The American Buffalo by Ken Burns

The American Buffalo by Ken Burns — yes, THE Ken Burns — premiers on PBS tonight.

It’s a new four-hour documentary on the story of bison in North America that Ken Burns has been thinking about for 30 years.

We’ve been looking forward to this for months.

I was able to see part of the documentary and listen to Ken Burns talk about the film at the National Bison Association winter conference last January. (It looks and sounds incredible.)

Our friend Steve Rinella from MeatEater also just published an excellent article on the documentary in Outside Magazine as well as a great MeatEater podcast episode with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan.

As you know, the story of bison in North America is not a happy story. But it’s a super important story — and new chapters continue to be written.

In our own small way, we are proud to be part of the bison story in North America.

I started working on bison in Montana (on the policy side of things) almost 15 years ago, which means I’ve spent about a third of my life working on bison.

And I can tell you — unequivocally — that I am more fascinated by this animal today than I ever been.

We cannot wait to watch The American Buffalo by Ken Burns.

It’s going to be a powerful film.

And an important film.

— Matt