Top Four Reasons the American Bison Makes a Great Mascot | Earthjustice

Top Four Reasons the American Bison Makes a Great Mascot | Earthjustice We get some interesting mail at Earthjustice, but one letter we received this week was too good not to share. It came from Detective Christopher Derry of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraud & Cyber Crimes Bureau, which immediately got our attention and had us on the verge of changing all our passwords. But Detective Derry wasn’t warning us of some imminent threat of identity theft. Addressing the letter to attorney Tim Preso, who leads much of our wildlife protection work out of Bozeman, Montana, Detective Derry explained that the bureau voted to make the American Bison its mascot, and he wanted to thank Earthjustice for our efforts to protect the species and restore it to its native lands. Detective Derry listed the following reasons for why the bureau chose the American Bison to represent the work of its team: “In Native American folklore, the American Bison is traditionally associated with endurance and protection. These are character traits to which all of us aspire.” “The American Bison is not afraid to turn into, and walk directly toward an oncoming storm. While other animals panic and look for a place to hide, the Bison forges ahead, fearlessly, into the storm. Some researchers believe that Bison instinctively know a storm will pass quicker if they turn and walk toward it. In our bureau, many of our cases are like 'storms' with thousands of pages of documents and mind boggling complexity. Every day, we endeavor to face the 'storm' with courage and resolve.” “The Bison is a majestic creature with imperturbable demeanor.” “Both the male and female Bison have horns.” Sometimes we struggle to explain why protection of wildlife is so important to people, but this letter is a great example of the inherent value of these vital species. Protection of wildlife is about preserving what remains special and mysterious about the world in which we live. The return of the American Bison to the Great Plains is a victory for preserving our American heritage. We thank the Los Angeles Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau for the work it does and for honoring this majestic creature. Maggie Caldwell is an award-winning newspaper reporter and magazine journalist. She works at Headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Her passion for protecting the earth stems from a childhood running around in the woods of Connecticut. Outside of providing good press for the planet, she is an avid soccer player, a highly competitive lawn sports athlete, and a lover of long hikes, hidden rivers, and reasonably priced wines.