Since 2019, nearly 300 Yellowstone bison have been sent to tribal lands as part of the bison conservation transfer program.
The park recently more than doubled the capacity of the program with an expansion to the Stephen’s Creek quarantine facility in the northwest corner of the park located several miles north of Gardiner.
On a hot July day, a group of female bison calves grouped together in the same pen gulp down water and munch on hay as Yellowstone’s lead bison biologist, Chris Geremia, gives a tour for members of the media.
“We now have expanded to having five pens each capable of holding 40 animals, so that’s a 200 animal holding capacity. This integrated with the USDA facilities North of the park, we’re hoping to move upwards of 100-150 animals each year to tribes,” he said.
After certifying that the bison are free of brucellosis, a disease that can cause reproductive issues for cattle, they are sent to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in northeastern Montana.
Tribal members at Fort Peck then work with the InterTribal Buffalo Council to re-home bison to tribal nations across North America.
Troy Heinert, ITBC's executive director, spoke after the tour at a private event celebrating the conservation transfer program expansion. He recently visited bison that went from Yellowstone to Fort Peck to Alaska.
“And they are living truly wild as can be,” he said. “There are no fences. Their fence is the ocean. They have split into their family groups, and it was so awe inspiring to know they are thriving and helping that tribe reach their goal of sustainable buffalo herds for their people and create that relationship that many Indigenous cultures have.”
Speaking at the same event, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said the park is at a “pivotal point” as it looks to the future of bison management.
After almost being extirpated just over 100 years ago, there were only around 25 bison remaining in Yellowstone.
“That’s not that long ago. Last year was Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary and we reached a record number of almost 6,000 bison,” he said.
About 25 percent of the population was reduced this year primarily through tribal hunting. 88 animals were sent to slaughter where their hides and meats will be given to Native American tribes.
Geremia says the quarantine expansion is part of the park’s desire to shift away from shipping animals to slaughter and towards supporting the tribal hunt and sending more bison to tribes through the transfer program.
Each year, as part of a court-mediated settlement, the park meets with tribes and federal and state officials to cooperatively determine how many bison are reduced by the management tools available to reduce conflict and potential transmission of brucellosis to cattle.
Attorney Majel Russel, who is a member of the Crow Tribe, says for many years she has been working with the InterTribal Buffalo Council and Fort Peck “to restore buffalo to Indian country” and has been a part of the related challenges that have come with it.
“While today is a very beautiful, pleasant day that we’re celebrating, I do want to say that people didn’t believe we could do quarantine. People didn’t believe that quarantine should happen. People didn’t believe that we should conserve these animals and bring them out alive. And we worked very hard and fought some tough battles to make sure this could happen,” she said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau also spoke at the event. He said bison reintroduction is a centerpiece of the Interior Department’s recent secretary orderon bison management.
“This truly is the heart of America, good, bad and otherwise,” he said. “Part of what is represented in this effort of bison recovery and reintroducing bison and family members to where they belong is the national story of America making amends.”
Geremia says this winter a record 282 bison were entered into the quarantine program for future transfer to tribal nations.
A park spokesperson says the park is anticipated to release a draft environmental impact statement detailing Yellowstone’s future bison management plans this month or in August.
