The Free Market is Restoring the Buffalo!

People who think that the environment is one thing that simply cannot be managed by the free market don’t know what they are talking about. Check out this story about US ranchers’ efforts to supply enough bison meat to a marketplace that is hungry for lean bison meat.

And, who was behind the original slaughter of the bison in the US? Why, none other than the US government. As this story from PBS points out:

Some U.S. government officials even promoted the destruction of the bison herds as a way to defeat their Native American enemies, who were resisting the takeover of their lands by white settlers. One Congressman, James Throckmorton of Texas, believed that “it would be a great step forward in the civilization of the Indians and the preservation of peace on the border if there was not a buffalo in existence.” Soon, military commanders were ordering their troops to kill buffalo — not for food, but to deny Native Americans their own source of food. One general believed that buffalo hunters “did more to defeat the Indian nations in a few years than soldiers did in 50.” By 1880, the slaughter was almost over.

Am I saying that the Indians and the buffalo would have lived in perfect harmony absent the US Federal Government? No, it’s hard to say how things would have turned out. But, the market is restoring the buffalo and as John Stossel points out, it could help save endangered African animals as well.