Yellowstone bison crossing the Gibbon River in fog. Photo: Jim Peaco, National Park Service.
For Yellowstone bison, this winter must feel like an extinction event. Forced out of Yellowstone’s highlands by the harshest winter in 15 years, tribes that have seen limited harvests of bison in recent years have had their fill this year. Under the broken Interagency Bison Management Plan, Montana’s Department of Livestock, acting at the governor’s direction — prevented any consensus from being reached at the start of this winter that would’ve capped removal of bison at sustainable levels. Consequently, the bison population will be reduced by about a third.
This lack of regulatory control, favored only by Montana, comes at a crucial juncture. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is in the midst of a 12-month “threats assessment” to determine whether Yellowstone Bison need to be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. One major factor the Service must weigh into its assessment is the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms to ensure species conservation. But Montana is not interested in conserving Yellowstone Bison.
Ironically, by refusing to acknowledge science and by ensuring there would be no cap on removal of Yellowstone Bison this winter, the State of Montana has now made perhaps the best case for listing Yellowstone Bison as threatened or endangered.
Conservation science, as applied to bison, assumes that a population of 3500 represents the floor for purposes of ensuring the viability of a genetically distinct herd. In Yellowstone, there are two genetically distinct herds — the northern and the central herds. At the start of this winter season, the Park Service boasted that there were more bison in Yellowstone — about 6000 — than at any time since the Park was created.
Considering that there were once 30-60 million buffalo, it’s a rather pitiful boast. It becomes problematic when we consider that the genetically distinct central herd, close relatives of the original 23 survivors, had only about 1200 bison to begin the winter with.
Most of the bison mortality this season has been among the northern herd, near Gardiner. Its population will likely end up right around 3500, while the central herd will drop below 1000. With no regulatory controls on further reductions, wild bison should be considered endangered.
One of the ongoing threats identified by the Fish & Wildlife Service is the fact that Yellowstone Bison are confined to only 15% of their range — in spite of the presence of an additional 8 million acres of contiguous, publicly-owned wildlife habitat in the Yellowstone ecosystem. This year has provided a graphic demonstration of the very real threat of extinction posed by the severe restrictions imposed on bison’s movement at the insistence of Montana’s livestock interests.
Now the Service can add “lack of adequate regulatory mechanisms” to their threats analysis, since it can be anticipated that more and more tribal members will want to avail themselves of the opportunity to do something they have been prevented from doing for 150 years — harvesting a buffalo for their clan. While it’s easy for conservationists to criticize the Tribes for harvesting too many bison, this ignores the rampant diabetes, poverty, and substance abuse that persists on Indian Reservations because of conditions imposed by U.S. government policy following its genocidal campaigns against bison and Indians.
As Interior Secretary Deb Haaland pointed out in advocating for bison restoration, “the bison are still here, and the Indigenous people are still here.” Harvesting Yellowstone Bison is fueling a cultural revival for Tribes, resurrecting their most sacred relationship.
The genetic strength of Yellowstone’s herds is critical to the success of Interior’s bison conservation initiative. Without Yellowstone Bison’s gene pool, conservation herds will devolve into domestic livestock, and their utility for restoring grassland habitats will be greatly diminished.
Now the Service can add “lack of adequate regulatory mechanisms” to their threats analysis, since it can be anticipated that more and more tribal members will want to avail themselves of the opportunity to do something they have been prevented from doing for 150 years — harvesting a buffalo for their clan. While it’s easy for conservationists to criticize the Tribes for harvesting too many bison, this ignores the rampant diabetes, poverty, and substance abuse that persists on Indian Reservations because of conditions imposed by U.S. government policy following its genocidal campaigns against bison and Indians.
As Interior Secretary Deb Haaland pointed out in advocating for bison restoration, “the bison are still here, and the Indigenous people are still here.” Harvesting Yellowstone Bison is fueling a cultural revival for Tribes, resurrecting their most sacred relationship.
The genetic strength of Yellowstone’s herds is critical to the success of Interior’s bison conservation initiative. Without Yellowstone Bison’s gene pool, conservation herds will devolve into domestic livestock, and their utility for restoring grassland habitats will be greatly diminished.
