I first fell in love with bison during my time doing field research in Yellowstone. After spending many winters around bison over the course of a decade, I came to see firsthand how they represent hope and resilience. These beautiful and formidable creatures are perfectly adapted to the often harsh environment of Yellowstone—true Pleistocene relics.  

As individuals, I’ve seen bison endure severe winter conditions and predatory attacks. As a species, they have survived ongoing mistreatment, mass slaughter, and near extinction at the hands of white men intent on wiping out the Indigenous Tribes with whom their existence has been intricately intertwined for thousands of years. The perseverance and toughness of bison are matched by their loyalty and gentleness – especially the mothers with their calves. I’ve watched mothers stay by their calf’s side even when it meant sacrificing her own life. There is something old and wise and spiritual about these animals that I can’t always find the words to describe. All I know is that they deserve to be here. They need to be here. And I think we all have something to learn from them if we’re willing to listen.  

Yellowstone bison are particularly special. Many consider them to be the last remaining truly wild, ecologically viable, genetically pure, and wide-ranging population of plains bison in existence. The bison that roam the park today are descended from the last wild herd in North America, and Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the United States where bison have continuously lived since prehistoric times. This herd also has unparalleled significance to many Native American tribes who see Yellowstone bison as relatives. Today, 49 tribes can trace direct cultural and ancestral ties to Yellowstone bison and consider the lands and resources of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem sacred since time immemorial. 

This understanding of how special Yellowstone bison are makes it that much harder to stomach the knowledge that hundreds of these animals are rounded up and slaughtered each year as a way of managing the bison population. That management practice is well overdue for a change. 

Finally, Yellowstone National Park is ready to rethink how it manages its iconic bison herds. On January 28, 2022, park officials initiated the development of a new Bison Management Plan that will guide the way Yellowstone manages its irreplaceable wild bison herd for years to come. Crucially, this is an opportunity to replace an outdated plan that relies heavily on a ship-to-slaughter model of population management with a plan focused on conservation, restoration, and expansion of tribal involvement. Restoring and honoring bison is not only about giving life back to the ecosystem, but also about restoring the culture, economies, health, and spiritual way of life for many Tribes. Any bison management plan must include a plan for Tribal involvement too.   

To kick of the plan revision process, Yellowstone officials released three preliminary plan alternatives—each with varying target population ranges and management actions—and held a thirty-day public comment period that allowed interested and concerned individuals and organizations to submit feedback on the contents and provide any additional recommendations. We reviewed these alternatives and crafted a set of recommendations that we believe should be included in a final preferred alternative. 

Our recommendations focused on putting an end to the needless slaughter of bison, prioritizing Tribal engagement and cooperation, and supporting the ecological and cultural restoration of the species to lands outside Yellowstone National Park. This includes increasing the population range to 5,500 to 8,000 or more bison, based on the food-limited carrying capacity estimate and available habitat that bison have access to both inside the park and outside within current tolerance areas. Population management should move away from ship-to-slaughter and instead place greater emphasis on natural selection, bison dispersal, improved Tribal hunting, and continued use and further expansion of the Bison Conservation Transfer Program, which GYC helped fund the initial expansion of last year.

Overall, the new plan should aim to conserve Greater Yellowstone bison and support their long-term genetic and ecological health and viability while allowing these bison ample opportunity to play their ecosystem role on the broader landscape of Greater Yellowstone. Central to this, the plan should focus on managing Yellowstone bison as a valued native migratory wildlife species with habitat needs that extend far beyond the park boundary and acknowledge the role these bison play in the cultural, spiritual, economic, and ecological wellbeing of the communities of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond.  

Now that the public comment period for this phase of the project is over, the park will begin to analyze and incorporate the public’s recommendations and requests in the development of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). They hope to have the DEIS and Draft Alternatives available for public comment by fall of 2022. In the meantime, we will focus our efforts on continuing our conflict reduction and coexistence work, growing the Wind River Water and Buffalo Initiative, and supporting further expansion of the Bison Conservation Transfer Program. Stay tuned—we will let you know of any additional opportunities to support improved bison management moving forward.  

Thank you to every person who took the time to read our recommendations and submit comments of your own. Comments reflecting our recommendations help ensure Yellowstone bison are treated and conserved like the iconic native wildlife they are. Together, we can be a powerful voice advocating for improved management of Yellowstone bison for years to come. 

—Shana Drimal, Senior Wildlife Conservation Associate

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the land of 49+ Indigenous Tribes who maintain current and ancestral connections to the lands, waters, wildlife, plants, and more.