Bison might roam

This is it, the last wild herd.

Tentative bison deal would allow some animals to roam

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - For the first time in more than a decade, bison would be allowed to freely migrate outside Yellowstone National Park, under a tentative deal between Montana wildlife officials and the Church Universal and Triumphant.

The long-anticipated deal still lacks a crucial element, a pricetag.

It would let bison move through the church-owned Royal Teton Ranch during winter, to reach about two-thousand acres of Gallatin National Forest land.

...Under terms of the deal, a small number of the animals would be allowed to range well outside the park's northern boundary in areas free of cattle. Initially, 25 bison that test negative for brucellosis would be allowed passage. In coming years, that could grow to 100 bison if the program proves successful.

Bison that wander outside Yellowstone's northern boundary in excess of those numbers would still be subject to slaughter...

Since 1998, the federal government has paid $13 million for conservation easements on the ranch, but has never resolved the issue of grazing rights.

The issue is considered key to preventing contact between livestock and bison, which can carry the disease brucellosis. If the disease spreads to livestock, it can cause pregnant cows to abort their calves and have financial consequences for the cattle industry.

In recent years, bison coming out of the park have been routinely rounded up and sent to slaughter to prevent the disease's spread (and many say the disease has never been passed from bison to cow in the wild). That has prompted outrage from members of Congress and environmental groups who want more protection for the nation's largest herd of wild bison, also known as buffalo.

craving less meat?

I eat a high-protein diet, usually consuming 20 - 30g a meal if I can. This means I eat a lot of meat, and during competition diet, I eat a ridiculous amount of meat. Since I want out of The Meatrix, and freerange, micro-farmed animals raised and killed responsibly are as lean in the market as they are in their nutritional profiles (I mean give me grass-fed buffalo, and wild game all day, everyday, and no complaints here, but I'm not rich yet.), I've been looking into incorporating some non-meat alternatives into my lifestyle. Besides, preparing all this meat is a real pain. I've no intention of going back to vegetarianism, but it sure would be nice to lighten up on the flesh-eating a bit.

Here's a round-up of what I've found. Comments welcome, especially recipe resource recommendations.

David Ogilvie at Vegetarian Network Victoria (Australia) has an informative page with good links. This bit I find useful:

"The best plant source of protein is legumes, including lentils, kidney beans, chick peas, split peas, lima beans, mung beans, baked beans etc., and soy products such as tempeh. The highest source per 100 grams is cooked soy beans, with 13.5 grams of protein.

"What I often do is buy a large range of dried legumes from the local health food shop. (Eating a variety of legumes at the one time maximizes the range of amino acids consumed.) I mix them all together and soak 2-3 cups of the mixture overnight. I then boil them up that evening. When cooked I drain them and use some straight away in the meal I am preparing that night, and I keep the rest in the fridge for the following few days. The cooked legumes can be added to many dishes, e.g. soups, casseroles etc. to enhance the protein content, or even put at the side of meals (I guess a bit like the meat in 'meat and 3 veg'!). I love them just on their own, warmed up and simply served with some tamari and flax seed oil poured over the top. (This is really nice, and the flax is a good source of omega 3 essential fatty acids!)"

Steve Holt has a site about himself, a vegetarian bodybuilder (He considers himself the veg. bb). Mostly I liked his pre-comp menu.

Here are straightforward tables, lists from vegetarian society of UK

And into the netherworld of veganism, from the Vegan Resource Group comes a quickie on protein staples: "Vegan sources include: potatoes, whole wheat bread, rice, broccoli, spinach, almonds, peas, chickpeas, peanut butter, tofu, soy milk, lentils, kale..."

The wilderness of Bodybuilding.com has some articles, but I haven't found anything substantial in the list of hyperlinks yet.

James Collier at muscletalk UK offers:

"I feel that isolated soya protein is an absolute must for the vegan bodybuilder. Other great protein sources which vegetarians and vegans can enjoy are mixed beans, baked beans, hummus, tofu, quorn, textured vegetable protein (TVP), soya, coconut, oat and rice milk, and many more. Often these products do have a reasonable carbohydrate content too, useful for gaining weight, and are low in fat."

There are also menus on that page, but they mostly rely on commercial protein powder drinks.

The only books I found specific enough to be of interest were
Carl Lewis presents Very Vegetarian by Jannequin Bennett -- a vegan
book with recipes. Lewis tried going vegan while in his athletic prime and liked it.

Muscle Menus Vegetarian by MuscleTalk Moderators Nicole Bremner (Nikki) and James Collier. One can download this e-book with its 130 recipes for $25, which I find wildly expensive for any e-book, let alone a relatively thin recipe book.

Buffalo for the Broken Heart

Simply unforgettable. Moving to the core. If you're a thoughtful person who connects with the land, this is a book that will stay with you forever. Warning: it may put you off eating cows forever.



From Publishers Weekly

Veteran writer, rancher and environmentalist O'Brien (The Rites of Autumn) deftly chronicles his decision to restore buffalo to his 1,000-plus-acre South Dakota ranch for the first time in more than a century. Some 20 years before this life-changing decision, O'Brien was drawn by visions of "grass swaying in the wind to infinity and a sky that takes up half the world" to purchase the Broken Heart ranch. Despite his passion for the Great Plains and "the wild things that share the place," most of the intervening years were devoted to making a going concern of his cattle operation. Then, in January 1998, a recently divorced O'Brien sold his cows and purchased 13 buffalo "runts" from a neighbor. From this initial "crew of ragamuffins" he eventually built a herd of 100, assuming considerable financial risk to acquire the animals and construct eight miles of five-foot-high, barbed wire buffalo fence around his property. O'Brien reflects on how the symbiotic relationship between the animals and the prairie helped return his land to health. In contrast, he documents the difficulties of raising cattle, "sort of ungulate tourist[s]" ill-suited to the harsh plains landscape. Relying on his natural storytelling ability and a gift for character development, O'Brien interweaves his own experiences with a history of the region and engaging portraits of his neighbors. The result is a moving story of one man's love for a place and his desire to "make the land whole again."

Wild bison battle reaches Congress

In the last century, mostly Western European men eradicated this country's dominant herbivore and replaced it with a nutritionally inferior African herbivore ill-suited to this land and climate - the cow. Its proliferation continues to degrade and destroy the fragile ecosystems that evolved with the bison for millions of years.

There is a movement to restore bison to the Great Plains and help it thrive around the country. It rolls like quiet thunder. This week, there was a clap on the Hill.

The hazing and slaughter of the country's meager, last surviving wild herd of buffalo were a hot topic in Washington, DC this week. On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held an oversight hearing on Yellowstone National Park Bison management plan.

From Environmental News Service, J.R. Pegg - The fate of the Yellowstone bison herd took center stage at a House committee hearing on Tuesday, with emotions running high over a controversial management plan that allows federal and state officials to kill bison in order to protect cattle from the disease brucellosis.

[my two cents -- That's the claim at the crux of the bison war, but it doesn't hold up. There has never been a recorded base of such infection in the wild. Brucellosis can only be transmitted by calving females; it happened just once, in captivity. The real issue is money and natural resources, of course: the cattle industry's manifest destiny over our country's grasslands.]

House Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall said the plan allows the needless slaugter of "an American icon."

"The slaughter of bison is not required in order to manage the threat of disease. Slaughter is not management," Rahall said. "It is an approach from a bygone era and has no place in a time of rapid scientific and economic progress."

From the Buffalo Field Campaign - (The room held an) all-star cast of the many players involved in the buffalo's current story, including villains, heroes and the ... fence-sitters. Sadly, the Native American voice was again left out. Congressional champions are calling much-needed attention to the mismanagement of Yellowstone bison, while the cattle interests keep showing their greed for grass and ignorance of the meaning and importance of wildness.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on their undergoing investigation of the Interagency Bison Management Plan and the land deal with the Church Universal & Triumphant (CUT). CUT, cited on this cult investigation site, is the largest cattle producer in the bison's way, and it owns less than 300 cows! So long as cattle graze these lands, said GAO, no bison will be able to access even the wildlife conservation easement lands within their critical winter range.

The Humane Society of the U.S. testified that the United States hosts 100 million cattle. In their height of glory, wild bison numbered 30-40 million, most experts agree.

Photos from ENS

All-American Fall Equinox chowdown

Here's to the passing of another beautiful summer. I'm celebrating the equinox with my own delicious buffalo chili and apple crisp, kicking back with a Jon Krakauer book and Bob Dylan's new album Modern Times. Here's to a great fall.


Buffalo Chili

• 2 pounds ground buffalo
• 2 cans organic chili beans (pinto)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 small cans tomato sauce
• 1 onion
• cumin
• sage
• chili powder
• dash of black pepper
• spoonful of salt
• spoonful of sugar

Combine all canned ingredients in large pot over medium heat. Add spices. Brown meat and onions in skillet with sage, over medium high burner. When meat just barely begins to brown, stir into pot. Taste; add spice until perfect. If you taste too much tomato, add more sugar or salt. Turn to low and simmer until ready.


Apple Crisp
(For best results, double the topping.)

• 3 pounds tart organic apples
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Peel, core and chop apples, toss in a bowl with lemon juice to prevent darkening. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir into apples. Set aside.

In another bowl combine flour, sugar and oats.

Cut butter into 8 pieces, and cut butter into flour until mixture looks like crumbs. Stir in nuts. Butter a 10 X 10-inch baking dish. Spread apples in bottom of baking dish then sprinkle with flour mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 to 45 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.