Tourists and residents will no longer see the bison at the Midway Mall in Marbleton.

For the towns of Big Piney and Marbleton it’s a blessing, but for bison owner Garry Eiden it’s a disappointment.

“I loved them – I thought the world of them,” Eiden said.

The bison were on property zoned for general commercial use, which allows retail stores, professional offices and restaurants, not livestock animals. Because of this Eiden had requested a variance.

“I brought them into the community because I thought it would be a good asset for the community,” he said.

However, a number of Big Piney and Marbleton residents didn’t view the bison that way.

“Have you seen the enclosure? I think it speaks of itself,” said Big Piney Mayor Philip Smith, explaining the less-than-an-acre enclosure is far too small for seven bison.

“I thought it was inhumane,” he said.

Mayor Smith wasn’t the only one upset by the bison being housed at the Midway Mall. The mayor, Marbleton Town Council, several residents and the town of Big Piney wrote letters to the Sublette County Planning and Zoning office requesting Eiden’s variance be denied.

“As a tourist attraction the Town of Marbleton doesn’t feel this image represents the regions natural beauty and opportunity to interact with natures, instead we get a poorly and dangerously maintained petting zoo,” the letter read.

The letter said the bison were in “a makeshift inadequate enclosure in a parking lot at a trashy truck stop,” which degrades the bison and residents. It also addressed safety concerns about the enclosure and said the structure was a “dangerous recipe for disaster.”

Eiden said he was surprised by the letters from the community disagreeing with the bison being housed on his property.

“There’s a bunch of snakes here in Marbleton and Big Piney,” he said. “You would think they (residents in Marbleton and Big Piney) would promote (the bison) instead of demote them.”

However, a little over a week ago, Eiden cancelled his variance and sold his seven bison, four adults and three juveniles.

“I could have got an attorney and fought and argued. … To me it wasn’t worth fighting for,” Eiden said. “A variance would have never solved the problem. They (residents and the towns) would have come up with something else.”

He sold the bison to a facility in Jackson and said the company would decide the bison’s future. He said the animals will either live out their lives on a ranch or be shipped to slaughter.

The safety concerns and the size and location of Eiden’s bison enclosure caused the public outcry.

“My biggest fear is that they are going to get out of there and they’re going to hurt somebody,” Big Piney resident Tina Winkleman told the Sublette Examiner in July.

Winkleman explained the fencing did not appear sturdy enough to handle the bison. Eiden disagreed with residents’ safety concerns and said his $10,000 bison enclosure was adequate to hold the animals.

He also said the animals were friendly and would not cause harm to anyone.

“I can give them hay and they’ll eat that right out of my hand,” Eiden said. “It’s just like your dog. Why do you like your dog? Because people can pet it and enjoy it – that’s the way I was with the bison.”

Despite the towns’ disapproval of the bison enclosure, Eiden said he had many visitors who enjoyed seeing the animals at the Midway Mall.

“I had people from Florida, people from Nebraska, people from all over … took pictures of them and (went) right up to the pen because they can do it, but up in Yellowstone you can’t get a close-up picture of anything,” he said.

Town officials of Marbleton and Big Piney expressed dissatisfaction in letters about the tourist attraction and the Marbleton town letter said the site “creates an atmosphere of disorder.”

Eiden said he is upset by how the situation transpired and wishes he didn’t have to sell his bison.

“They’re gone. I have them no more. It’s a shame,” he said.



For the complete article see the 08-25-2009 issue.

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