#6 777 Bison Ranch

Muse Ecology

In this episode, we continue our investigation of the Great Plains Bison with a visit to 777 Bison Ranch near Rapid City, South Dakota. Owner Mimi Hilenbrandt and fellow operations manager Moritz Espy gave us a tour of the pastures and corrals. Along the way, we discussed differences and similarities between bison and cattle, the possibility of a buffalo commons, their business model and how it affects the bison, and how their decades of Holistic Management and bison grazing have led to regeneration of the prairie landscape. We also discussed a few of the complex questions the bison forces us to wrestle with. You can find them at In the episode I refer to a book about restoration bison ranching. It's called A Wild Idea, by Dan O'brien of Wild Idea Buffalo Company, whom you'll hear from next episode. Michael DiGiorgio recorded the banjo-bird jams I'm using in the intro and ending. You can find his amazing nature art at . Mike says that if you'd like to buy the album of his nature-banjo jams, you can find his email on his website and he can mail you a CD.