[crickets chirping]
[bison snorting]
NARRATOR: Bison are an iconic symbol of the West.
They are America's national mammal.
They have a reputation to live up to
and they don't disappoint.
[hooves thudding]
It's almost kind of like thunder a little bit.
You can feel the bison running the ground.
We sort of think of them as domesticated,
but basically, they're almost wild animals.
And we've worked with them a lot
and kind of know their habits or what they might do.
But they can always surprise you a little bit.
NARRATOR: Now you may be saying to yourself, bison,
bison are just like cattle,
but there are important differences between the two.
And it's not a big deal if a cow gets out,
but like if the bison get out
it's a little bit more of a catastrophe.
Whoa, turd seriously.
It's gonna be a race now.
NARRATOR: The bison were just escaping
from one pasture to another,
so no one was in danger,
but still this wasn't the plan for the day.
I'll chase 'em at the fence line up back up to that gate.
They're pretty cute looking when they're little,
but they grew up to be menaces.
You just don't give them any other option,
but to do what you want 'em to do.
But sometimes they still figure out
a way to get around that.
NARRATOR: Wayward bison like these are a problem
Marta's father, Bob Stangel,
has been dealing with for decades.
By observing them for 40 years,
why I've picked up on a few things,
but about the time you think you've got 'em figured out
they'll prove you wrong.
Not quite a train wreck,
but they put a pretty big hole on the gate.
They always make it exciting seems like.
How do you normally do that wrap?
You wanna tighten that some?
Yeah, it's pretty loose.
The apprentice is becoming the master
'cause I won't do it anymore.
Trying to get it turned over to
next generation a little bit.
So, yeah, I'm glad they took an interest.
You know, I wonder sometimes
whether they should have gone done something else,
but they wanted to do this.
And so, trying to make that opportunity work for them.
A lot easier to close than it used to be.
My parents bought this property in 1958
and it was a grain and cattle operation.
I always worked on the farm.
And then when I got out of college,
I came back home and I'd read some articles
about people raising bison.
And so, 1979 my older brother, Joe and I,
went back to Northeast Colorado
and bought six heifers and two bulls
just to sort of try it out.
By 1987 we switched solely to bison
for our livestock operation.
NARRATOR: The Stangels have more than 500 head of bison
on almost 7,000 acres of land
at the base of the Wallowa Mountains.
Bob is starting to take more of a backseat
as his daughters, Marta and Theresa,
learn the ins and outs of running the ranch.
If you're gonna make it real simple,
Marta does a lot of the land and animal management
and then I do more of like
the people, office, meat sales management.
Come on.
It works really well 'cause Marta and my dad
really enjoy being outside
and if they don't have to talk to people
that's great for them.
Where I really enjoy getting into,
do the marketing or customer service.
MORGAN: Hello?
Hey Morgan, this is Theresa Stangel, Stangel Bison Ranch.
Is now a good time?
MORGAN: Yeah.
So as far as round steaks, we can do cubed,
plain, keep 'em as roasts.
Yep, perfect.
We live in a society where if you're going
to do business with somebody
or you find something like you Google it.
It is definitely not dad's thing.
So, that was really helpful to have like both Marta and I
and then me being able to focus and learn about it.
[hooves thudding]
NARRATOR: Theresa taught herself marketing,
while Marta got a degree in crop and soil science.
They're taking what they learned
from their father and his brothers,
Come on!
NARRATOR: and building on it.
A lot of the stuff I learned in college
was how the grass grows and the different stages
and then the different soil types and what they're best for.
So I brought a lot of that back.
We didn't really try to do like a three-year rotation,
with our grazing, so we're not coming into the same pasture
at the same time every year.
And so, we're trying to revitalize the soil
and the grasses with the bison.
Bison used to be here naturally
and due to people being horrible,
decided to go on a track to where we are at like
500,000 bison in the United States.
They are such amazing animals and to think of a world
where they might not be there as a pretty depressing one.
A lot of them are on farms and ranches,
but it is great to be a part of trying to rectify
that history where the bison
should get to be back to where they were.
Ready for breakfast.
Come on.
A bummer calf is one that isn't gonna be raised
by its mother for one reason or another,
and we end up feeding that artificially.
We call them the bottled baby or the bummer calf.
If we hadn't dipped in
and caught Wanda and started feeding her,
she would've probably died out there.
That's all.
You go.
Milk's all gone, but she's not done.
NARRATOR: Maintaining the bison population in America
isn't just about the past.
Hi. How are you?
Good, how are you doing? Good.
NARRATOR: It has a direct impact
on the local community in the present.
We love bison.
Well good, I'm glad you like it.
Thank you.
They know exactly what the meat is?
They know where it came from.
They might even tell you the name of the animal.
You know, it's how like
if you say farm to table, this is it.
The buying local is, that's how we survive.
That's the only way we can go.
Like if you don't support each other and what's a community?
[dogs barking]
When we were younger during different seasons
we didn't see dad as much,
because he was extremely busy doing a lot of things.
Like most things, once you get a little bit older
you really appreciate some of those things
that you didn't when you were younger.
What I love about what I do
is being able to work with my family.
Have that interaction with them every day.
Running the ranch has given us the opportunity to do that.
As far as my relationship with my dad
and being able to take over the work that he does.
They usually take off and leave.
He just has so much knowledge.
I just feel like I would never be at that level.
Maybe when I'm as old as he is now.
Yeah, boy.
I hope to be there one day,
but getting there.
Great people just doing their thing
in their own northwesty way.
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