Doctor divides his days between bones and bison

The orthopedic surgeon and Idaho rancher is also a helicopter pilot, teacher and inventor.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Jan. 7, 2002.

The Doctor is Out
A look at physician lives outside the exam room. In the office, time is a precious commodity for today's busy physicians. Away from work, many doctors find unique activities and hobbies to help them unwind and to enrich their lives.

Marlowe Goble, MD, likes to be where the buffalo roam. Nestled in a canyon in southeast Idaho is his 8,000-acre Medicine Lodge Ranch, where he raises 1,200 head of buffalo for meat.

Dr. Goble also is an orthopedic surgeon and professor in Utah. And he has an orthopedic research company, Medicine Lodge Orthopedics.

Bison bits

How does he juggle being a rancher in Idaho and a physician in Utah?

With a lot of patience and sound business sense.

And a helicopter, of course.

Dr. Goble pilots his own helicopter (named Wounded Knee), whirling from his Idaho ranch to his Utah practice in about one hour and 20 minutes -- much less than the four-hour driving time.

"It's kind of an isolated area up near the Continental Divide," the doctor said of his ranch. "After orthopedic work, it's fun to isolate yourself somewhat."

You can't get much further removed than Medicine Lodge Ranch.

It rests about 80 miles north of Idaho Falls, and runs through Medicine Lodge Canyon.

The ranch boasts barns built by the Amish. Snowcapped mountains add a postcard backdrop for the plains where buffalo graze.

(By the way, while technically buffalo are bison, the terms buffalo and bison are used interchangeably for American bison.)

Snow covers the ranch grounds about five months a year. No problem for the bison.

"Their coats are so thick," said ranch manager Stuart Breinholt, brother of Michele Goble, Dr. Goble's wife and ranch partner.

Dr. Goble said he spends a few months a year, mostly in the summer, at the ranch. When he's there, he wears a cowboy hat and boots and rides his quarter horse, Robbie.

"He's more of a business cowboy," joked Harold Dunn, MD, professor and chair of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, where Dr. Goble operates on patients and teaches residents.

Dr. Goble maneuvers his black copter to the ridges to guide wandering buffalo back home.

"I do most of my thinking when I'm out on the ranch," said Dr. Goble, 54, a father of five whose primary residence is in Logan, Utah. "The ranch gives me a chance to get away. I actually built the fences there."

Dr. Goble grew up in these parts, working on his family's farm and handling cattle. After graduating from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and biology, he earned his medical degree in 1976 from Washington University in St. Louis.

He later opened a private practice in Logan, and patented devices used in arthroscopy, such as suture anchors. He also worked as team physician at Utah State University, where he is now an adjunct professor.

In 1990, the Gobles bought the ranch in Idaho and raised cattle --until bison caught Dr. Goble's eye.

The doctor would fly his helicopter to help round up buffalo each year on Antelope Island. He soon grew to admire the creatures.

"That's how I got familiar with buffalo," he said. "They're really athletic, intelligent."

In 1995, the Gobles sold their cattle and turned their place into a bison ranch. Today, the Gobles' bison meat is served at restaurants in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

At the Maddox Ranch House, in Perry, Utah, diners can get Gobles' bison as burgers or rib eyes.

Or try it breaded like fried chicken. "That's been real popular," said restaurant general manager Irvin Maddox.

According to the Denver-based National Bison Assn., there are bison producers in all 50 states. You can find bison meat in nearly every grocery in Denver, and it can be ordered mostly at restaurants in the West, where most herds are, and in places such as New York City and Washington, D.C.

Yet, there is no stampede to buy buffalo.

"The per capita consumption of buffalo in the United States is still extremely low. We'd like to get up to the point where lamb is," said David Carter, executive director of the bison association. "Some people will say, 'I don't want to eat something that's going extinct.' "

At one time, anywhere from 30 million to 70 million bison roamed most of North America, the association said. Unregulated killing of the animals for their meat slashed that number to about 1,500 by the late 1800s.

However, protection for bison in Yellowstone Park, creation of preserves and private ranching have brought back the population to about 350,000 in North America. The threat of losing the buffalo has vanished.

Dr. Goble and other ranchers hope to tout the benefits of bison meat when the 2002 Winter Olympic Games come to Salt Lake City in February.

They say bison is better nutritionally than beef, low in fat and rich with protein. The bison association said each cooked 100 grams of bison has 2.42 grams of fat, compared with 9.28 for beef.

Catch Dr. Goble around meal time and you'll likely find him partaking in bison, too. "It tastes like a very rich beef steak," he said. "I eat it at least every other day."

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Bison bits

A bison can run up to 30 mph.
They weigh a ton. A bison bull (male) can weigh about 2,000 pounds while a cow (female) can tip the scales at 1,100.
Average life span is 20 to 25 years.
About 750 reside in zoos.
Their fur is coarse guard hairs and soft wool undercoat.
Bison eat a variety of grasses.
Each buffalo has its own personality, but all should be treated with caution and respect.

Source: National Bison Assn. (http://www.bisoncentral.com/)