The National Park Service and Animal Plant Health Inspection Service in January transferred 112 Yellowstone bison to the Fort Peck Reservation — marking the largest transfer made under the park’s Bison Conservation Transfer Program.
The bison transferred included seven males, 53 females and 52 calves. All completed phases of the brucellosis quarantine and will finish assurance testing at Fort Peck.
Two hundred and ninety-four bison have been transferred from Yellowstone to the Fort Peck Tribes since 2014, and of those, 170 have been transferred elsewhere in partnership with the InterTribal Buffalo Council.
Jan. 2 marked the first anniversary since CSKT officially took over management of the Bison Range from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bringing the land back into tribal control. The Range now employs 25 to 27 workers, from full-time to seasonal. Included are a maintenance crew, on-site biologists and wildlife biologists working with the tribe, visitor center/museum staff and a game warden.
Native Americans used bison for food, shelter, clothing and ceremony, but in the 1800s settlers killed millions of bison, in part to devastate Native communities that relied on them. Now, organizations and tribes are working to return bison to tribal communities, for cultural, health and healing purposes.
