Vol. 3 No. 3 Fall 2009 From Field to Screen The Challenges of Sharing Data DoD’s Wildlife Troops When Bison Come Back Speaking Out For Science Fall 2009 Vol. 3 No. 3 6 Guest Editorial 8 Letters to the Editor 10 Leadership Letter 12 Science in Short 16 State of Wildlife 22 Today’s Wildlife Professionals: John Arnett and Daniel Garcia FeaTure story 24 Don’t Hold That Thought By Divya Abhat roTaTing FeaTureS 24 30 Tools and Technology Credit: New England Aquarium The Data-Sharing Toolbox By Falk Huettmann and Zachary Meyers 33 Ethics in Practice The Ethics of Hunting By Michael P. Nelson and Kelly F. Millenbah 35 Wildlife Imaging Not-So-Candid Cameras By Michael L. Gibeau and Cam McTavish 38 Professional Development It’s Not Just a Job … By Alison Dalsimer et al. 44 Commentary The Abuse of Science By Jonathan Haufleret al. 46 Plans and Practices 38 The Second Recovery of Bison Credit: U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Keith Brown By Kent H. Redford et al. 52 Human-Wildlife Connection Symbol of a People’s Pride By Kristine Reed 56 Education Time to Reupholster the COWCH By Alan Crossley and Lisa Moore LaRoe 58 Plans and Practices Forgotten Funds By Larry Williams 62 Tools and Technology A Search Engine Revs Up By Ron Sepic et al. 66 Commentary 46 Striving for Sustainability By Neil K. Dawe and Geoff Mosley Credit: Steve Zack/ WCS 68 Reviews Finding Clues in Bones and Bile More Online! By J. Jeffrey Root and Antoinette J. Piaggio This publication is available online to TWS members at www.wildlife.org. Through- 71 The Society Pages out the magazine, mouse icons and text TWS news and events printed in blue indicate links to more 76 Gotcha! information available online. Photos submitted by readers © The Wildlife Society www.wildlife.org 5 The Second Recovery of Bison ECOLOGIcaL restOratION OF NORTH AmerIca’S Largest Land mammaL By Kent H. Redford, Ph.D., Keith Aune, and Eva Fearn ll but exterminated by the early 1900s, Over the past century, agriculture and the absence of American bison (Bison bison) have made an free-ranging bison herds have made North Ameri- A extraordinary comeback, now numbering can grasslands a greatly threatened biome. Up to 96 in the hundreds of thousands. Though bison are percent of the tallgrass prairie is gone, and much not an endangered species, “bison-ness”—the of the mixed and short-grass prairies have been ecological function performed by large bison herds converted for agriculture, cattle grazing, industry, or as they graze and interact with the landscape—is an development (Samson et al. 2003). Concerned about Credit: S. B. Redford endangered phenomenon. Restoring that ecological the loss of bison as an ecological driver of the prairie, Kent H. Redford, role is critical for the sustained health not only of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is working Ph.D., is Vice President bison but of North America’s grasslands and the with various stakeholders—state and federal agen- for Conservation species within them. cies, Native American groups, conservationists, and Strategy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. bison producers—to restore the ecological function The continent’s grasslands evolved with bison. of bison and help secure the future role of the species Moving in herds of tens of thousands, these animals on the continent’s remaining grasslands. Coauthor churned and fertilized the soil. Their grazing pat- Affiliations terns influenced the heterogeneity of grasslands, Historic Fall and Rise Keith Aune is Senior maintained habitat for prairie dogs and birds, and, Only a few centuries ago, more than 30 million bison Conservationist with in conjunction with natural fire cycles, served as a thundered over much of North America. Plains bison the Wildlife Conserva- key driver of grassland ecology (reviewed in Knapp (B. b. bison) ranged from northern Mexico to central tion Society’s North America Program. et al. 1999, Sanderson et al. 2007, and Gates et al. in Canada, while wood bison (B. b. athabascae) ranged press). In addition, bison horning behavior con- from boreal forests to the Arctic plain. Through Eva Fearn is As- sistant Director for the trolled tree encroachment by destroying saplings, hunting, disease, encroachment, and industrial- Wildlife Conservation and their wallowing behavior created depressions in scale slaughter, bison had dwindled to fewer than Society Institute. otherwise flat prairies, providing critical habitats for 1,200 animals by the early 1900s (Hornaday 2002 other species. [1889]). The animals were saved from extinction by Bison in a private herd on the Cheyenne River Ranch in South Dakota help to ecologically sustain the grasslands and also provide protein to the marketplace. Credit: Jill Maguire 46 The Wildlife Professional, Fall 2009 © The Wildlife Society the efforts of a handful of ranchers, conservationists, sportsmen, and the American Bison Society (ABS), founded in 1905 as part of the New York Zoologi- cal Society (now WCS). With Theodore Roosevelt as honorary chair, the ABS reintroduced bison to reserves in South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Montana, launching one of the most significant success stories in American conservation. In 1935 ABS members dissolved the society, believing that their mis- sion—the “preservation and increase of American bison”—had been accomplished. Credit: Bill Bates, UDWR To some extent they were right. Today there are nearly 500,000 bison distributed across almost all U.S. states (including Hawaii) and many Canadian provinces. Yet the vast majority of these animals— roughly 95 percent—live in commercial herds, raised primarily for meat (Boyd 2003). Their management is often divorced from their native ecosystems, Historic Move. forcing the species into a gradual process of domes- Early this year the Utah tication. Commercial bison are typically confined by Division of Wildlife fences and subject to artificial selection for behavior Resources (UDWR) (such as docility) and morphology (such as bulk). transferred several wild bison to a new herd on They are not subject to the forces of natural selection Credit: Bill Bates, UDWR public land in the remote such as weather, food scarcity, mate competition, Book Cliffs of eastern and predation by wolves and other carnivores. Utah. The round-up began in Utah’s Henry Mountains, where bison Only about 20,000 plains bison and 10,000 wood bison from a free-ranging live in what are called conservation herds, the 61 public herd were captured, or private herds in North America that are managed blindfolded, and flown principally for conservation (Freese et al. 2007). Yet by helicopter (top) to a staging area (center). less than half of those animals—some 14,500—exercise Held on Utah’s Antelope natural movement patterns (considered free-ranging), Island until cleared of and far fewer experience a full suite of natural selection disease, 31 of the bison forces as they would have in the wild 200 years ago. were then trucked eight hours east for release in Credit: Ron Stewart, UDWR Clearly most of the bison in North America are not in- the Book Cliffs (bottom). tegrated with their native ecosystems. In fact, confined to less than 1 percent of their original range, bison are essentially ecologically extinct. ways with the fullest possible set of native species, and inspiring, sustaining, and connecting human cultures” Birth of the Second Recovery (Redford and Fearn 2007). To help avert ecological extinction, WCS reinaugurated the American Bison Society in 2005. The ABS con- This ambitious goal will require a long-term, sulted with experts from Native American groups, the collaborative commitment among public, private, bison industry, U.S. state and federal agencies, univer- and indigenous partners willing to: sities, NGOs, and experts in Canada and Mexico. They • Maintain sizeable, free-roaming herds that are able then helped draft a vision statement calling for the to contribute to overall ecological recovery. science-based ecological restoration of bison within the • Manage herds for the long-term maintenance of next century. Titled the “Vermejo Statement on Eco- health, genetic diversity, and genetic integrity in part logical Restoration,” it defines ecological restoration as by allowing bison from different genetically uncom- occurring “when multiple large herds [more than 1,000 promised herds to interbreed. animals] of plains and wood bison move freely across • Restore native ecosystems, species, and ecological large landscapes within all major habitats of their interactions by restoring the natural behavior and historic range, interacting in ecologically significant scale of bison. © The Wildlife Society www.wildlife.org 47 • Provide incentives such as habitat conservation with domestic cattle well into the 1900s. Many of grants to help offset costs that may accrue to bison the 61 conservation herds in North America are producers, managers, and other stakeholders contaminated with cattle genes (or have not been working toward ecological restoration. adequately assessed due to limitations of testing • Create education and outreach programs to inform technology). Eleven of the 13 federally man- the public and policymakers about the value of aged herds show evidence of past hybridization ecological restoration. with cattle (Halbert and Derr 2006). In addition, • Share data and techniques about managing for smaller bison herds (fewer than 1,000 animals) ecological restoration. have limited long term genetic viability (Gross and • Work across international borders to coordinate Wang 2005). Only eight conservation herds (five of bison restoration efforts among Canada, the U.S., plains bison and three of wood bison) exceed 1,000 and Mexico. animals, a concern for the future of the species (Gates et al. in press). Hurdles to Recovery Achieving the vision of ecological restoration will Regulations and logistics pose their own unique require overcoming several major obstacles. First hurdles to recovery. Bison live in increasingly among them is the threat of diseases transmissible fragmented herds and habitats, crisscrossed by hu- from bison to cattle and other animals, particu- man development and different jurisdictional lines.