Bison at a crossroads as push for conservation collides with new BLM rules

RAPID CITY — From the Black Hills to Capitol Hill, the future of the buffalo is once again being negotiated in distant rooms of power. As tribal nations, conservationists, and ranchers gather in the nation’s capital for what advocates are calling “Bison Impact Week,” a new set of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulations is raising alarms about access to grasslands and the shape of bison restoration in the years ahead.

All of this as historical state and national anniversaries are converging this summer, starting with A “Bison-tennial” Celebration: Marking Ten Years of America’s National Mammal on May 9.

Jim Matheson, Executive Director of the National Bison Association (NBA), said that they recently moved their headquarters to Rapid City and maintain a staff in the Black Hills region. “Rapid City is fast-becoming ground zero for all things bison.” He said the NBA and the National Bison Foundation, in partnership with the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies at South Dakota State University are focused on advancing scientific research, enhancing herd health, and supporting the economic vitality of the bison industry through collaborative studies.

But Matheson, who spoke with Native Sun News Today by phone from Washington, said that is the center of gravity this week, where bison advocates are walking the halls of Congress together in a rare show of unity.

“I’m actually here as part of what’s called Bison Impact Week. It’s kind of a collective lobbying effort for all the bison stakeholder groups out there – tribal conservation, commercial, and we’re all pulling in the same direction, which we haven’t done before, which is really cool.”

Among those in D.C. are the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), tribal buffalo councils, conservation groups such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund, and commercial producers. Together, they are trying to defend and expand the space for buffalo on public and private lands, even as federal policy appears to be shifting under their feet.

This lobbying push comes during a symbolic year for the animal long known as the backbone of the Plains. It has been just ten years since bison were designated the national mammal, a change that was itself the result of several years of intensive advocacy involving the NBA, ITBC, and conservation partners.

The American bison was officially named the national mammal of the United States on May 9. 2016, when then President Barack Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law, which recognized the bison as an official symbol of the U.S. due to its cultural, historical, and economic importance.

“I worked on that issue for about four years until it passed,” said Matheson. “We’re actually going to hold a celebration on Thursday on Capitol Hill in honor of the national mammal.”

One of the conservation partners, the World Wildlife Fund says that a decade later, the American bison remains absent from much of its historical range.

The anniversary coincides with the run-up to the 250th commemoration of the United States, another moment when competing visions of land, history, and belonging are being put on public display.

At the same time, the bison community is mourning the recent death of media mogul and bison rancher Ted Turner, who hosted a major international bison conference at his Flying D Ranch in Montana in 2017.

“We had a whole bunch of news last week all at once,” said Matheson somberly. “The BLM news, the 10th anniversary of the national mammal, the passing of Ted Turner… usually our news like that takes about a year for that many stories to come together, but it was a crazy week.”

Turner’s passing is no small thing. The Flying D had been overgrazed when Turner purchased it in 1989. He knew bison graze differently than cattle, so he replaced the cattle with bison. By doing so, he transformed the land and restored the native ecosystem which he did across his two million acres and thirteen ranches. The Flying D is now a working ranch and is home to thousands of bison that graze the property.

While Turner used his massive personal wealth to buy land starting in the late 1980’s tribes were already laying the groundwork for large-scale, sovereign ecological restoration. Individual tribes had been building herds. The Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council (ITBC) was founded in 1992 after leaders from ten distinct Tribal nations, who were already managing more than a thousand buffalo, met to coordinate their efforts.

For advocates, bison are not simply a symbol. They describe the animal as a keystone species whose presence shapes grassland ecosystems and supports a wide range of other wildlife.

“Bison are important on a bunch of different fronts,” explained Matheson.“ Ecologically, they’re a keystone species that evolved on the North American landscape and really helped shape today’s grasslands and prairies. They do a wonderful job at creating biodiversity.”

Matheson said their presence on the landscapes they roam is extraordinary – enriching grasslands and supporting biodiversity. “The National Mammal designation honors not only the ecological power of these ecosystem engineers, but also the cultural, historical, and economic significant they hold for Tribal Nations, ranchers, conservationists, and communities across the country.

Culturally, the significance of buffalo to Native Nations is profound and enduring. Matheson also noted that when people abroad think of wildlife in the United States, they often think first of buffalo.

There is also a commercial dimension rooted in both history and present-day markets. The NBA is a membership-based, non-profit trade association with about 1,300 members across North America. Its base is diverse: farmers and ranchers, tribal herd managers, and major conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy all appear on its rolls.

“There’s always been a buffalo economy prior to settling the West,” Matheson said. “We are trying to continue that today by creating a very high-value niche market for the end product of the bison… we have way more consumer demand for product than we can produce these days.”

That tight supply translates into strong prices for producers—and, advocates argue, an economic incentive for landowners to put bison back on native grasslands.

For supporters, the case for bison restoration reaches well beyond symbolism. They point to the animal’s role in grassland health, its cultural significance for tribal nations and its growing place in today’s marketplace. In the next part, that shared vision runs into a more difficult question: what happens when efforts to restore bison collide with battles over land, access, and regulation?

This two-part series continues next week with a look at the challenges facing bison restoration, including disputes over land access, new federal regulations, and the ongoing efforts of tribal nations, conservationists, and producers to shape the future of buffalo across the Plains.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post Bison at a crossroads as push for conservation collides with new BLM rules first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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