Where the Buffalo Once Roamed

In an alarmingly short period of time the American bison that once roamed freely by the millions throughout the Great Plains region of North America nearly disappeared from the face of the planet. A 2004 report by the Northern Plains Conservation Network (NPCN) contains the illustration below. It charts the contraction of these herds onto smaller and smaller ranges up to the point of near extinction by 1890 – nearly 120 years ago.

Source: Northern Plains Conservation Network, Ocean of Grass: A Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains, 2004, p. 72


However, recently, in a relatively small area of north-central Montana just north of where some of the last bison living in Montana ultimately succumbed in the last century, bison have returned.

"On a cold and rainy night, not long past midnight on October 20, 2005, 16 bison stepped back onto the Montana prairie after an absence of over 120 years. APF and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) staff watched as the bison began to graze in the holding pasture, acclimating to their new home before being turned out onto APF’s land." www.americanprairie.org/bisonRestoration.html

Since then, this herd has grown to nearly 70 - all non-hybridized or genetically pure bison. This bison restoration project is being undertaken by the American Prairie Foundation in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund. You can learn more by going to the APF web site and by clicking here.


Photo courtesy of Diane Hargreaves ( DianeHargreaves.com)

- Larry Swanson, Director, O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West