The U.S. Could Soon Have A National Mammal -- And It's Not Us
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The U.S. Could Soon Have A National Mammal — And It"s Not Us
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The American bison is one of the most iconic species in the U.S., but it doesn’t get the same recognition as the beloved bald eagle.
Now, in a rare moment of both legislative action and bipartisanship, Congress has passed a bill that could make the American bison the national mammal of the United States.
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🎶 Oh, beautiful… 🎶
“The bison, like the bald eagle, is a quintessentially American symbol,” John F. Calvelli, executive vice president of public affairs for the Wildlife Conservation Society, wrote in a blog for The Huffington Post. “It already appears on two state flags, on the seal of the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service, and on our currency.” (Check out the state quarters for Kansas, North Dakota and Montana.)
It is also considered the first American conservation success story.
In the 1500s, an estimated 30 to 60 million bison, also known as buffalo, roamed North America. They played a vital role in Native American culture, providing many tribes with material for food, shelter and tools.
But as Americans pushed westward during the 19th century, the species was driven to the brink of extinction. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Americans had so decimated the population that by 1884, there were just 325 wild bison living in the U.S.
Matt Anderson Photography via Getty Images
Bison on the prairie below the Grand Teton Mountain Range.
Now, after many years of legal protection, the population is healthy once again, estimated at more than 500,000 individual bison living in both commercial and conservation herds.
According to a WCS Press Release, the current bill will “officially commemorate the ecological, cultural, historical and economic contribution of bison” and is the result of four years of effort by the Vote Bison Coalition — a group of more than 60 organizations, tribes and businesses.
While the House of Representatives passed the National Bison Legacy Act late Tuesday night, the Senate passed its version of the bill last December and is now expected to adopt the House version, according to WCS.
Once signed by the president, the law would catapult the bison into a family of classic American symbols, including the oak (the national tree), the rose (the national floral emblem) and the bald eagle (the national emblem).
Source: Huff Good News feed
The U.S. Could Soon Have A National Mammal -- And It"s Not Us
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