The return of the buffalo is reviving portions of the ecosystem

RAPID CITY – The buffalo was brought to near extinction in the late 1800’s by the United States “scorched earth” policies. This is a military strategy to destroy everything in its path. In this case, westward expansion required the immediate removal of Native Americans, who needed to be forced to abandon their homelands and move to reservations. It was determined that the most efficient way would be to starve them out. The effort was led by General William Tecumseh Sherman and General Phillip Sheridan to burn down homes and destroy water and food sources, specifically the buffalo which were integral to tribal culture providing them with food, clothing, fuel, tools, shelter and spiritual value.

This was seen as a great victory. However, the impact of this brutal policy has had far-reaching consequences, well beyond depriving Native Americans of their food supply and way of life. Removing any species from the food chain can disrupt an entire ecosystem.

“Bringing buffalo back to their ancestral homelands is essential to restoring the ecosystem. We know that the buffalo is a keystone species,” said Dawn Sherman (Lakota, Delaware, Shawnee, Cree).

Sherman is the Executive Director for Tanka Fund which has been focused on revitalizing Native American buffalo populations, ecosystems and economies. The effort is a multi-state, Indigenous led initiative by the Inter- Tribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), Tanka Fund and partner The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

A keystone species is an animal or a plant that has significant influence on the natural ecosystem, maintaining balance and regulating populations of other species.

“Bringing the buffalo back to the land and to our people, helps restore the ecosystem and everything it supports from the animals to the plants to the people. It’s come full circle. That’s how we see it.”

Sherman said the partnership with TNC, in its fourth year, returned more than 500 buffalo in 2024 from TNC preserves to ITBC Member Nations and Tanka Fund caretakers. “Our individual ranchers haven’t had these opportunities before.” In total, the partnership has facilitated the return of more then 2,300 buffalo from TNC preserves in numerous states to Indigenous communities since 2020.

“We know there’s about one percent of the virgin prairie still left, that is unplowed and untilled,” said Sherman. “A little over half of that is owned by Indigenous peoples and has stayed in that original prairie state. So, the more animals that we can get the more of that prairie we can restore. We can help restore the land that has been plowed and has been leased out to cattle ranchers.”

“We have seen the devastation of these places and the loss of other animals, like the black footed ferret.” The black-footed ferret, one of North America’s most endangered mammals, was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1981. “Those two animals, the buffalo and the black-footed ferret, we know are symbiotic in nature, just like we are,” said Sherman. “When one is gone the other one is gone. Same with the birds and amphibians that go with the buffalo.

As they graze the grasses, bison provide nesting grounds for birds. When they roll around on the ground, they pack down the earth and create depressions or wallows in the ground. The wallows fill with rainwater and are breeding pools for amphibians and drinking water for other wildlife. Without these wallows, water would only be found in the naturally occurring streams and ponds. Some plants need specialized habitats, like medicinal and rare plants, which rely on the wallows. With the loss of the buffalo, so too was the loss of those specialized plants used by Native Americans.

The long-billed curlew, which breeds and summers in the grasslands of the Great Plains and Great Basin and winters in coastal marshes, camouflages itself using bison droppings by building nests nearby in patterns that mimic the droppings. Buffalo fur is used by birds to line their nests.

In the winter months, pronghorn antelope, elk and other animals rely on buffalo to plow through deep snow with their enormous head and shoulders. As they forage through deep snow, buffalo reach grasses that other animals wouldn’t be able to reach.

A buffalo can weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds. They help build resilience to climate change. Their hooves work the ground creating space for new plants to grow. Their droppings provide nutrients for soil microorganisms. Native grass seeds can stick to their fur and disperse as they move across the land.

Sherman said they have seen a return of portions of the ecosystem with the return of the buffalo.

Sherman said every month they are adding one or two new ranchers. This is important because the devastation has been nationwide and enduring. She said their ranchers in Texas are restoring land where the legacy of the Dust Bowl is still evident. “It’s exciting to see buffalo go back on that land and see the ranchers caring for the soil, the plants and the animals and watching them restore their piece of property back to the natural state.”

She said the partnership incentivizes the ranchers by giving them buffalo as well as support for soil health and natural planting. “Before you can be a buffalo person, you have to be a grass and soil person. The buffalo help restore the grass and the soil but if it isn’t healthy it can impact the buffalo negatively. The buffalo do need to eat that. So, you definitely need to understand what is in the grass and what is in the soil so then the buffalo will help to restore the prairie.”

Member ranchers, if they are in the market, are harvesting between two and three a year. But Sherman said buffalo are a little slower. “What we have noticed with the ranchers and buffalo,” she explained, “is that there is a little more herd retention than there is compared to cattle. Ranchers are keeping those bulls longer, they’re keeping the cows longer. They know that their cows may not calve every year, because buffalo are so smart that way.” They may not calve because of a bad drought or maybe it was a rough winter. They may not calve that year, and a rancher may have to wait a year or two. “That’s part of the keystone species. They adapt to the conditions they’re in.”

Ranching is a very expensive endeavor. Sherman called their member ranchers entrepreneurs. “They are very resilient. They are able to make a living while they raise buffalo by alternative revenue streams. Maybe they are feeding the community with a greenhouse. Once they get their meat cycling they are feeding the community by harvesting an animal here and there. Or cultural harvesting to help out a community during a funeral or things such as that. It’s not about the dollars for the ranchers but it’s difficult to survive in a capitalist society. It is a big thing for them that’s why Tanka Fund is here to do the best that we can as much as we can to help them. Obviously, we are not the only solution because like all ranchers, they look at all avenues to keep their ranches going, like selling an animal.”

The current administration is looking to terminate agencies and regulations that protect water and land from the worst impacts of mining, which will have a significant impact on buffalo herd habitat Sherman said that it is concerning and scary. “The main thing is that we keep doing the good thing that we are doing.”

One of the beacons of light is that the project has not relied on federal funding. Currently, a judge has extended the pause on the Trump federal funding freeze after finding the administration was out of compliance. “That isn’t our only funding pool. We have very generous donors and direct donors from online to our foundations to philanthropy. If all our pool was in with the government right now and we’re in the freeze, the work would stop. But because we have multiple revenue streams, our projects are not impacted by the freeze.”

She said it’s important for Indigenous communities to stand together, arm in arm, to get through this next four years, as well as the buffalo. “They’re going to speak for themselves. They always do.”

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

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