Chris Ryland Music

Ballad Of A Man Killer Lion Just published this wherever you stream music. Jeb Bridges on bass, drums, and lap steel, myself on vocals, guitar, and fiddle. Written by Wade Hatch and yours truly.

Ballad Of A Man Killer Lion Just published this wherever you stream music. Jeb Bridges on bass, drums, and lap steel, myself on vocals, guitar, and fiddle. Written by Wade Hatch and yours truly.

Of course this DNC account punts what this debate is actually about, here’s an easy to follow overview for you. The controversy focuses on an NGO called the American Prairie Foundation with a bison herd on public land (BLM) in Northeast Montana (note this is different from the famous Yellowstone herd that you may have visited on a family trip). To obtain a grazing permit on BLM, this isn’t auctioned off at market. Instead, it’s a preference system linked to ownership of a nearby property (called a “base property”). American Prairie is a relative newcomer who acquired BLM preference for grazing allotments by purchasing deeded ranches adjacent to BLM land. Then, they asked the BLM to modify their grazing permits to include bison. The BLM did an environmental impact assessment and approved bison in 2022, which was just revoked at the request of Montana lawmakers and ranching families in the state. The reason ranching families, stockgrowers, and Montana lawmakers do not want American Prairie to run their conservation focused bison herd on BLM land begins with the fact that to purchase deeded ranches and obtain eligibility for BLM grazing, American Prairie got piles of cash from foreign and out of state donors. As a donor funded foundation, most of its cash comes from a Swiss born billionaire, a German billionaire, and high net worth individuals from NYC and SF. How would a regular rancher from Montana compete with that to purchase the ranches that would lead to preference for BLM? How would a 21 year old seventh generation rancher compete? When this NGO buys these deeded ranches, the associated grazing rights on BLM are automatically transferred. Montana ranchers and politicians also oppose buffalo on BLM parcels because of the risk of disease transmission to livestock, and an overarching belief that Montana has been ranching for food production for centuries, newer conservation interests backed by non-local cash undermine the long, rich heritage of the state. On the other side of the debate is American Prairie with a noble mission to restore the mighty bison to American grasslands to promote biodiversity, focusing on native grasslands and fauna. This is a group focused on what’s called “rewilding” or returning the land to its pre human state, with the buffalo as a powerful symbol of the American frontier. Proponents argue that as a keystone species, buffalo have many ecological benefits that make our great prairies healthier and more productive. They argue disease transmission risk is overstated, and that market-based conservation is the future. In America, if you have resources to buy ranches, get the BLM permits, you should be able to do so without government putting its finger on the scale and reversing policy for the ranching interests. They argue public land shouldn’t exclusively be for ranching, and the true purpose of “multiple use public land” should include conservation. When I present issues like this in my class, I’m very careful to not tell my students what to think but rather *how* to think about conservation disputes. Where you land on the issue is uniquely yours, a function of your values, heritage, economic preferences, beliefs on the purpose of public land and the role of wildlife in the 21st century.

Americans built the greatest culture that ever existed 🇺🇸

“Who the fook is that guy?” 🤠

Here’s an early morning whiskey fueled song with a prayer at the end. Called The Foggy Dew, have loved the song since I was a kid but never learned all the words until recently. 🇮🇪 🍻

Americans built the greatest culture that ever existed 🇺🇸

Americans built the greatest culture that ever existed 🇺🇸