Molly Conger

So they're trying to make like pathways for the bison by buying contiguous plots?

Right, because are there new, like people seeking new cattle ranching opportunities who are trying to move in who are being prevented from doing that?

Like the chocolate people?

So they don't own or operate it, they've just made large donations?

I'm sure they have a complicated tax shelter system set up for themselves that doesn't involve bison.

It involves bank accounts in countries you haven't heard of.

Like all these families have their own whole foundations that are just about moving money around in opaque ways.

Yeah, if you're trying to avoid paying taxes, you don't donate to a real charity that's actually doing something complicated with physical animals and land.

You have a foundation that does grants for something obscure.

It's like pretty common for people to be grazing, to get these permits to graze on the public land.

But like the cattle farmers are doing this as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'm saying like if you buy this plot of land, it's like kind of common that you would also be grazing on the public land adjacent to it.

So when they bought this land, it would be reasonable for them to assume that they would be able to use the parcels adjacent and interspersed within it.

Yes.

Yeah, okay.

I'm sorry, doing an environmental impact study of the presence of a native animal?

What would happen if a buffalo lived here?

We asked 10 government scientists.

I'm nodding knowingly.