Once slaughtered close to extinction, the buffalo roam again across the fields of Yellowstone National Park. Now they have a ghost of a chance.

Washington Post West Coast bureau chief William Booth was online Monday, March 31 to discuss his Washington Post Magazine cover story, 'Prairie Home Companions.'

A transcript follows.

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William Booth: Hello all. I confess when I headed up to Yellowstone National Park to look at some winter wildlife, I was like most folks -- more interested in wolves than buffalo. The bad boys, you know? But the more I looked and learned and read about them, the charms of the bison took hold. Their story of survival is a page-turner, and they are still not out of the woods. So let's chat on...

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Arlington, Va.:

Are "buffalo and "bison" the same thing?

William Booth: Excellent question. They are bison. Specifically, their scientific name is Bison bison. That is the precise name. Buffalo are the guys over in Asia and Africa. But we have used the common name buffalo for so long in America that I used both. (Because Bison Bill just doesn't have the same ring).

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Hutto, Tex.: I'm sure I won't be the only one to say this: They have slaughtered 1/3 of the herd of bison this winter. Where there were 4500 head now there are only 3000.

We MUST come up with a better plan or place for the bison to move out of the park to forage in the winter. There are workable plans that just need implementing - and quickly.

There were just too many buffalo needlessly slaughtered this year.

William Booth: Hutto, you are correct. Most years the game managers and wildlife biologists kill more Yellowstone buffalo than die of all natural causes (winter, wolves, bears, age, fighting, etc). The latest numbers released by the Park Service last week are: 1087 taken to slaughter and 166 hunted. So a population that was 4700 last summer is now 3000. It appears they seriously do need a new plan -- what I do not know -- or Yellowstone will essentially become a buffalo ranch.

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Washington, D.C.: Have you been to Yellowstone at other times of the year? What is the best time to go?

William Booth: All times are the time to go. Each season has its pleasures. I've been in summer. It is glorious, warmish, hikeable and the days go on forever. But it can get very crowded. Still, go. Winter is sublime. You feel the size of the landscape. Very quiet. Except, for the snow mobiles. Check out the Yellowstone Association website. They do educational trips year-round. They're a great deal. My buffalo trip cost like $250.

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Tenleytown: So do you think it really was wolves or coyotes you saw? Your editor seems to think wolves!

William Booth: When I was driving at night? Those were coyotes I now know. One of the reasons for my confusion/hope that they were wolves is that I currently live in Los Angeles, where our coyotes appear to be smaller, scrawny, tough little guys. Those Yellowstone coyotes -- with all that winter coat -- looked a lot bigger to me. Regarding my editor's wolf sighting in the 1970s -- hey, he probably saw a lot of things back in the 1970s.

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Frederick, Maryland: Your last paragraph in the article mentioned the problem of bison leaving the park and being punished with death, in many instances. It seems like people do not understand that the park boundaries of Yellowstone, like some others, were not set with adequate consideration of animal migration routes. Those bison, like the elk in Grand Tetons, needed winter grazing areas, but humans pre-empted them. And brucellosis is a disease brought into the country by cattle. This whole bison slaughter situation is being poorly handled.

William Booth: Good points. Most (all?) of our National Parks have boundaries that were not established by the ecosystem, but Congressional fiat. So, the bison of Yellowstone naturally wander out of the high country to look for more grass and then we have a problem.

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washingtonpost.com: The Yellowstone Association

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for your excellent article on bison. In relation to the Yellowstone herd, this year's slaughter exceeded 1,000 animals ¿ the largest since the late 19th century. It's clear that the management plan for these animals, which was supposed to have a policy in place by 2006 to allow them to move out of the park to forage during the winter, is not moving forward as it should.

The government agencies responsible for the implementation of the plan (The National Park Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Forest Service, and the Montana departments of Livestock and Fish and Wildlife and Parks) need to be held accountable. They should recognize new research, learn from their seven years experience, and then make changes where necessary. Simply put, current bison management isn't working because the habitat currently available is inadequate.

Tracey McIntire

http://www.npca.org/media_center/press_releases/2008/031708_bisoncoalitionrtr.html

William Booth: Indeed. Rick Wallen, the head of the park's bison team, who guided our trip, said that the future of the Yellowstone bison lies outside of the park -- meaning that we have to figure out what to do when they cross a boundary line that they cannot see. I don't know the answer. But I don't think that most visitors appreciate the fact that the bison they are looking at are in fact in danger.

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Washington, D.C.: Hello,

In terms of the D.C. Metro area, can you tell me how large Yellowstone is? The Beltway area? Fairfax County? Stupid question probably - but I'm just trying to imagine the scope in my head. Excellent article by the way.

William Booth: Mmm. Let's riddle this out. Yellowstone Park (just the park not the national forests and Teton) is 3472 square miles or 63 miles north to south and 54 miles east to west. How many DCs is that?

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Washington, D.C.: It is my understanding that part of the issue with the slaughtering mentioned above comes from the fact that the snowmobile trails basically provide a highway for the bison to get out of the park for food.

Did you get any impressions from your time there about how the snowmobile controversies have interplayed with the efforts to restore bison?

William Booth: The road is the northern range is open for traffic, and I drove into the park, so I contributed as much as a snowmobile in this case. I may not be remembering this accurately, but I recall reading some of the science that says the bison could exploit the roads for easier/faster movement during the heavy snows of winter. I certainly saw them walking on roads. But they also were walking everywhere else, too. I do know the snowmobile/bison dynamic has been one argument for banning snowmobiles from the park.

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Fort Washington Maryland: Prior to the 1600's how far east and west were bison located? Since wolves rarely can kill a bison, what are bison's natural predators? Do bison contract mad cow disease? How did Native Americans kill bison before guns?

What makes Yellowstone a good vacation choice in the winter versus the summer?

Thank you!!

William Booth: I think there is evidence of bison across most of what is today the United States, from California to Virginia, and from Dakotas (etc) to Texas. Regarding wolves, in Yellowstone, wolves tend to chow down on elk rather than bison, but that does not mean that is/was the case elsewhere. I recall in the Canadian parks, wolves dine most regularly on buffalo. Regarding Indians, they hunted buffalo by driving them over ravines (buffalo jumps), by arrow and spear, and after the arrival of the Europeans, with the help of horses.

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Va.: A few years ago, I went to Jamestown, North Dakota and they have the world's largest buffalo statue. Are there other statues?

washingtonpost.com: That's one big buffalo.

William Booth: I am not familiar with that big boy. 

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Former Montana Girl: If you wanted to see bison, why didn't you go to Yellowstone in the summer? You practically can't drive down the road without hitting a bison (not to mention the fun you can have watching the tourists who want to line their fam up next to them for pics- not such a good idea!). I'm also curious why you didn't mention the Bison Range in Montana at all. They've been working to increase the number of bison for years and years and years. It is a great place to go if you are interested in Bison. And no snowmobiles to distract you!

William Booth: Montana Girl, you of all people should know how lovely Montana can be in late January. With the horizontal snow and all.

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Virginia: Where in the D.C. area can I order a buffalo hamburger?

William Booth: I think there are now something like 250,000 buffalo living in the United States, on the private ranches, ready to serve your needs. Here's comes the link...

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washingtonpost.com: Buffalo/Bison meat in the D.C. area (chowhound.com)

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Bozeman, Mont.: While in Yellowstone, did they tell you about the effort 300 miles to the north to create the largest wildlife reserve in the lower 48 states, the American Prairie Reserve, more than 1 million acres larger than Yellowstone with potential habitat for 30,000 plus bison, as compared to Yellowstone's 3000? (www.americanprairie.org)

William Booth: Yes, they did. This idea of restoring vast swaths of grassland into a "buffalo commons" was viewed as outrageous when a pair of academics proposed it -- what? 20 years ago? -- when Frank and Deborah Popper suggested that the west was better used for raising bison, elk, wolves, etc. Now the idea has taken hold, with project such as the one you mention.

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D.C.: One time someone showed me a picture they claimed was a buffalo. It was actually a yak from Mongolia!!!!

William Booth: These things happen, even among friends.

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Bison Range in Montana: http://www.fws.gov/bisonrange/index.htm

Apparently, it has been around for almost 100 years!

William Booth: Here's more...

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Washington: Thanks for taking my question,

What is your opinion about a "Buffalo Commons?" Is this a viable and realistic solution or proposal?

William Booth: I love the idea of the buffalo commons. It is a very romantic image, is it not? Millions of acres of grasslands, with free-roaming critters, duking it out, supported in part by the culling/hunting of bison, elk, etc. But then again, I don't live on a ranch in Montana, where they might have very different ideas about it.

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Fairfax: Why does the US fish and wildlife service spend so much money on revitalizing endangered species just so the politicos can slaughter them when they see fit? I reference the earlier question on the bison in Yellowstone (slaughter by the feds because of perceived disease transfer to cattle using Federal land, Montana's Dept. of Livestock reports) or the slaughter of gray wolves by Alaskan, Idaho, Montana, officials because the politicos/cattle business feels threatened by fewer than 25 predation deaths a year for which the cattle ranchers are justly and rightfully compensated? Tell me, is this the reason why our taxes are so high? So we can spend money on projects just to have them KILLED? Out-rageous! thanks for your thoughts.

William Booth: Interesting point, regarding the economics. What if one calculated the cost to the federal taxpayers of producing 1500 gray wolves, the estimated population now in the West, and then charge the hunter that cost. I wonder what it would be?

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Great Falls, Va.: Mr. Booth,

Thank you for a well written article. I very much enjoyed this "nature" issue of the Magazine. You ended the article by saying that the Bison are free to roam as long as they do not roam too far. They used to roam much further than Yellowstone as you point out, but do you have any sense as to why they are not introduced into other large Western parks?

On a related matter, as an article in today's issue of the Post points out, wolves have been introduced into other parks and areas. However, management of the packs apparently has been spotty such that the reintroduction of the Mexican wolf in the Southwest has been less than the success had in Yellowstone and other parks. Would you care to comment?

Thanks again for a great article and to the Post for the articles on Monarch butterflies and Humpback whales.

washingtonpost.com: A Wolf Saved from Extinction But Snared in Politics (Washington Post, March 31)

William Booth: There are bison in other western parks and reserves, such Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

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Munich, Germany: Have you heard anything of mixed breed Buffalo-Cows? I've read somewhere that herds will be culled or killed off completely to preserve the DNA integrity of the buffalo.

William Booth: You refer, Munich, to the beefalo. And yes, they exist.

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William Booth: Well, all good things got to come to an end. Thanks for all the smart questions.

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