Dan O'Brien to Speak at Belwin’s First Annual Meeting

Belwin will be releasing a herd of bison onto our prairie Saturday, June 28th. Beginning at noon, we will gather off of Division Street in Afton. We will be releasing the bison, and hearing a few words from Dan O'Brien, Steve Hobbs, Belwin's Executive Director and others. Following this, the program will move down to Belwin Center where Belwin will host its first-ever annual meeting, beginning at 2. The purpose of the annual meeting is to discuss Belwin's accomplishments from the past year, changes that we have made and our plans for the future. One of the principal reasons behind this meeting will be to elicit feedback from our members, so we hope that all members including new members will be able to attend.

Joining us at the bison release and giving a talk at the annual meeting will be South Dakota Rancher, biologist, falconer and author Dan O'Brien. Dan has been a wildlife biologist and rancher for more than thirty years. He is also one of the most celebrated falconers in America today and was a prime mover in the restoration of peregrine falcons in the Rocky Mountains in the 1970s and 80s. Described by the New York Times as a writer with "a keen and poetic eye…" Dan is one of the most powerful literary voices on the Plains. He has numerous novels to his credit as well as several works of non-fiction. His latest non-fiction book, Buffalo for the Broken Heart (Random House, September 2001), explores the history of his ranch and the conversion from beef to buffalo.

Dan's background gives him a unique perspective on ranching. He has thought a lot about the interplay between rancher and ranch and the well-being of both. In buffalo, Dan found something genuinely beneficial for the landscape and the rancher who depends upon it. After converting his own ranch to buffalo, he founded the Wild Idea Buffalo Company with another small South Dakota buffalo ranch. This partnership is committed to the ecological restoration of the American grasslands and the re-introduction of large-scale buffalo herds on the northern Great Plains. The core of Wild Idea is still the ranch of Dan O’Brien, but other ranches are converting to the Wild Idea model of native grass-fed animals killed humanly in the pastures where they live and turning to Wild Idea to market their meat.

Dan's vision of working lands in cooperation with, not despite nature is very much in keeping with that of Belwin. We are thrilled to have him speak at our first–ever annual meeting. Guided nature walks and light refreshments will be provided. Belwin will remain open until 5 p.m. so that everyone may enjoy the property.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the bison release, however the Dan O'Brien talk and annual meeting are only open to current Belwin members. Registration for members $15 for adults 18 and over and can be paid by mail or at the door. If you are planning to attend the annual meeting, please RSVP to nphillips@belwin.org.

RSVPs

You do not need to register to attend this event.