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Re: Comments solicited on Yellowstone Bison Slaughter

I appreciate Austin Moseley's comments, introducing balance to the 
Yellowstone bison controversy. Though my leanings are strongly 
environmental / preservationist, I must agree that any plan for the 
bison which antagonizes and severely affects the economic well-being 
the surrounding agriculture / livestock community, with its somewhat 
justified mistrust of us environmentalists, is not the wisest course.

Also, carrying capacity is an awfully fuzzy concept. Very low 
population levels of even large herbivores have few effects on their 
habitats, but larger populations always exert some influence on the 
environment, in terms of structure of the vegetation, the parasite 
communities, the community of competing species, of predators, etc. 
And, these effects vary greatly in relative importance at different 
poulation levels. Also, in the modern world, cultural carrying 
capacity must also be considered. One person's view of bison 
carrying may stipulate certain population levels of plant species and 
of the other large herbivores in the system, while another's may 
simply concerned with the size of the population of bison (and the 
habitat and surrounding people be damned!). Furthermore, we are not 
yet ecologically sophisticated enought to accurately predict the 
effects of population levels which have not in fact been previously 
studied, be they higher or lower. 

I'm a bit leary of anyone's estimate of carrying capacity that 
doesn't account vigorously and in sufficient detail for a wide array 
of effects on the surrounding natural and cultural communities.

James C. Trager
Shaw Arboretum
P.O. Box 38
Gray Summit MO 63039
PH# 314-451-3512
FAX 314-451-5583
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