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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Human Influences On The Northern Yellowstone Range, Jeffrey C. Mosley, Peter O. Husby Nov 2018

Human Influences On The Northern Yellowstone Range, Jeffrey C. Mosley, Peter O. Husby

Political Science Faculty Publications

Humans have continuously inhabited the Northern Yellowstone Range (hereafter referred to as the Northern Range1 ) inside and outside Yellowstone National Park (YNP) for at least 11,000 years.2–5 Across these many years, humans have actively used, abused, and conserved the natural resources of the Northern Range. Human actions helped shape the vegetation and wildlife present on the Northern Range from prehistoric times to present day.


An Ecological Assessment Of The Northern Yellowstone Range: Introduction To The Special Issue, Jeffrey C. Mosley, Joseph Fidel, Harold E. Hunter, Peter O. Husby, Charles E. Kay, John G. Mundinger Nov 2018

An Ecological Assessment Of The Northern Yellowstone Range: Introduction To The Special Issue, Jeffrey C. Mosley, Joseph Fidel, Harold E. Hunter, Peter O. Husby, Charles E. Kay, John G. Mundinger

Political Science Faculty Publications

The Northern Range (a.k.a., Northern Yellowstone Range) is 380,000 acres of rangeland and forest in northwestern Wyoming and south-central Montana within and adjacent to Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Sixty percent of the Northern Range is within YNP and 40% is north of YNP on federal, state, and private lands in Montana (Fig. 1). Inside YNP, about 60% of the Northern Range is rangeland and 40% is forest. Outside YNP, the Northern Range in Montana is mostly foothill grassland and sagebrush steppe, while the bottomlands are dominated by irrigated pastures and hayfields. The Northern Range outside YNP is a working landscape …


From Bison To Cattle: The Ecology Of The Southern Plains 1500-1750, Jenni Tifft-Ochoa Jan 2018

From Bison To Cattle: The Ecology Of The Southern Plains 1500-1750, Jenni Tifft-Ochoa

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Bison made their home on the Southern Plains for millennia. However, their migratory patterns began to shift in the 17th and 18th centuries. My research investigated what caused this drastic shift and how it had far reaching effects on the ecology of the Southern Plains. Using archives from two prominent Catholic priests, I began to piece together why the bison left the Southern Plains. Rather than focus on the Europeans as the main players, I instead focused on the Indigenous peoples, the animals, and the land as the centralized actors in this project. I discovered that the introduction …


Analyzing Economic And Social Opportunities And Challenges Related To Bison Conservation In Northeast Montana, Jeremy L. Sage May 2017

Analyzing Economic And Social Opportunities And Challenges Related To Bison Conservation In Northeast Montana, Jeremy L. Sage

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report provides a review of the current socioeconomic trends in northeast Montana in comparison to the state as a whole, followed by an economic analysis of the potential impacts of an expanded recreation amenity. The amenity is characterized by a large, intact grassland prairie ecosystem replete with a large bison herd. Results suggest significant latent demand for nonresident visitation to the region. To begin to capture this demand and ensure continued vitality of other economic sectors will require collaborative efforts between conservation proponents, tourism professionals, and the community at large.


Taking The Measure Of A Mark: Exploratory Size And Shape Analysis Of Cut Marks, Eileen Johnson, Patrick J. Lewis, Leland C. Bement Apr 2013

Taking The Measure Of A Mark: Exploratory Size And Shape Analysis Of Cut Marks, Eileen Johnson, Patrick J. Lewis, Leland C. Bement

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

A database of 128 measured incised butchery marks (i.e., the classic cut mark) was the basis for exploratory statistical tests of length and width measurements from late Pleistocene mammoth localities and an early Holocene bison locality. The tests reveal several trends. The initial approach uses univariate descriptive statistics, regression, and ANOVA to examine differences in size and shape of marks. Significant differences are noted in length and width of marks based on location, element, and type. Length and width variables demonstrate low variability within incised marks. Results demonstrate a consistency in incised marks across the two taxa. Other consistencies are …


How William F. Cody Helped Save The Buffalo Without Really Trying, David Nesheim Jul 2007

How William F. Cody Helped Save The Buffalo Without Really Trying, David Nesheim

Great Plains Quarterly

Although Leopold's aphorism refers to the common response to human suffering, it also reflects the way many historical accounts of the restoration of the American bison omit an important piece of that phenomenon. Most historians have focused their attention on two elements: western ranchers who started the earliest private herds and eastern conservationists who raised funds and lobbied for the creation of the first national preserves. However, the perpetuation of the image of buffalo in the hearts and minds of Americans was equally important in the eventual recovery of the species. No one was a more effective popularize than William …


Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada, Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholtz, Christopher P. Evans, D. J. Huntley, Jeff Ollerhead Jan 2007

Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada, Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholtz, Christopher P. Evans, D. J. Huntley, Jeff Ollerhead

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Geomorphological and archeological evidence indicates potential linkages between Plains aboriginal occupation and dune activity in the Elbow Sand Hills of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Vegetation encroachment has rapidly outpaced migration of an active dune complex over the last 65 years. Optical ages of stabilized dune remnants indicate that dune activity predates Euro-Canadian settlement (ca. AD 1900). Early Euro-Canadian explorers observed local occupation and exploitation of the sand hills by aboriginal groups for herding and impounding bison. Mapping of archeological sites in relation to physiography reveals that sand dunes, in close proximity to permanent water resources, were preferred areas of occupation. Collectively, …


Influences Of Management Regimes On Breeding Bird Densities And Habitat In Mixed-Grass Prairie: An Example From North Dakota, Andrea A. Lueders, Patricia L. Kennedy, Douglas H. Johnson Jan 2006

Influences Of Management Regimes On Breeding Bird Densities And Habitat In Mixed-Grass Prairie: An Example From North Dakota, Andrea A. Lueders, Patricia L. Kennedy, Douglas H. Johnson

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

It is well known that North American grassland bird populations appear to be declining (Igl and Johnson 1997, Sauer et al. 2004). Most of these birds breed and winter in North America, so declines are likely associated with continental processes (Knopf 1994). Scientists have also observed parallel declines among species that have overlapping breeding ranges but disparate wintering distributions (Igl and Johnson 1997). These patterns suggest declines may be linked to problems on the breeding grounds.


Unusual Behavior By Bison, Bison Bison, Toward Elk, Cervus Elaphus, And Wolves, Canis Lupus, L. David Mech, Rick T. Mcintyre, Douglas W. Smith Jan 2004

Unusual Behavior By Bison, Bison Bison, Toward Elk, Cervus Elaphus, And Wolves, Canis Lupus, L. David Mech, Rick T. Mcintyre, Douglas W. Smith

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Incidents are described of Bison (Bison bison) in Yellowstone National Park mauling and possibly killing a young Elk (Cervus elaphus) calf, chasing wolves (Canis lupus) off Elk they had just killed or were killing, and keeping the wolves away for extended periods. During one of the latter cases, the Bison knocked a wolf-wounded Elk down. Bison were also seen approaching wolves that were resting and sleeping, rousting them, following them to new resting places and repeating this behavior. These behaviors might represent some type of generalized hyper-defensiveness that functions as an anti-predator strategy.


Drawn By The Bison Late Prehistoric Native Migration Into The Central Plains, Lauren W. Ritterbush Oct 2002

Drawn By The Bison Late Prehistoric Native Migration Into The Central Plains, Lauren W. Ritterbush

Great Plains Quarterly

Popular images of the Great Plains frequently portray horse-mounted Indians engaged in dramatic bison hunts. The importance of these hunts is emphasized by the oft-mentioned dependence of the Plains Indians on bison. This animal served as a source of not only food but also materials for shelter, clothing, containers, and many other necessities of life. Pursuit of the vast bison herds (combined with the needs of the Indians' horses for pasturage) affected human patterns of subsistence, mobility, and settlement. The Lakota and Cheyenne, for instance, are described as relying heavily on bison meat for food and living a nomadic lifestyle …


"The Last Buffalo Hunt" And Beyond Plains Sioux Economic Strategies In The Early Reservation Period, Jeffrey Ostler Apr 2001

"The Last Buffalo Hunt" And Beyond Plains Sioux Economic Strategies In The Early Reservation Period, Jeffrey Ostler

Great Plains Quarterly

Sometime in late May 1882, several thousand bison appeared on the Great Sioux reservation about 100 miles west of the Standing Rock Indian agency (see Fig. O. According to James McLaughlin, the Standing Rock agent, the Indians knew "instinctively" that the buffalo had arrived, even though "it had been many years since the buffalo had sought the hunting-grounds of that part of the reservation." With this "rich store of succulent meat in sight," McLaughlin continued, "it was not possible that the Indians could be held in check." On 10 June, over 600 Standing Rock Lakota and Yanktonais left the agency. …