title: American Plains Bison: Rewilding an Icon
author: James A. Bailey
description: For many, plains bison are the embodiment of wildness and the pre-settlement American West. After millennia of evolution through natural selection, however, the species was nearly wiped out, only to be subjected to domestication for more than 100 years. Domestication alters the bison genome through inbreeding, crossing with cattle genes, shrinking genetic diversity and artificial selection. These forces continue to replace natural selection and valued wild characteristics of bison. Does the future hold only continued domestication for plains bison in the United States? With a view from over 50 years in the profession of wildlife biology, Bailey probes this and other questions in American Plains Bison: Rewilding an Icon. The book presents his original and lively analysis of 44 conservation bison herds on native range in the United States. He focuses upon the gray area between wildness and domestication and sheds light on domesticating practices of Native American and government agencies, as well as commercial bison producers. He challenges the profession of wildlife management to expand its views on manipulating wildlife populations. For bison, Bailey makes a strong case for creating large reserves to restore wild bison and their natural contributions to our grassland ecosystems.
zlib_text: > > **RELUNTANT LOVE**
  
  > LINDA FORD
  
  >  **CONTENTS**
  
  >  _Chapter 1_
  
  >  _Chapter 2_
  
  >  _Chapter 3_
  
  >  _Chapter 4_
  
  >  _Chapter 5_
  
  >  _Chapter 6_
  
  >  _Chapter 7_
  
  >  _Chapter 8_
  
  >  _Chapter 9_
  
  >  _Chapter 10_
  
  >  _Chapter 11_
  
  >  _Chapter 12_
  
  >  _Chapter 13_
  
  >  _Chapter 14_
  
  >  _Chapter 15_
  
  >  _Epilogue_
  
  >  _Sneak peek of Redeemed Love_
  
  >  _Exclusive invitation_
  
  >  _Dear Reader_
  
  >  _Also by Linda Ford_
  
  >  **1**
  
   **California Trail, 1849**
  
  Hundreds, maybe thousands, of buffalo stampeded toward them. A thick cloud of
  dust billowed up from the herd. Their shaggy backs rose and fell like a great
  wave as they thundered closer. The ground shook. The noise was deafening.
  
  The travelers scrambled up the hillside, turned, and watched helplessly.
  
  “No,” Sarah Goodine wailed. Her wagon lay directly before the beasts. Her
  knees wobbled but she forced them to continue holding her upright.
  
  She must do something. Stop the animals. Turn them. Move her wagon. Something.
  Anything. But s