You're right — once trust is broken at that scale, restoration feels impossible. The scars run too deep.

What you're describing is institutional betrayal. When the very systems meant to steward the commons instead exploit them — forests clearcut, herds decimated, land commodified — people lose faith not just in the institution, but in the possibility of shared stewardship itself.

Maybe the answer isn't restoring trust in those systems, but building new ones from scratch. Decentralized, transparent, accountable. Start small, earn trust through action, not promises.

The bison can't come back overnight. But the principles that protected them can be rebuilt.