The Ecological Buffalo: On the Trail of a Keystone Species

Shortlisted, Publishing Award, Saskatchewan Book Award, 2023

"Wondrous to see #grasslands National Park: National Treasure! + to hear #bison knowledge from Wes Olson, also National Treasure. #sask" -Margaret E. Atwood @MargaretAtwood, Twitter, 25Jun2013

"The Ecological Buffalo shows the wonder and abundance of these ecosystems where bison are a keystone species. One gets the agonizing feeling that a shroud of crisis could be lifted by simply expanding the bison range and letting them live free." -Alberta Views
 
"The Ecological Buffalo braids together Western science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in words and images to create a luminous portrait of how this keystone species keeps the web of life healthy and whole-from soil biota to grasses to birds to humans." -Cristina Eisenberg, author of The Wolf's Tooth and The Carnivore Way
 
"Wes Olson generously shares his intricate knowledge of the buffalo, and we are all richer for it. He explains how having more bison walking the land will benefit not just the threatened grasslands ecosystem, but the multitudes of birds, bugs, plants, and animals who need the buffalo. He also acknowledges the connection between the buffalo and Indigenous people but respectfully leaves space for Leroy Little Bear to tell of Indigenous Peoples' special relationship with the buffalo. Johane Janelle's accompanying photographs bring us out onto the land with her and Wes, so we may establish and deepen our own relationship with this integral keystone species." -Tasha Hubbard, filmmaker, Singing Back the Buffalo
 
"This book should be on everybody's reading list." -Leroy Little Bear
 
"No one of European heritage can explain the ecological reasons why bison belong in our landscape better than Wes Olson." -Harvey Locke, co-founder and senior advisor for Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and Nature Needs Half
 
"Wes Olson and Johane Janelle have written an outstanding book, both ecologically rigorous and stylistically accessible, through their exquisite writing and imagery. The Ecological Buffalo is the culmination of their life's work to understand the complex biodiversity and human history surrounding bison in the North American landscape. By illustrating the critical role of keystone species in sustaining complex ecosystems, they weave a hopeful story that restoration of a once endangered species is possible. A must read!" -Keith A. Wheeler, International Union for Conservation of Nature Commission on Education and Communication