The extermination and conservation of the American bison

The dramatic near extinction, and subsequent recovery and restoration, of the American bison during the late nineteenth century is examined using a property rights model of renewable resource production. The paper considers the implications of bison exploitation under open-access, common-ownership,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of legal studies Vol. 31; no. 2; p. S609
Main Author: Lueck, Dean
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Chicago University of Chicago Law School 01.06.2002
Subjects:
19th century
Animal husbandry
Buffalo
Common lands
Conservation
Exploitation
Extinction
Livestock
Natural resources
Ownership
Preservation
Prices
Property rights
Wildlife
Wildlife conservation
United States > US
ISSN:0047-2530, 1537-5366
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The dramatic near extinction, and subsequent recovery and restoration, of the American bison during the late nineteenth century is examined using a property rights model of renewable resource production. The paper considers the implications of bison exploitation under open-access, common-ownership, and private-property regimes and further examines how these regimes are determined. Implications are tested against historical and anthropological data on bison populations, robe and hide prices, cattle-stocking rates, American military behavior, Indian tribal territories, federal land policy, the costs of harvesting bison, and formal and informal property rights regimes. The study uncovers the details of this famous story in American wildlife conservation and sheds light on the role of markets in extinction and preservation and the evolution of property rights to such large-scale natural resources.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0047-2530
1537-5366
DOI:10.1086/340410