness.

Works Cited

Center, National Invasive Species Information. “About NISIC - What Is an Invasive Species?” National Invasive Species Information Center, 24 May 2016, www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/whatis.shtml.

Genographic Project. “Map of Human Migration.” Genographic Project, 2005, genographic.nationalgeographic.com/human-journey/.

Harvey, Fiona. “Climate Change Is Already Damaging Global Economy, Report Finds.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 Sept. 2012, www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/26/climate-change-damaging-global-economy.

Kropp, Robert. “Humans Caused $6.6 Trillion in Environmental Damage in 2008.” GreenBiz, GreenBiz Group Inc., 5 Oct. 2010, www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/10/05/humans-caused-66-trillion-environmental-damage-2008.

Smith, Jim T. “Do Humans Cause More Environmental Damage than a Nuclear Disaster?” World Economic Forum, 22 Dec. 2015, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/do-humans-cause-more-environmental-damage-than-a-nuclear-disaster/.

“Top 13 Human-Caused Environmental Horrors.” PlanetSave, 24 Oct. 2010, planetsave.com/2010/10/24/top-13-human-cause-environmental-horrors/.

The Late Pleistocene Dispersal Of Modern Humans In The Americas

By Ted Goebel, Michael R. Waters, Dennis H. O'rourke

Science14 Mar 2008: 1497-1502

Clean Drinking Water (Or a Lack Thereof) By: Sydney Truxillo

Charity Water, Miya, and Waterislife are among the multitude of charity-based organizations that provide clean drinking water to underprivileged and neglected communities across the globe. Their generosity crosses continents, spanning from South America to Africa, with a mission to end the water crisis on a global scale. For the most part, these groups have been successful in their goal. Charity Water has aided in installing wells, rainwater catchments, gravity fed systems, and piped systems, amongst other means, into over 20 developing countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. All the meanwhile, four years since the matter was brought into fruition, Flint, Michigan is still without clean drinking water. While efforts to provide clean drinking water to undeveloped countries persist, countless communities in America go without it due to a mixture of neglect, a lack of proper funding, and poor infrastructure.

      

The problem in Flint began in 2014 when Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron to Flint River—which, as we now know, is highly corrosive. After the switch, residents noticed a change in the appearance and taste of their water. In some cases, residents didn’t have to taste a change to notice that something was wrong, judging by the dusty color the water began to take on. In 2015, the EPA found toxic levels of lead. Upon this, residents began using bottled and boiled water to cook, clean, bathe, and drink. Unfortunately, as of this April, Governor Rick Snyder announced the end of the bottled water program, in which the government supplied rations of clean bottled water to residents, having cited that the crisis was over. However, the city’s lead pipes have yet to be replaced.

            

 Drinking lead water has an abundance of harmful effects. Most damningly, no safe level of lead in children has been identified. Lead poisoning in children has been said to result in a loss of IQ, impairment of language, poor motor skills, and memory problems. In adults, it is said to result is suppressed immunity, which leads to an increase in in reports of colds and influenzas. Lastly, lead poisoning in adults can result in and increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular, and cancer.  

 When it comes to unsafe drinking water, a vast amount of communities around America are affected—predominantly rural communities. If it isn’t lead polluting the water, its typically industrial dumping, farming pollution, or the deterioration of distribution pipes negatively affecting the water supply. According to USA Today, as many as 63 million Americans are affected—nearly one fifth of the entirety of the United States. In some cases, and with proper care, it many only take as little as two years to fix localized issues. However, these communities often cannot afford the necessary equipment required. Without it, people living within these towns may be exposed to arsenic, chemical runoff from factories, and even fecal matter due to nearby farming.

            

With the problem identified, the next step is looking for a solution, whether it be funding, political action, etc. Nearly every citizen will agree without question that water is a basic human right. Yet, humans within hours distance from us may be living without access to clean drinking water. Needless to say, it is time for a change. 

Works Cited:

 

Brown, Mary Jean, and Stephen Margolis. “Lead in Drinking Water and Human Blood Lead Levels in the United States.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Aug. 2012, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6104a1.htm.

Derrington, Erin. “Drinking Water in the United States: Are We Planning For a Sustainable Future?” Consilience, no. 6, 2011, pp. 63–90. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26167817.

Gleick, Peter H. “Water in Crisis: Paths to Sustainable Water Use.” Ecological Applications, vol. 8, no. 3, 1998, pp. 571–579. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2641249.

Philip, Agnel, et al. “63 Million Americans Exposed to Unsafe Drinking Water.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Aug. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/14/63-million-americans-exposed-unsafe-drinking-water/564278001/.

Zietz, Björn P., et al. “Lead in Drinking Water as a Public Health Challenge.” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 118, no. 4, 2010, pp. A154–A155. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25653820.