Comment from Daut, Carrie
Carrie DautSupportIndividual
Summary: The commenter argues that the Yellowstone Bison is a keystone species facing significant threats from hunting, habitat development, and highway hazards. They advocate for listing the bison under the Endangered Species Act as a necessary tool to ensure the survival of the population and the health of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Yellowstone Bison, as our national mammal, are an incredibly important population to protect. They represent and mean a lot to many constituent groups. As a keystone species, they are critical to the health of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, but wild bison continue to face real and increasing threats that endanger their survival. What worries me most are the continued hunting of bison, the increased human developments that reduce and confuse their habitat areas, and the lack of safe migration corridors (we know that busy highways are a serious threat to bison safety -- as evidenced by the tragedy on Highway 191 earlier this year). The wild Yellowstone Bison population is special (they are the last free-roaming bison wildlife we have), and as such, they require special and intentional protection to ensure their survival -- and therefore their ability to ensure ecosystem stability in the Greater Yellowstone area. It would be an incredible shame to look back at this time and realize we missed the opportunity to protect the Yellowstone Bison and the Yellowstone area as a whole. Adding the Yellowstone Bison to the list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under the ESA is one of the only tools we have to intentionally protect and preserve them. I hope we all do the right thing!