ORIGINAL: wack
As the biologists were seeing the first bears and wolves return to Wisconsin years ago, we are now seeing the mountain lions trickling into our state. Another reason to get the elk reintroduction plan back on track and reason enough for me to want to reintroduce bison also. If we are to set another place at the table for mountain lions, we need more food for the table. In 1995, when choosing elk for reintroduction, they studied all of the possibilities and bison came up #2 after elk. I think we should dust off that research, take the DNR's fenced in Bison herd, put GPS collars on them, turn them loose and see what happens. Cougars or not, now we are talking a real food chain and and awesome hunting future. The DNR wasn't meant to farm bison, DNR land shouldn't be fenced in, the DNR shouldn't be in the business of selling wild bison to domestic farmers. Those are our bison, sell the damn fence to the farmers and turn the bison loose where they can take care of themselves. At worst, they all die and we no longer have to spend money on them. We can go to a private farm and go see bison behind fences. At best, they multiply and contribute to the food chain and economy as a major renewable natural resource. Think about it, how awesome would that be? Give me a good excuse why not. Car crashes? We've got airbags. We need jobs. Cars need fixing, roads need work to be more wildlife friendly, meat needs butchering, hides need tanning, I know lots of taxidermists, gun and bow shops, hotels and campgrounds that could all use a boost that elk and bison could provide. The only way to find out for sure, is to go ahead and do it. We've got a lot more to gain than loose. I'm sick of loosing and it's time to do something about it.