AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Building Blocks for Bison Ecological Restoration: A Multi-stakeholder Meeting

November 16-18, 2008 Rapid City, South Dakota

AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY BACKGROUND

Two hundred years ago, more than 40 million bison roamed the grasslands and shrub steppes of North America. With their behavior and grazing patterns, these grand herds influenced grass composition, the extent of grasslands, nutrient cycling, natural fire regimes, and habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals. By 1905, bison had been hunted to near extinction, and fewer than 2,000 plains bison remained on the continent. In that year, a group of pioneering conservationists and sportsmen formed the original American Bison Society with the mission of “the permanent preservation and increase of bison.” Led by William Hornaday, the Wildlife Conservation Society‟s first director, and Theodore Roosevelt, the ABS helped save bison by lobbying for reserves and reintroducing captive bison to areas in Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Montana.

Today, bison numbers have rebounded, but the species has not been ecologically restored: bison are absent from much of their historical range, over 90 percent exist on ranches and many of these are heavily managed, and scientists and managers grapple with complex bison disease and genetics issues that often impede the restoration of free-ranging herds. To help address these challenges, the American Bison Society, re-inaugurated in 2005, brings together diverse stakeholders to build the scientific and social bases to achieve the ecological restoration of bison. The long-term vision is to have larger herds of plains and wood bison moving freely across extensive landscapes within major habitats of their historic ranges, interacting in ecologically significant ways with other native species and systems, while sustaining and connecting human cultures. Please visit us at www.americanbisonsocietyonline.org.

AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Keith Aune, Senior Conservationist, Wildlife Conservation Society

Dave Carter, Executive Director, National Bison Association

Peter Dratch, Endangered Species Program Manager, National Park Service

Steve Forrest, Senior Program Officer, Northern Great Plains Program, World Wildlife Fund

Mike Fox, Fort Belknap

Jodi Hilty, Director, North America Program, Wildlife Conservation Society

Harold Picton, Historian and Retired from Montana State University

Kent Redford, Vice President for Conservation Strategy and Director, WCS Institute, Wildlife Conservation Society

Stephen Woodley, Chief Scientist, Parks Canada

INTRODUCTION

The American Bison Society‟s second biennial conference, “Building Blocks for Bison Ecological Restoration,” was held from November 16-18, 2008, in Rapid City, South Dakota. South Dakota was selected as the venue because bison are an important part of its history, Native American culture, public lands, and economy. The ABS hosted this conference to connect diverse stakeholders and to provide an opportunity to share the latest findings on research, management, and policy developments related to bison ecological restoration. The conference was co-sponsored by the Linden Trust for Conservation, American Prairie Foundation, World Wildlife Fund-US, Safari Club International, and The Nature Conservancy. The Department of Interior‟s Bison Working Group—the key body mapping the future of Federal herds—held its inaugural meeting at the conference.

Since the re-inauguration of the American Bison Society, ABS has initiated workshops and conferences to define the parameters of ecological restoration and move forward collaborative work. Inspired and informed by the Vermejo Statement on Ecological Restoration (see Appendix 1), ABS and partners support projects that synthesize research, information, and techniques necessary for restoration, support policy toward bison restoration, and move on-the-ground collaborations forward. Over the past three years, ABS and partners have initiated an array of projects that:

1. Develop techniques and information, 2. Build and leverage communities of practice, and 3. Strengthen constituencies and communication.

The 2008 conference program included 47 presentations representing a variety of perspectives. Experts presented in six thematic sessions organized around the main “building blocks” for bison ecological restoration:

1. Ecological role of bison in ecosystems; 2. State, provincial and tribal management; 3. Economic and social context for bison restoration; 4. Genetic issues influencing ecological restoration; 5. Management and conservation on mixed-use landscapes; 6. Best practices for disease management.

In each of these sessions, speakers addressed the challenges facing bison restoration by sharing lessons learned and best practices. The results of nine projects sponsored by ABS were presented. One of these was on the conservation of the Janos Hidalgo herd, Mexico‟s only remaining bison herd. This project successfully brought together ranchers from both sides of the border to discuss the protection of this internationally migrating herd and created a group to design Mexico‟s Federal Bison Conservation Plan, which calls for the reintroduction of additional herds. Another ABS presentation summarized a national survey of public perceptions of bison, showing that the US public does not fully understand the ecological role of bison, but that a vast majority views bison as an important living symbol of wild America.

The conference brought together 147 stakeholders from a diversity of organizations, including government agencies, conservation organizations, Native American groups, universities, and producer groups. This allowed for a rich exchange of ideas and, most importantly, a platform to build trust across groups on specific obstacles. Informal discussion sessions were held for each of the six themes at lunchtimes and at the end of each day‟s program. In particular, the conference was a fertile exchange of ideas, studies, and information, with many participants stating that they learned something new.

We hope that the conference proceedings will serve as a learning resource for the broader bison community and a platform for more focused working groups on the main challenges to bison ecological restoration. There is a tremendous need for coordinated action to address the restoration of the North American bison and its habitats. Through this and other strategic activities, ABS is catalyzing change across a broad range of constituencies and geographies to help restore bison.

The abstracts for each of the conference presentations are included in this document, along with the bios of each of our keynote speakers. Clicking on the name of a presentation will link you to a PDF of the presentation’s slides. You must be a registered user of the American Bison Society web portal in order to view the presentation PDFs.

© Kent H. Kent © H. Redford

Conference speakers, from left to right: Dave Carter, Tom Olson, Sam Fuhlendorf, Eva Fearn, Peter Dratch, Natalie Halbert, and Ervin Carlson.

PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Opening remarks by Kent H. Redford, Vice President for Conservation Strategy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Birgil Kills Straight, Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – DAY 1

The day opened with comments from Kaush Arha, Deputy Assistant Secretary, US Department of the Interior, who mentioned the North American hunting ethic as an integral part to bison conservation, and applauded the commitment of the members of the Department of Interior Bison Working Group, which includes representatives from National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Land Management.

SESSION I - ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF BISON IN ECOSYSTEMS

Different Parks–Different Roles Dan Frandsen, Prince Albert, Grasslands, and Elk Island National Parks, Canada

Only three national parks in Canada have ecologically significant populations of plains bison. All originate from reintroductions ranging from a century ago to very recently in 2005. Elk Island, Grasslands, and Prince Albert National Parks in Canada all have pre-calving populations of plains bison currently varying in size from slightly over 100 to approximately 400 bison. The largest plains bison population in Canada, numbering in excess of 1,000 animals, is located in the Pink Mountain area of British Columbia, is not protected within a national park, and lies outside the historic range for plains bison.

The ecological role of bison in each of the national parks varies to some degree as a result of their past and current physical and political context (translated into a vision, goals, and objectives for each population), the length of time the population has existed in that environment, and the ecosystems into

© Kent H. Kent © H. Redford which they are adapting. The three bison populations discussed share the same genetic origins but have

different beginnings, have had vastly different management regimes, display a wide range of maturity, and live in very different ecoregions (mixed grass prairie, aspen parkland, and boreal transition). The way in which each of these factors has influenced the past and current ecological role of bison in each park is explored using examples from each park.

The Ecological Role of Bison in a Burning Landscape: Pyric-herbivory and Re-wilding Through the Re-coupling of the Fire-Grazing Interaction Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Oklahoma State University

Recent suggestions of re-wilding North America through the introduction of charismatic African herbivores to replace extinct Pleistocene fauna have led to discussions of the roles of specific species in ecosystem management. In addition, previous discussions have focused on the role of native species, such as the American bison, as keystone herbivores that are critical to maintenance and conservation of the North American Great Plains ecosystems. However, a debate about the most appropriate herbivore provides minimal understanding of the grazing process or the importance of grazing to conserving grassland ecosystems. I suggest that ecosystem management of grasslands is more dependent on pyric-herbivory (herbivory promoted through fire) in complex landscapes than on the presence or absence of specific species of grazing animal. Our recent experiments demonstrate that the fire-grazing interaction is critical in maintaining heterogeneity of grassland ecosystems and that heterogeneity increases biodiversity and maintains system sustainability. Logical arguments and results of experimental evaluations of the fire-grazing interaction suggest that the interaction of fire and grazing is critical for maintaining grassland heterogeneity and biodiversity. Response of native plant and animal species are useful as indicators of restoration in grassland ecosystems. Discussions and debates on the merits of specific herbivores are critical to conservation, but will have minimal impact on the conservation of grassland landscapes unless interactive influences of fire, grazing and other disturbances are also considered.

A Population Model for Bison in the San Luis Valley, Colorado K.A. Schoenecker and N.T. Hobbs, U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resources Ecology Lab, Colorado State University; K. Hagaman, Great Sand Dunes National Park; D. Phillips, Chico Basin Ranch; C. Pague and P. Robertson, The Nature Conservancy

Understanding the demographics of wildlife populations is fundamental to understanding their ecology and to managing them to achieve specific conservation goals. We developed a population model for plains bison (Bison bison) in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. This free- ranging herd was acquired by The Nature Conservancy in 1999 and has been managed with annual removals. Data on sex ratios, calf ratios, total population size, and number culled was collated from 1997 through 2007 and used to build the model. Breeding adult survival rates in disease-free, protected populations of plains bison can be >95% and calf survival to 6 months >90%. Rates of increase have been reported as high as 21-26% in some populations. We report sex ratios, growth rates, and mortality rates, and compare the management and ecology of the bison in the San Luis Valley to bison in other wild free-roaming populations.

Grassland Bird Conservation via Bison Impacts on Habitat: Multi-Scale Monitoring Kevin Ellison and Steve Zack, Wildlife Conservation Society

Birds that require grassland habitats are the most imperiled group in North America. Several species are in decline, many with recent sharp drops in population size. Grasslands need disturbance to function, and grassland birds depend on this habitat for their viability. The processes of disturbance that

shape grassland habitats include grazing, fire, and © USFWS drought. Grassland bird ecology was historically tied to bison grazing, yet grazing of domestic cattle has reshaped many grasslands—simplifying their structure and so reducing the diversity of habitat types available to grassland birds. Grazing patterns of bison acted at larger scales with resulting greater diversity in the structure of native grasslands. A combination of habitat degradation and habitat loss to cultivation has led to declines of these birds. Existing and pending reintroductions of the plains bison offer conservation opportunities to help reverse the declines in grassland bird populations.

We seek to understand and document how bison reintroductions, particularly at large scales, might help revive native grassland habitat and thus benefit grassland birds. To do so, we intend to investigate how bison improve grassland heterogeneity—how bison grazing stimulates variation in vegetation height and grass and forb richness at different scales. Conducting such studies during the process of bison reintroduction will inform how grassland structure changes at different scales when subject to bison grazing and behavior.

As a first step, we have conducted a review of the literature to assess the current state of knowledge regarding the ecological relationships between grassland birds and bison. Not surprisingly, few close evaluations have been done. Nonetheless, the literature clearly indicates how the heterogeneity of native grasslands is key to providing habitat for a diversity of grassland birds. Secondly, we are developing monitoring techniques that will help us identify specific ecological features that birds associate with, and to identify certain bird species and/or combinations of species that act as indicators of landscape and habitat condition. Through these indicators, we will be able to assess how different efforts of bison ecological restoration progress. Our focus will be on bison reintroduction sites across the northern Great Plains, but will include sites in other habitats to assess bird responses across different grassland management regimes. We seek collaborators and partners who can allow access to land for this study.

Separating Grazing-Species and Grazing-Management Differences John Ortmann, The Nature Conservancy, Niobrara Valley Preserve

It is almost a matter of faith that bison (Bison bison) grazing is somehow inherently different in all respects than cattle (Bos taurus) grazing. Often cited are diet preferences, movement patterns, and an affinity for regrowth after fire. To the untutored, at least, the real and perceived differences mean that bison grazing is always ecologically beneficial, while cattle grazing is always ecological destructive. Rarely if ever, however, has research comprehensively investigated long-term grazing effects of both cattle and bison grazing, with both species tested under

management systems commonly used for each. Such research would involve four treatments: bison grazed under both somewhat “open-range” conditions, incorporating prescribed fire, and under multiple-pasture rotation; and cattle grazed under each of the same two systems. Ideally, such research would be run for enough years to detect long-term changes in plant metrics. In lieu of such research, observation may be helpful. The 60,000-acre Niobrara Valley Preserve where I reside offers a unique opportunity for such observation; 20,000 acres are grazed by bison year-round, and 33,000 acres are grazed by cow-calf pairs under a traditional four-pasture rotation from about May 15 to October 15. Soils, topography, and vegetation in the two systems are nearly identical. This presentation attempts to illustrate real species differences and which perceived differences may be more due to common management systems usually employed for the two species.

Bison, Grasslands, and Erosion Brian Miller, Wind River Ranch

Before their extirpation from the wild, bison, prairie dogs, and fire played a large role in the structure of grasslands. We introduced 35 bison to a 1,500 acre area with no prairie dogs and no recent history of fire. In three months, bison horned and trampled 91% of the yucca on the grassland. On five neighboring ranches that had cattle but no prairie dogs or fire, the mean percentage of damaged yucca was 6.4 per hundred (s = 5). Piñon/juniper in our grassland with bison showed damage on 86 out of 100 trees, again by

horning. On the five neighboring Redford H.© Kent ranches, the mean damage to piñon/juniper was 8.8 trees out of 100 (s = 4). Given an n = 1 for the bison grasslands and an n = 5 for cattle grasslands, we tentatively compared the numbers by chi- square, which showed a p > 0.0001 for differences between bison and cattle on yucca and bison and cattle on piñon/juniper. More sites are necessary, but it appears that bison play a larger role than previously thought in keeping the grasslands in grass. When piñon/juniper advance onto grasslands and are closely spaced, they can outcompete grass for water, leaving an area of bare dirt. If that occurs on a slope, it can initiate gully erosion and headcuts. By killing trees and deliberately horning headcuts that already exist, bison may be able to help heal upland erosion. We continue to monitor how bison affect headcuts. Ideally, in pastures receiving reintroduced bison, this comparison should be made before and after.

True Ecological Restoration through Family Social Order Bison Herds Susan Chin, Tall Grass Bison

In the restoration of the American bison lies the restoration of entire ecosystems, because bison are recognized as a keystone species of North America‟s grasslands. It has been assumed that it took large numbers of these animals to affect the plant and animal communities with which they

co-evolved. A closer look shows that the larger herds consisted of a composite of multiples of related bison families. These extended family herds, smaller components of the millions that once roamed the plains, are the key to restoring the diversity of landscape.

Today, private and public land managers believe that by bringing back numbers of bison they are achieving bison ecological restoration. But there is a significant difference between herds based only on population densities and those based on family and extended family infrastructure. Without family social order as a part of restoration, the bison‟s ecological ripple effect on wildlife and plant communities will be diminished. A dysfunctional bison herd can still be healthier for the ecosystem than the predominant cattle herds. For example, bison wool can provide nesting material for small mammals and birds and bison grazing can increase biodiversity via transport of seeds in bison fur. However, a close-knit social order herd can do much more for ecosystem restoration. This social order influences grazing patterns: how quickly the herd grazes, what it eats, and how multi-aged components of the herd contribute to sustainable ecosystems. Closely grouped functional families act as large lawn-mowers year round, creating an edge effect not seen in dysfunctional bison herds which may be beneficial to nesting birds. The densely clumped groupings of bison families also disturb small mammals and insects in their path sufficiently to make them available to predators, whereas the movements of fragmented dysfunctional herds do not.

Herds with intact family social order are better able to defend against predators. The larger male groups typical of extended social order herds are family defenders. Even in the matriarchal herd component, close bonding means all members defend each other, and not just the young. Any producer in grizzly or wolf areas will appreciate this. Functional families are able to pass on collective learned behavior to each new generation, particularly with regard to choice of food, i.e., grazing broadleaves is a learned experience. Encouraging family social order in reintroduced herds may alleviate encroachment of junipers and pine into grassland.

Until family social order is incorporated into management systems, public lands managers and ranchers will have to deal with today‟s perennial grazing problems. The impact of switching to functional herds could be tremendous. We will never see the vast herds of bison again, but the lands we devote to this animal can be much more vital than previously thought.

Bison, Buffalograss, and Historical Vegetation in the Mexico Borderlands Myles Traphagen, Turn of the Century Restoration and Monitoring

Bison persisted into northern Mexico and the southwestern portion of New Mexico until the mid 1800s. Archaeological evidence from trash middens at Paquime in northern Chihuahua provides physical evidence of bison persisting in the borderlands well after Spanish contact. Additionally, vegetation remnants, notably buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides), exist in the region that indicate the long-term presence of bison. Buffalograss is easily outcompeted and shaded out by taller plants when there is a lack of grazing. Recently collected vegetation monitoring data from a grazing exclosure in the area demonstrate a decline in buffalograss when no grazing occurred over 15 years.

The ecological role of bison extends beyond shaping vegetation communities. In the United States the white sided jackrabbit (Lepus callotis) occurs exclusively in a small 26,000 acre buffalograss/blue grama grassland in the extreme southwestern corner of New Mexico. Its range extends south into central Mexico inhabiting the high grasslands in the valleys and foothills of

the Sierra Madre. These areas were known to harbor bison until as late as the 1860s. This rare hare appears to rely on buffalograss and is not tolerant of higher stature vegetation, thus implying that the species may be grazing obligate and part of the larger suite of grassland plants and animals that inhabit the range of bison as we currently understand it. Although cattle have served as a proxy for a large grassland herbivore for several hundred years, the grazing behavior of bison, coupled with their unique habit of creating wallows, likely creates a mosaic across the landscape that is not equaled by domestic cattle.

© Kent H. Kent © H. Redford

Reintroduction of Bison on Reservations in South Dakota: Ecological and Cultural Implications Trudy M. Ecoffey, Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority

This research explored and documented issues of sustainability associated with the reintroduction of bison in four different bison herds on reservations in South Dakota. The objectives were to identify management practices associated with the sustainability of bison re- introduction by American Indians; to explore the role of American Indian culture in the management of bison for sustainability; and to investigate rangeland criteria that could be used to measure sustainability of bison.

This project used a holistic, descriptive approach, including interviews, coding, and analysis, to build themes among the four case studies. The four case study interviews focused on overall management: general practices; environmental issues; economic concerns; and cultural issues associated with tribal bison reintroduction. The case studies also included rangeland data collection and analyses to determine both soil and plant quality. Soil quality criteria included organic matter, aggregate stability, water content, and chemical analyses. Plant criteria included measures of crude protein, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, dry matter production and a species inventory. Each site had replicated plots in shoulder-, mid-, and toe-slope locations with the mid-slope locations having grazed and ungrazed treatments.

Common themes that emerged from the interviews included: a hands-off management style; concern for the health and interactions of the land, animals, and people; and a de-emphasis of the importance of economics. All four managers acknowledged the importance of cultural traditions, and three expressed a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the bison. Results from the soil and plant quality analysis indicated that rangeland conditions were equal to or better than those measured on other grasslands in South Dakota or reported in the literature for mixed-grass prairie. Soil chemical and physical properties supported a diverse plant population with adequate levels of nutrition for bison.

Integrating the qualitative and quantitative data from these case studies offers valuable insight into the challenges, success, and unique perspectives of a diverse group of herd managers and contemporary Native leaders of tribal bison reintroduction.

―Northern Great Plains Conservation‖ ad hoc presentation Steve Forrest, World Wildlife Fund-US

With less than 2 percent of the region‟s 180 million acres in reserves managed for wildlife conservation, the northern Great Plains is one of the least protected places on Earth. There is, however, an opportunity to restore and conserve this remarkable landscape and the wildlife that call it home. WWF‟s vision for the northern Great Plains is a healthy and well-managed landscape that conserves all native species through a combination of conservation areas and ecologically sustainable agriculture. Water development in the northern Great Plains has profoundly affected historic hydrologic regimes. Surface water development (stockponds) in some places exceeds 4 km2. These structures, as well as in-channel dams, dikes, and diversions, in many cases completely dewater many smaller stream systems for much of the year, as well as affect timing, duration, and volume of peak flows. This in turn affects the creation of and duration of persistent pools on perennial streams that act as refugia for many prairie fish, as well as fragments of stream reaches that could provide fish habitat. The majority of surface water impoundments have been constructed to affect the distribution of cattle, which typically will not utilize forage unless water is nearby. Water availability is thus used as a way to redistribute cattle grazing intensity. It is hypothesized that bison are less restricted in their grazing to proximity to water, perhaps traveling up to two to three times farther from water sources to graze. If this is proven to be true, bison restoration over large areas could significantly reduce the need for and number of existing structures that rob water from watersheds, thus improving hydrologic conditions that would be beneficial for prairie fish. Further research to determine the extent of surface water restoration potential from conversion from cattle to bison is warranted.

SESSION II - STATE, PROVINCIAL, AND TRIBAL MANAGEMENT

Bison Restoration in Utah Bill Bates, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Utah has recently initiated efforts to increase the number of bison on the Henry Mountains and to establish a new herd in the Book Cliffs. Several challenges surfaced that nearly derailed both projects. Bison living on public land in Utah are classified as big game and managed by the state through hunting. While legal classification, disease, and genetic issues had to be addressed, the most difficult obstacle to overcome was forage allocation.

The effort to put bison on the Book Cliff Mountains started in 1992, when the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) partnered with The Nature Conservancy and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to purchase two ranches in the Book Cliffs. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing allotments associated with these ranches were reallocated to wildlife. However, the bison © Julie Larsen Maher/WCS Larsen ©Julie transplant could not be carried out until this reallocation was recognized through a revision to the Vernal Resource Management Plan, which was completed in 2008. Uintah County filed an injunction against the transplant in late 2007 based on disease issues. These issues were resolved by implementing a rigorous testing protocol, and in the summer of 2008, 14 bison were released in the Book Cliffs. Additional animals were moved from the Henry Mountains in January 2009.

Through the 1983 Henry Mountains Grazing Allotment Plan, the BLM allocated sufficient forage for 200 adult bison. When an additional 964 animal unit months (AUM) were acquired from a willing seller in 1994, the objective for the Henry Mountains was increased to 275 adults, post hunting season. Another willing seller approached UDWR in 2002, and an additional 505 AUMs were purchased but set aside to provide a buffer during drought.

Another livestock operator approached a conservation group, Sportsmen for Habitat (SFH), in 2003. He had over 2900 AUMs, comprising both winter and summer allotments. SFH purchased these grazing allotments, and 240 cattle were removed from the mountain.

Not surprisingly, sportsmen petitioned to increase the target bison population. A committee of sportsmen, livestock operators, federal land managers, and elected officials came together to write the Henry Mountains Bison Plan. Many contentious issues were identified, including conflict with cattle, primarily on winter range, and reallocation of forage from livestock to wildlife. Conflicts on winter range were addressed through the planned implementation of $500,000 worth of habitat projects. One major obstacle remained. The BLM was in the process

of rewriting the Richfield Resource Management Plan and could not commit to reallocating the AUMs from the purchased allotments to bison.

However, a solution was found. UDWR held 947 AUMs on state lands that were not considered in the BLM forage allocation. Using this forage, the committee agreed to increase the bison population objective to 325 adults, post hunting season by 2012. This agreement was contingent upon successful completion of the habitat projects and research to determine bison sightability during aerial surveys.

The Tribal Role in Bison Conservation Jim Stone and Ervin Carlson, InterTribal Bison Cooperative

Tribes have played an important part in the historical preservation of bison in North America. Tribes and Tribal members were the first group to suffer from the impacts of the removal of bison from the landscape and because of the role bison played in their lives were continually struggling to return the animal to Tribal lands.

Currently Tribes have restored bison to their landscapes and are working to expand the number of bison on Tribal lands. Tribes are leaders in the preservation and conservation of bison from a genetic viewpoint and serve as a growth tank for genetically pure bison while maintaining their status as wild animals.

ITBC has 57 member tribes and aims to help tribes grow their herds and support capacity building for herd management.

Wood Bison Restoration in Alaska Robert O. Stephenson and Randy R. Rogers, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) roamed the meadows and forests of interior Alaska for most of the last 10,000 years. Wood bison were extirpated in Alaska during the last few hundred years and by 1900 only a few hundred wood bison remained in Canada. Canada‟s National Recovery Plan for the Wood Bison recommends reestablishing one or more populations in Alaska to help secure the future of the subspecies. Wood bison restoration is a significant wildlife conservation opportunity for Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has worked for more than 15 years to thoroughly evaluate the possibility of restoring wood bison because of the potential for substantial benefits to wood bison conservation and to people, including hunting, and other economic and social benefits. During this time the wood bison project has received strong support from people and organizations with diverse interests in Alaska‟s wildlife. In June 2008 a major milestone in the project was achieved when over 50 young wood bison were transported from Elk Island National Park in Canada to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC). Alaska is now poised to make a significant contribution to North American bison conservation. While the bison are being held at the AWCC for health monitoring, additional planning and regulatory requirements will be completed. To succeed with the import, ADF&G worked with many Canadian and U.S. agencies to address issues involving U.S. Department of Agriculture bison import requirements and the regulations associated with the Endangered Species Act. These efforts have set precedents that may become relevant to other international bison conservation programs. This presentation

provides an overview of the history of the project and challenges that have occurred along the way. We emphasize cooperation that has been required among state, federal, tribal, and Canadian agencies, and wildlife conservation organizations. The hoped-for release date of bison into the wild is spring of 2010 or 2011.

Bison in Indian Country Fred Matt, Native American Fish and Wildlife Society

This talk covers how the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society plays a supportive role to bison restoration on native lands. The Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative started with us and eventually developed into its own organization. I cover the role of my tribe in issues related to the National Bison Range in Montana. I am affiliated with the Pend d‟Oreille/Salish Kootenai. I was the Chairman of the Tribal Council who was involved in the signing and negotiating the first Annual Funding Agreement. Two Tribal members Charles Allard and Michel Pablo originally provided bison stock that now is in Canada and on the National Bison Range. The NBR animals came from when the Federal Government forced them to sell off there animals so the could open the Reservation to homesteading. Allard‟s half went to Canada and Pablo‟s were sold to the Conrad family who owned a ranch near Kalispell Montana. The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society is assisting a Native Village in Alaska, Stevens Village, in managing their small plains bison herd. In the summer of 2009, Stevens Village, will host the first ever Youth Practicum around the relationship between Our Indian People and Bison.

Custer State Park Bison Management—Past, Present, and Future Chad Kremer and Gary Brundige, Custer State Park

Custer State Park‟s (CSP) bison herd originated from Scotty Phillip‟s herd, descendents from Fred Dupree‟s herd. Other introductions to CSP include 50 bison from Pine Ridge (1945), and 841 from Wind Cave National Park (1952-61). Records indicate that there were roundups during the 1930s to castrate calves to prevent inbreeding and breed stock traded with Ft. Niobrara. A 1949 range survey showed 776 buffalo, 1534 elk, 180 horses and burros, and poor range condition. Recommendations were to reduce grazing pressure to 1,000 animal units. The park eliminated horses and began to market bison and elk (including surplus from WCNP). Markets included sealed bid, hunts, and wholesale meat. Nevertheless, by 1965 there were 2,413 bison. CSP constructed corrals in 1959 and began a program to eliminate brucellosis. Calfhood vaccination and test and slaughter led to brucellosis free status in 1965. CSP began live sales in 1966 with as many as 20,000 live animals sold to date. CSP has worked since 1949 to balance rangeland utilization with production, allocating 25% of estimated production to all free ranging grazers including bison. CSP initiated a genetic survey in 1984, using blood typing. The park repeated the survey in 1992 and began a program to try and preserve genetic diversity. Additionally, Dr. Curtis Strobeck discovered evidence of cattle mtDNA introgression in 1992 samples. Genetic sampling of all animals occurred in 2004. Microsatellite analysis was conducted, and we are currently trying to obtain funding to run Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis. While the park herd has essentially been free- ranging since introduction, herd structure was controlled. CSP has discontinued age-based culling, forced weaning, protein supplementation, and has reduced handling. The herd has been allowed to age, and social structure reestablished. Current initiatives include validation of production/allocation models, genetics, and social structure. Future direction will consider the production and conservation aspects of the herd.

© Julie Larsen Maher/WCS Larsen ©Julie

Update on the IUCN Bison Specialist Group Bison Conservation Action Plan C. Cormack Gates, University of Calgary; Peter J. P. Gogan, USGS--Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Forestry Sciences Lab., Montana State University; Keith Aune, Wildlife Conservation Society; and John E. Gross, Office of Inventory, Monitoring, and Evaluation, National Park Service

The abundance of bison (Bison bison) endemic to North America was reduced to only 20-30 free-ranging plains bison (B. b. bison) within Yellowstone National Park and about 300 wood bison (B. b. athabascae) in the area that is now Wood Buffalo National Park. The plains bison genome was saved by private citizens that preserved small bison herds fortuitously scattered over the subspecies‟ range. Subsequently, the American Bison Society successfully promoted creation of plains bison herds on areas managed by the U.S. Department of Interior. By 2000, there were some 500,000 bison of both subspecies in North America, but >95% were in commercial herds. The IUCN North American Bison Specialist Group (NABSG) has drafted the Status and Action Plan for North American Bison, and the full draft will be available as of August 2009. The Plan provides concise reviews of the history, biology, and ecology of both subspecies, and their numerical and geographic status in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It offers defensible and practical guidelines for management and restoration of populations and conservation of genetic integrity. Guidelines emphasize maintaining the wild nature of bison and restoring populations, where feasible, where bison are an integral element of intact ecosystems. Local human community support is addressed as an important component of ecosystem restoration. Recommendations and guidelines in the Plan specifically target management of herds that will contribute to bison conservation. Guidelines apply equally well to public and private herds, including conservation-oriented herds that contribute to commercial production. The conservation action plan acknowledges the special historical

and cultural ties between indigenous peoples and bison and encourages the support of aboriginal and other local and rural communities in contributing to bison conservation and to ecosystem restoration and sustainability.

A Review of the Legal Status of Bison in North America Keith Aune, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Rick Wallen, National Park Service

The American bison is an iconic North American wildlife species that symbolizes the wild and open western prairie and extensive boreal forest landscapes. Although their decline and subsequent recovery is frequently recounted in conservation circles, the ecological recovery of wild bison was never really considered, and consequently their ecological restoration has never been fully accomplished. Most plains bison in North America are found on farms and ranches (~500,000) while relatively few (~20,000) are located on provincial/state and federal reserves. Few populations are distributed broadly on native prairie landscapes throughout suitable habitat and rarely enjoy equal legal or policy status when compared to other important wildlife species such as elk, deer, or pronghorn. Bison conservation and restoration intersects directly with many laws, rules, and policies within a complex social-economic-ecological matrix. Plains bison are primarily classified as livestock and in only a few states and provinces enjoy status as wildlife. Wood bison are managed more commonly as wildlife within their historic range but are classified as threatened in Canada and in some places have hybridized with plains bison. Significant disease issues are prevalent, complicating their management and legal status. Changes in law and policy are going to be necessary for most bison restoration projects to advance. Such changes must be designed to encourage bison conservation in an ecologically relevant manner, while considering the socio-economic consequence to a country, state/province, or local community. Although laws, rules, and policies can be an obstacle, they can also be modified and transformed into bison-friendly forms if there is social acceptance and high value identified with restoration goals.

SESSION III – ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR BISON RESTORATION

An Atlas of Bison Conservation Ray Rasker, Executive Director, Headwaters Economics

The restoration of bison in North America is an ambitious undertaking that requires a long-term, hundred-year view, and a great deal of collaboration between a wide variety of interests. It is also a task that requires a deep understanding of the economic, demographic, social, and political conditions of the lands where the restoration of bison might take place. In this presentation, we demonstrate an interactive on-line Atlas of Bison Conservation, with more than 100 maps on socioeconomic conditions in the U.S. and Canada bison recovery area. The purpose of this Atlas is to aid in the collaborative bison conservation and restoration process by providing information on the economic, social, and demographic conditions of the restoration region. The Atlas can be viewed at www.headwaterseconomics.org/bison.php.

One Family’s Experience in the Bison Industry for Over 40 Years John Flocchini, National Bison Association and Durham Ranch

This presentation includes an overview of the history of my family‟s four-generation involvement with buffalo. It includes the history of the Durham Ranch, Gillette, Wyoming, and the introduction of Yellowstone bison to the ranch in the late 1950s. The 50,000+ acre Durham Ranch has been owned and operated by the Flocchini family since mid-1960. The ranch began using Holistic Management in 1985 and continues this practice today. In 1988, the Flocchini family was awarded the first ever Holism in Action Award by the then Center for Holistic Management, now known as Holistic Management International. My grandfather Armando Flocchini, Sr., was a founding member of the National Buffalo Association (NBA) in the 1960s. The then “NBA” was made up of an early group of primarily private ranchers who had an interest in buffalo and using them for commercial production, in conjunction with the management of private lands, mostly in the west. These were the contemporary pioneers who helped reignite the restoration of the buffalo into the large and stable herd numbers that exist today.

Socially, the ranch has played an important role. Over the years it has hosted literally thousands of individuals and groups. From international visitors to the local fourth graders that study the history of Campbell County, Wyoming, the ranch enlightens visitors to the history of the largest living land animal in North America as well as the present-day practices of bison management and marketing. The role of this ungulate in grassland management is also covered. I cover the economic implications of raising buffalo on local communities as well as within our individual family, because, for obvious reasons, it is critical for buffalo operations to be economically stable and profitable.

Bison Hunting: Social, Ecological, and Economic Impacts Mary Stange, Crazy Woman Bison Ranch

Contemporary bioregionalists talk about learning to become „native‟ to the landscape one inhabits. For us, a key part of that process has involved restoring buffalo to their native range in eastern Montana. This presentation focuses on one key aspect of that restoration: the establishment of bison hunts on private land. Unlike public hunts which are geared primarily toward management of animal numbers, these hunts can strike a deeper historical and cultural chord. At the same time, they deliver genuine ecological and economic benefits. This talk is based on our eight years‟ experience of offering bison hunts on the Crazy Woman Bison Ranch.

Pasture Harvesting of Buffalo Dan O’Brien, Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch

Sustainable Harvest Alliance (SHA) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to supplying an alternative, humane, and culturally acceptable means of adding value to buffalo meat. The concept is to eliminate the stress of hauling, confinement, and the traditional slaughter process by harvesting animals in the pastures where they are most at ease. It involves going to the field, killing a target animal, and dressing the carcass in a specially outfitted and refrigerated tractor trailer (the current technology for field dressing a buffalo).

SHA is a South Dakota state licensed meat plant. In its first year of operation harvested 243 buffalo from native and non-native herds in western South Dakota by working on a very part- time basis. In 2008, SHA worked only 33 days, averaging just over seven animals per day. It is easy to see that by working full-time such a unit could become the sole harvester (and humane culling mechanism) for a conservation herd of 2,000 animals. Though the cost of field harvesting appears to be higher than the traditional slaughter method, the hidden costs of stress-related carcass “shrink,” death loss, and criticism from humane groups and Native Americans are eliminated. There are also the management and safety considerations of putting large numbers of animals through corrals and chutes on an annual basis.

As conservation oriented herds grow, the need for a publicly acceptable method of controlling buffalo populations will become pressing. Without a publicly accepted method, the possibility of a situation akin to the “wild” horse debate looms. Now is the time to prefect the field harvest of buffalo as a way to create a revenue center for the expansion of ecological herds and for controlling populations until large predator controls are in place.

Opportunities and Constraints of Ecological Bison Ranching Kevin Ogorzalek, World Wildlife Fund

The World Wildlife Fund surveyed the production practices of 24 bison herd managers from across the United States. The research focused on the characteristics and management of the herds and the landscape on which they roam. Additionally, the opportunities and challenges facing the bison industry were discussed. The results were then compared with the Matrix of Ecological Characteristics as mapped out in previous American Bison Society meetings. The comparison analyzed the degree to which the herds contributed to the ecological restoration of the species and its native landscape. It was found that the vast majority of herd management made small to moderate contributions to the ecological restoration in every factor examined. In

order to harness market power and in order to contribute to the ecological restoration of the bison, especially to the Northern Great Plains, it is recommended that a production model be created that will achieve the primary goals of the Matrix of Ecological Characteristics in a more user-friendly set of guidelines geared toward producers.

Buffalo Challenge Terry Armstrong, Government of Northwest Territories, Canada

Restoration and management of wood bison to their historic range in the Northwest Territories, Canada, face a number of challenges. The need to minimize risk of transmission of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis from an infected population to currently uninfected populations hampers widespread restoration on the landscape. Responding to anthrax outbreaks in remote locations creates logistical and economic issues. A lack of social and cultural acceptance of bison in some communities due to conflicts between bison and people, or due to the gradual loss of a bison tradition where bison have long been absent, impedes progress toward bison restoration and their re-establishment in currently unoccupied habitat.

Maher/WCS Larsen ©Julie

An Economic and Ecological Symbiotic Relationship via Social Order Herds Bob Jackson, Tall Grass Bison

Analysis of historical records, combined with numerous field observations of Yellowstone‟s bison herd, shows that humans and grazing animals have evolutionarily used the same extended family social structure and organization to achieve species success. The Plains Indians understood this similarity. They studied the social structure of bison to solve problems within their own society. This is in contrast with today‟s academic community and private and public bison managers, who focus, by default, on the extension of domestic agriculture and its

perception that multiples of individuals constitute a “herd.” Thus, if one understands there is inherent extended family social order in bison, it can be argued that only limited success can be attained with present-day attempts at bison restoration and the associated ecological landscape.

Core families are part of extended families. We can further say that all families have homes: territories with interactive recognition limits. These territorial landscapes are the areas where extended families interact with most familiarity, such as visiting areas of their confines at the best times for utilizing specific plants. In Yellowstone, different extended families occupy the same turf year after year. With territories comes defense. Mature male components defend the perimeter of the herds as well as the year-round territory. In Yellowstone one sees the singular male or groups of males on the edges of the matriarchal herds. Males extend this protection to defend the turf unused until later seasons. In Yellowstone, mature bulls from the Pelican- Mirror Mt. herd spread out in the valleys of Yellowstone‟s plateau while the rest of the herd is up on the Plateau in order to protect forage against encroaching bison from Hayden Valley. With protected turf comes identity separate from other extended families. This is where uniqueness and genetic diversity begins. Mating takes place within the same culture of the larger herd but outside the extended family.

If one believes the above and that bison have the same social infrastructural needs as elephants, then the present management for bison is sorely lacking. The “animal” may look the same but the make-up inside this animal as well as how the “herd” interacts with its environment is entirely different. Herds with limited or no social infrastructure may have limited communication capabilities, little learned behavior regarding herbivorous habits, and little chance of picking out mates with different genetic traits. Without families, the bison is left with only instinctual function. Our lands can be better restored when we consider Nature‟s bison.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – DAY 2

SESSION IV – GENETIC ISSUES INFLUENCING ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

Is Genetic Integrity Important in the Ecological Restoration of Bison? James N. Derr and Natalie D. Halbert, Texas A&M University

Hybridization between American bison and domestic cattle is the result of human activities over the last 200 years. Historically, hybridization was “forced” by cattlemen by overcoming behavioral and ecological pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms. However, post-zygotic isolating mechanisms including hybrid sterility (Haldane‟s rule), hybrid inviability, fetal development abnormalities, and, most likely, disruption of coadapted gene complexes limited the success of these breeding experiments. In the end, these evolutionary forces failed to completely prevent introgression, and we are left with the legacy of these early animal breeding pioneers.

While some existing bison populations—including private, NGO, and public herds—contain high levels of domestic cattle gene introgression, the U.S. federal herds typically have very limited or no direct evidence of hybridization. This understanding resulted from using genetic testing tools such as mitochondrial DNA typing in combination with linked microsatellite markers from the nuclear genome. However, these technologies are limited in detecting introgression in small populations or in populations where expected levels of introgression are very low. We propose using the Illumina Bovine SNP50 Genotyping BeadChip which includes 54,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that uniformly span the entire bovine genome (average spacing of 51.5kb). This technology will provide the resolution to investigate small populations such as zoos and potentially recover individual animals from herds recently contaminated with domestic cattle genetics, such as individuals from the National Bison Range and many private herds.

We feel that genome integrity and diversity are important issues in the ecological restoration of this species. If their genome is compromised through extinction, genetic drift, or diluted and contaminated through extensive hybridization, it can never be fully recovered. Documentation of the extent and significance of genomic contamination for species conservation, coupled with sound and logical long-term management strategies, should form one of the key foundations for ecological restoration.

Developing a Genetic Management Strategy for The Department of Interior Bison Peter Dratch, National Park Service

In conjunction with the development of the Department of Interior (DOI) Bison Conservation Initiative, a September 2008 workshop brought together government scientists and university population geneticists to address major genetic issues crucial to the restoration of North American bison. Scientists were asked to determine what constitutes a “wild” bison, how the DOI herds measure up to that standard, and how federal herds should be managed from a genetic perspective. The group concluded that there should be a distinction between herds such as those at Yellowstone and Wind Cave National Parks that show no evidence of historic hybridization and other herds that show low levels of hybridization, but that both types of herds have conservation importance. The group made a number of far-reaching recommendations. For example, herd sizes generally must be expanded to retain genetic

variation. All potential conservation herds (including those from Canada and Alaska) should be genetically screened regardless of jurisdiction. Introductions to herds should take place only when observed heterozygosity falls below target levels and when it will not result in an increase in cattle ancestry. Genetic tests using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) that have been developed in cattle should be applied to bison, so that the resolution now attained in herds can be applied to individual animals. The federal herds have a significant role in the expansion and restoration of North American bison, particularly through DOI working with States, Tribes and other groups.

Assessment of Genetic Population Structure among Greater Yellowstone Bison Flo Gardipee, University of Montana

The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) bison may represent the most important source populations for the ecological restoration of the species because they are descended in part from bison that have continuously ranged throughout the GYA and may be two of only three remaining public populations not hybridized with cattle. Therefore,

conservation of genetic diversity within these populations is crucial for maintaining long-term evolutionary potential of wild bison. An assessment of population structure would provide critical information needed, for example,

Kent H. Redford H. Kent in choosing individuals to help maximize

© © genetic diversity when founding new populations. Determining the proportion of bison culled from each breeding group will provide data for decision makers to use in developing adaptive culling strategies. Finally, this assessment will provide baseline data needed for establishing and carrying out long-term monitoring of genetic variation with the help of noninvasive sampling.

Yellowstone Bison Restoration: A Retrospective Pete Gogan, U.S. Geological Survey

At the onset of the 20th century, bison within Yellowstone National Park were estimated to number 40-50, primarily utilizing the central region of the park. In 1902, this remnant indigenous group was supplemented with the introduction to Yellowstone‟s northern range of 3 males from the Goodnight herd in Texas and 18 females from the Pablo-Allard herd of western Montana. Brucellosis was identified in the northern range herd in 1917. Removals from the northern herd began in 1919. The reintroduced herd numbered some 1,100 by about 1930, when it was observed mixing with the increasing numbers of indigenous bison moving from

the Pelican Valley on to the northern range. By 1935 the park supported two herds of bison, one of indigenous bison occupying the Pelican Valley and a second on the northern range derived from introduced bison. In 1936, 71 northern herd bison were relocated to the Hayden Valley and Fountain Flats portion of the park. Numbers increased in all three herds, especially after the National Park Service adopted the practice of natural regulation in the 1960s. Our recent studies have revealed the presence of two distinct Yellowstone bison subpopulations with limited exchange of animals, especially during the rut. Separation of the two subpopulations was indicated by differences in the timing of parturition and by marked differences in tooth wear patterns and age structure. Similarly, cluster analysis based on a suite of nuclear markers has revealed the presence of at least two genetically distinct subpopulations, which suggests continued high fidelity to breeding sites.

History and Conservation Genetics of Canadian Bison Populations Greg Wilson, Canadian Wildlife Service

The genetic diversity within and relationships among bison populations are becoming increasingly recognized as important to conservation due to their effects on short- and long- term viability. Genetic diversity and relationships can be affected by a number of factors, including current and historical population size, length and occurrence of population bottlenecks, and gene flow among regions. As such, an understanding of the history and genetic attributes of populations is important for determining their genetic health and desirability to conservation strategies. There are two subspecies of bison in North America: the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) and plains bison (Bison bison bison). Wood bison exist primarily in Canada, having only recently been reintroduced to Alaska, and are listed as Threatened under the Canadian Species at Risk Act. Approximately 10,500 wood bison currently occur in 10 free-ranging and semi-captive herds throughout northern Canada. However, most of these occur in and around Wood Buffalo National Park, where brucellosis and tuberculosis are present, reducing the possibility of using these animals in further conservation efforts. Most of the other populations have been founded with small numbers of animals from a single source herd, raising concerns about the genetic diversity present in this group. Wild plains bison are less numerous in Canada--around 1,500 animals exist in three free-ranging herds and one semi-captive herd. As in the wood bison, most plains bison in Canada originate from small numbers of founders from a single source herd. In order to quantify the genetic health of wood and plains bison in Canada, the genetic diversity of populations of both of these subspecies will be described and the relationships among herds examined.

Morphological Variations between Wood Bison and Plains Bison: Form and Function Wes Olson and Scott Harrison, Canadian Bison Association

We examined morphological variation between plains bison (Bison bison bison, Linnaeus 1758) and wood bison (Bison bison athabascae, Rhoads 1897) from across North America. Size-independent measurements and body ratios, obtained from photographs of bison, were used to develop a model that could be used to assess the subspecific purity of expression for each North American bison sub-species and their hybrid cross, herein referred to as Parkland Bison. Breeding age male plains and wood bison from Elk Island National Park of Canada were assessed, and these data were employed to create the model. Breeding age male plains bison

from the National Bison Range, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and wood bison from the Lake Claire and Central regions of Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, and from the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, Northwest Territories, were used to test the model. The model can be used with greater than 95% confidence to correctly assign subspecies to a bison of unknown origin, to determine the degree of morphometric variation within and between bison populations, and for use in selecting bison for inclusion in bison registries where morphometric expression is important. The role of form versus function and how the morphometric expression of a bison is a reflection of the environments and evolutionary pathways it followed is discussed.

The Age of Genome Conservation and the Challenge of American Bison Natalie D. Halbert and James N. Derr, Texas A&M University

Like many wide-ranging mammals, American bison (Bison bison) have experienced significant range contraction over the past two centuries and are maintained in artificially isolated populations. A basic understanding of the distribution of genetic variation among populations is necessary to facilitate long-term species conservation efforts. In this study, we used a panel of 51 nuclear markers to investigate patterns of genetic variation among the 11 populations maintained within the U.S. federal system.

Despite the severe bottleneck suffered in the late 19th century, moderate levels of genetic variation have been maintained within most of these populations. However, differences were noted in the patterns of variation and levels of differentiation among populations, and were compared with historical records of establishment, supplementation, population size, and culling practices. Five conservation targets were identified, which correspond to lineages established in the early 20th century. While some of these lineages are well-replicated within the U.S. federal system, others exist in isolated populations and should be considered targets for the establishment of satellite populations. In lieu of recent studies identifying the introgression of domestic cattle DNA in most, but not all, of these lineages, we consider management strategies to maximize the long-term genetic diversity among these populations while minimizing the propagation of domestic cattle introgression.

SESSION IVa – SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR BISON RESTORATION

Conserving Bison in Mixed Ownership Landscapes Keith Aune, Wildlife Conservation Society

Conserving one of North America‟s most iconic species and the largest land mammal, American bison, has become a far-reaching and more complex endeavor than it was a century ago when William Hornaday, Theodore Roosevelt, and early members of the American Bison Society established the first bison reserves. Early efforts were primarily directed at the capture and containment of the few remaining bison on fenced preserves to save the species from extinction. In 2005 the American Bison Society was reestablished with a new mission directed at the ecological restoration of the species. Ecological restoration of bison will likely take a century and will only be realized through a collaborative process engaging a broad range of public, private, and indigenous partners who contribute to bison recovery. Sanderson et al. (2006) identified many landscapes that might serve as restoration sites for free-ranging bison. In this presentation I examine the basic landscape conditions around 13 free-ranging plains bison herds and 10 free-ranging wood bison herds in North America to identify characteristics surrounding these successful bison landscapes. In addition, I examine sites identified by Sanderson et al. to prioritize which landscapes might be most suitable for ecological restoration of bison in 20-year and 50-year horizons. These are primarily mixed- ownership, multi-jurisdictional landscapes and represent some of the last remaining large places suitable for bison reintroduction. The next steps for refining this prioritization process and building communities of interest around these potential restoration landscapes are discussed.

Public Perceptions of Bison and Bison Conservation Eva Fearn, John Fraser, and Kent H. Redford, Wildlife Conservation Society

One of the main challenges to bison ecological restoration is that the American public is not familiar with the ecological situation of the species. Groups promoting bison ecological restoration need to reach more of the public to gain support for bison restoration. To do this effectively, an assessment of what the U.S. public knows about bison is helpful. The American Bison Society sponsored a national mixed-methods survey of public knowledge and attitudes regarding bison. An online poll surveyed 1,900 people. Most of the respondents came from range states (Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) and the rest from the remaining 38 continental U.S. states. The respondents were demographically representative of the U.S. voting public. Of these respondents, 210 were later randomly dialed and interviewed to qualitatively assess their online answers. The survey included 50 questions designed to ascertain if the public is concerned about the preservation of bison; what the public understands about the legal, genetic, and disease status of bison; if people feel the bison is a symbol of America; and if people have eaten bison meat. The results represent the U.S. public within a 3-4% margin. While the U.S. public does not fully understand the bison‟s ecological role, nor the current population numbers of bison, the vast majority (74.4%) feel that bison are very important as a living symbol of wild America. Over half had a positive attitude toward bison conservation. 43% of Americans have eaten bison meat, and those who have are more likely to be familiar with bison conservation issues and ecosystem services provided by bison. The survey showed that one road to bison restoration may be a pragmatic, market-based approach to grow sustainable markets for wild, free-ranging bison meat. The survey suggests that bison

restoration groups frame communications around the bison as a wild living icon of America, work to educate the public about bison restoration issues, and work with bison producers to communicate the bison‟s ecological role.

Social and Political Partnerships for a Century of Bison Restoration Tom Olson, Canadian Bison Association

The ecological restoration of bison must rely on social and political partnerships among governments, NGOs, Native American groups, First Nations and “Private Conservation Families”. The major stakeholders must collaborate to create a joint vision and action plan. During the first restoration of bison, each of the major stakeholders played a critical strategic role, but each acted independently. Governments have access to substantial tracts of land and critical scientific resources. NGOs have the staff and resources to shape public opinion and influence media. Native American groups and First Nations have a cultural and spiritual connection with bison and own a lot of land. “Private Conservation Families” own five times more bison than all other stakeholders combined. (Over 90% of all bison are in private herds.) They also own millions of acres within the bison‟s historic range. Collaborating to create functional social and political partnerships amongst the stakeholders will assure long-term success by pooling key strengths including:

scientific advisors and effective research; large existing land base; significant bison genetics; powerful media relations; and experience creating sustainable cash flow through monetizing bison conservation.

Working together, we can grow the conservation bison herd to one million on several million acres of restored bison habitat by 2020.

SESSION V – MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION ON MIXED-USE LANDSCAPES

Management and Conservation of the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Herd in North Central Saskatchewan Gord Vaadeland, Sturgeon River Plains Bison Stewards

Since 1969, the southwest corner of Prince Albert National Park and the surrounding area in north central Saskatchewan has been home to Canada‟s only free-ranging herd of plains bison still within historic plains bison range. When this herd began frequenting the farms and ranches along the southwestern boundary of the Prince Albert National Park, both the local landowners and the national park were faced with some interesting challenges in how to proceed in the management of this treasured herd. This presentation looks at the collaborative processes used in the establishment and subsequent success of the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Stewards, a grassroots non-government organization dedicated to the conservation of the Sturgeon River Plains bison population. We discuss the roles the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Stewards, Parks Canada, and the Province of Saskatchewan play in managing the herd, from research and monitoring to the issues surrounding wild bison on private land to herd health and disease. We will look at areas where these collaborations have been successful as well as areas where we have learned we need to improve. There will also be a focus on other partners and their involvement in these processes and the roles they may play moving forward. We will talk about the mutual impacts that the bison herd and the local tourism and agriculture industries have had on each other and the subsequent management directions taken. The primary theme of this presentation is to portray the need for continuous collaboration, cooperation, and adaptation across human boundaries and the successes that can be achieved through these actions.

Assembling a Landscape-Scale Prairie Wildlife Reserve Dick Dolan, American Prairie Foundation and Reserve

The American Prairie Foundation is devoted to creating a prairie-based wildlife reserve that will protect a unique natural habitat, provide lasting economic benefits, and improve public access to a spectacular prairie landscape. American Prairie Reserve (APR) is located in north central Montana. It is a mosaic of private conservation lands and leases covering approximately a combined 86,000 acres of deeded and private land. The vision is to eventually link lands managed for conservation with the existing millions of acres of nearby but fragmented public land. Recently, leases on more than 45,000 acres of federal land previously used for livestock grazing were waived back to the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge (CMR). These lands are now managed for wildlife by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wildlife management and restoration on the Reserve focuses on all aspects of restoration, bison being a part of that. APR also works on restoring stream and riparian areas, and prairie dog and ferret restoration. Since the spring of 2006, the bison herd has had two groups of new arrivals from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Additionally calves were born in the spring of 2007 and 2008, bringing the total herd to 76 bison. The American Prairie Foundation (APF) is focused on three main goals:

1. To accumulate and wisely manage, based on sound science, enough private land to create and maintain a fully-functioning prairie-based wildlife reserve. 2. To provide a variety of public access opportunities to this wildlife amenity.

3. To ensure that the land remains productive in a way that contributes significantly to the local economy.

Numerous historical sites, like teepee rings, buffalo jumps, and homestead-era structures, are being preserved for visitors‟ enjoyment and education, and the APF concentrates on educational outreach and work with nearby communities.

Bison and Grassland Recovery in Mexico Rurik List, Gerardo Ceballos, and Verónica Solís, Instituto de Ecología- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Grasslands were one of the most widespread biomes in the world, and now are one of the most threatened and less protected. Mexico is not an exception; around 7% of its surface is covered by grassland, but less than 0.8% is federally protected, and consequently, many of its associated species are threatened, including the bison. Bison were found in a large portion of northern Mexico, but have been absent from most of this region for more than two centuries. There is little information about the ecological role of the bison in the arid ecosystems of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Despite the species‟ probable historically lower densities in the region, there is no evidence to support that some of its ecological roles would not have also occurred in this region, like the facilitation of prairie dog expansion (another keystone species of the North American grasslands), or the physical removal of standing vegetation and hence maintenance of the open grassland ecosystems.

A Bison Working Group is being formed in Mexico, with the participation of government authorities, non-governmental organizations, academics, and land owners. The goal of this group is to restore the ecological role of the bison to the feasible extent given current conditions as part of a larger effort to recover native grassland communities, and to maintain ecosystem services in northern Mexico. As a first result of this effort, the bison is now considered one of the 30 priority species for the Mexican Commission of Protected Areas for recovery during the current administration. An Action Program for the Conservation of Species: Bison (PACE) is being developed. A goal for the next four years is to establish one ecological herd in every Mexican state which was within the range of the species. Bison reintroduction at a larger scale in both private and communal lands is expected to restore part of the bison‟s ecological role, as well as to favor other conservation targets, from riparian areas severely degraded by cattle, to expansion of prairie dogs towns, and even the facilitation of the restoration of large predators.

Bison on National Wildlife Refuges David Houghton, National Wildlife Refuge Association

The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) has advocated on behalf of the 548-unit, 100 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System since 1975. As the keystone species for the prairie ecosystem, bison play a key role in conservation programs on national wildlife refuges. NWRA is encouraging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move in new and bolder directions in managing bison herds on national wildlife refuges. Currently, Bison are intensively managed on eight small national wildlife refuges in Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Management efforts include rotational grazing, vaccinations, marking, and on some refuges, supplemental feeding. Only on Attwater

Prairie Chicken and Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuges are bison used to manage for prairie habitat to benefit wildlife of greatest conservation need such as prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, and grassland birds. Only on National Elk Refuge are the bison free-ranging as part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The refuge system does support some of the most genetically diverse bison.

The NWRA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to diversify bison management on national wildlife refuges. Such changes would include creating larger prairie landscapes for “free roaming” or “large roaming” herds, which dovetails with NWRA‟s Beyond the Boundaries Initiative, an effort to place refuges, as conservation focal points, at the center of larger landscape-scale conservation efforts. Smaller herds on smaller refuges would be managed more freely and would be utilized as a prairie manager for species of greatest conservation need on existing bison refuges, and reintroduced to refuges where cattle are currently being used. Small and large bison herds in the refuge system would be increasingly used as environmental education ambassadors, leveraging bison‟s mass public appeal, romance, and history to attract the next generation of Americans to join the ranks as conservationists.

Spatial Overlap of Bison, Pronghorn, and Elk in Custer State Park, SD Barbara Keller, Josh Millspaugh, Gary Brundige, and Chad Lehman, University of Missouri-Columbia/Custer State Park

Bison (Bison bison) populations often occur in areas where there is a potential for spatial overlap and competition with other ungulates, such as pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and elk (Cervus elaphus). Understanding how these species use the landscape is important to prevent the over- utilization of forage and water resources. We used a classification tree method to examine summer habitat selection differences and overlap among bison, elk, and pronghorn in Custer State Park, South Dakota. We used locations collected through radiotelemetry studies of each species as the target variables in our model to predict differences in resource selection among the three species. The best tree (i.e., model) to explain resource selection among the three species incorporated all 12 habitat variables we included. The prediction success rate of our model was 80.2%. Elevation was the most important variable in explaining differences in habitat selection among the species, primarily Maher/WCS Larsen ©Julie dividing elk selection (> 1,369 m elevation) from bison and pronghorn selection (≤ 1,369 m elevation). The next two important variables were habitat type and distance to shrub, followed by distance to water, distance to roads (two-track, asphalt, and gravel), slope, and terrain ruggedness. Visibility, tree density, and aspect were the least important variables in the model. Using these results, we evaluated spatial overlap among bison, pronghorn, and elk selection in Custer. Areas of high overlap among all three species

were less than 1,000 m from asphalt roads, relatively flat (<20% slope), and less than 1,300 m elevation. Areas of high overlap between bison and pronghorn were greater than 300 m from two-track roads, relatively flat (< 20% slope), less than 1,300 m elevation, and near (< 600 m) shrub patches. Areas of high overlap between pronghorn and elk were between 200 and 3,500 m from gravel roads, and greater than 3,500 m in elevation. Areas of high overlap between bison and elk were greater than 1,000 m from gravel roads, relatively flat (< 20% slope), less than 1,300 m elevation, and near (< 400 m) water sources. These interactions are likely driven by the preference of bison and pronghorn for flat open spaces at lower elevations which corresponds to the grassland habitat in Custer and by human disturbance (the avoidance of gravel roads by elk). Managers will be able to use this information to adjust forage allocation in areas of overlap, especially among bison and elk.

Managing and Conserving the Wind Cave National Park Bison Herd Dan Roddy, U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave National Park, located along the southeastern flank of the Black Hills in southwestern South Dakota, was part of the initial effort by the American Bison Society to restore the bison to the Northern Great Plains. Twenty animals, 14 from the New York Zoological Society and 6 from Yellowstone National Park, were brought to the Wind Cave National Game Preserve in 1914 and 1916. These 20 animals were the founders of the current bison herd that roams this 28,000 acre national park. Current management strategies for this herd have evolved over the past 90-95 years with wildlife diseases, genetics information, state requirements, drought, and the ability to provide enough forage for elk and bison herds while managing for prairie dogs and the endangered black-footed ferret. The current strategy for managing the herd includes the culling of bison from the yearling age class (surplus animals go to American Indian tribes, state and federal agencies, and conservation organizations), maintaining a uniform herd structure with an even age/sex ratio, and maintaining a stable herd between 350-500 animals that is in balance with the vegetation communities.

SESSION VI – BEST PRACTICES FOR DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Disease Management Practices for Captive and Free-ranging Bison Herds Jack Rhyan, National Wildlife Research Center, USDA-APHIS

Between 1880 and 1920, actions initially taken by individuals and later by non-government organizations and government agencies resulted in the preservation of bison in North America. In the nineteen-teens and twenties, 3 episodes of hemorrhagic septicemia nearly decimated one of the most famous recently-established bison herds, the introduced herd in Yellowstone National Park. An early 20th century, state-of-the-art, science-based strategy of vaccination with an autogenous bacterin was employed to manage the disease. In the same timeframe, the herd became infected with brucellosis, a zoonotic disease that likely spread to elk and in recent years has spilled back to cattle via the infected elk populations in the greater Yellowstone area (GYA). The bison and elk herds in the GYA remain the last known reservoir of Brucella abortus in the U.S. Today, as captive and free-ranging herds serve as a resource to restore bison to appropriate landscapes in North America, we must use current best management practices in disease detection and prophylaxis, lest with the best of intentions, we naively establish new herds or contaminate established herds with diseases, some of which are transmissible to wildlife, livestock, and humans. Specific diseases of concern affecting bison herds include bovine brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, Johne‟s disease, malignant catarrhal fever, anthrax, and Mycoplasma bovis. Other cattle diseases such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine virus diarrhea (BVD), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), and Pasteurella pneumonia or septicemia could jeopardize bison herd health, but have not been a significant problem in recent years. Best management practices for disease detection and prevention include serologic testing, culture, parasitic screening and prophylaxis, vaccination, therapeutics, and regular disease monitoring.

Are ―Best Practices‖ Applicable to Management of Free-ranging Bison that are Infected with Cattle Diseases? John Nishi, EcoBorealis Consulting

A best practice is a technique or methodology that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired objective. Best practices have a technical basis for achieving defined results; they have been developed within a variety of industries and disciplines and are most commonly applied at an operational level by field practitioners. Whether the practitioner is a geophysicist overseeing low impact seismic exploration in sensitive habitat, or a wildlife veterinarian supervising capture and immobilization of grizzly bears, best practices present a range of techniques that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. However, at the broader scale of issue management, „best practices‟ are more difficult to develop and implement because the focus changes from operational practices to a wider consideration of management goals, objectives, and strategies. In this context, „best practices‟ should not be regarded as a panacea for solving all issues we face as wildlife ecologists and managers, but should be considered as part of a suite of tools and scalable approaches. Indeed, consideration of best practices may help add focus and scientific rigor in dealing with issues. This presentation covers the for „best practices‟ and their application in a broader approach to evaluating and developing management strategies for the contentious issues surrounding diseased bison in the greater Yellowstone and Wood Buffalo ecoregions. These disease reservoirs provide striking examples of how wild bison populations, which are infected with pathogens of livestock origin, i.e., tuberculosis and/or brucellosis, present significant

administrative, political, and ecological challenges to wildlife managers. In those landscapes, the presence of diseased populations precludes landscape-level ecological restoration of bison. The presence of diseased wild bison on a landscape with real and potential overlap with domestic livestock, bison, and other free-ranging wildlife presents tough management problems because the solutions are not apparent, the conflicts are often entrenched, and the fundamental issues are complex and perceived differently by various agencies and stakeholders. In this context, consideration of best practices may help add focus and scientific rigor, whereas stakeholders often approach contentious ecological issues from a value- or opinion-based perspective.

Healthy Bison, Healthy Ecosystems: The History of Cattle Disease Introductions and the Future of Bison Recovery Damien Joly, Wildlife Conservation Society

Two diseases of cattle, bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) and brucellosis (Brucella abortus), were introduced to Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), Canada, in the late 1920s. Serological testing indicated prevalence of 49% and 31% for tuberculosis and brucellosis, respectively, in 1997-1999. These diseases are endemic. While there is disagreement about the effect of these diseases on the intra-population dynamics of bison in northern Canada, it is agreed that the presence of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis is a major issue affecting recovery of bison by limiting opportunities for bison reintroductions and natural range expansion. While technically feasible, eradication of these diseases would come at large social cost. I argue that the next step for bison recovery in northern Canada is a frank exploration of these costs amongst stakeholders and a consensus decision to either live with these diseases or embark on an effort to eradicate them.

Managing Bison on a Mixed Jurisdiction Landscape: A Case History of Managing Yellowstone Bison Rick Wallen, National Park Service

Best management practices have many similarities to the adaptive management process. The process includes identification of problems, developing an understanding of the system dynamics, developing management strategies to meet long- and short-term objectives, and lastly, monitoring progress. At Yellowstone National Park our conflict has two perspectives: the conservation of the functional role wild bison play on our landscape, and the prevention of brucellosis transmission between wild bison and domestic cattle surrounding our conservation area. We know a lot about the ecological dynamics of bison demography, migratory patterns, and their brucellosis infection probability. We have initiated an interagency plan to manage brucellosis risk to livestock and rely on keeping the two species separated in space and time in order to eliminate the probability of disease transmission. Where bison winter range overlaps with livestock summer range the temporal separation is based on the life expectancy of shed bacteria. Our long-term monitoring is focused on tracking population parameters that describe conservation values (e.g., demographics, genetic diversity, and migratory tendencies), brucellosis risk management (e.g., spatial overlap with livestock ranges and actions to manage bison distribution) and our ability to suppress the disease in the bison population (e.g., immune response of bison to vaccination and subsequent exposure to the disease, and bison infection rates by age and sex).

Carrying Capacity of Yellowstone Bison: Implications for Conservation and Brucellosis Management Glenn E. Plumba, P. J. Whitea, Michael B. Coughenoub, Rick L. Wallena aNational Park Service, Yellowstone National Park; bNatural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University

Yellowstone bison historically occupied approximately 20,000 km2 in the headwaters of the Yellowstone and Madison Rivers in what is now referred to as the northern Greater Yellowstone Area. However, by the early 20th century, Yellowstone National Park provided sanctuary to approximately two dozen of the only relict, wild, and free-ranging bison remaining in the United States. The successful conservation of this bison population to a high of nearly 5,000 animals in 2005 is a conservation epic that has led to an enduring series of societal conflicts and disagreements among various publics and management entities regarding issues of perceived overabundance and the potential transmission of the Brucella abortus pathogen to domestic cattle. Yellowstone bison have not exceeded estimates of their theoretical food- limited carrying capacity (~6,200) but began to migrate to lower elevations in or outside the park during winter as numbers increased and climatic factors interacted with density to limit nutritional intake and foraging efficiency. This behavioral response has enabled bison to maintain relatively stable population growth and increase their food-limited carrying capacity as numbers increased. At a lower threshold this behavioral response likely represents the “nutritional” or “foraging efficiency” carrying capacity for bison when intake rates are not meeting their needs or expectations. Bison occupying the Yellowstone and Madison River watersheds historically operated at a scale larger than the park, and recent density-related dispersal movements by Yellowstone bison represent an attempt to operate at this larger scale.

Johne's Disease in Free-ranging Wood Bison in Canada Helen Schwantje, Ministry of Environment, British Columbia

Johne‟s disease (JD) is a condition resulting from intestinal infection by one of several strains of the Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. Infections occur in many domestic and wild species, but the disease is best known to occur in intensive livestock situations where it may cause significant economic losses. JD is a disease of older animals and is associated with fecal contamination and damp environments. Public health agencies are considering listing JD due to a possible link to Crohn‟s disease. Limited information is available about the disease in bison. The cattle strain in more intensively farmed bison causes symptoms similar to that in cattle, with older individuals showing weight loss and diarrhea and herds demonstrating poor production.

JD presents challenges to the bison manager as it is hard to diagnose, the organism can survive in the environment, other species can transmit it, and it is a perceived risk to wild and domestic animals and humans. The challenges are higher with wood bison since evidence of the organism in free-ranging wild animals does not appear to be associated with disease, and traditional sampling and control measures are difficult with this species of conservation concern. These concerns plus a single positive clinical wood bison in a Canadian conservation herd initiated an international JD workshop in Canada in 2005. The published proceedings include the surveillance results for plains and wood bison herds in western Canada, knowledge gaps and research priorities, management, herd monitoring and testing recommendations. The recommendations included a qualitative risk assessment, standard testing protocols, and

mitigation actions followed to allow a successful translocation of genetically valuable breeding stock to the Alaska Wood Bison Reintroduction Program.

The closing banquet on Tuesday, November 18, was held at the Ramkota Best Western Hotel and Conference Center, with comments from Bob Paulson, The Nature Conservancy, South Dakota, and Bruce Knight, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, US Department of Agriculture.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER BIOS

KAUSH ARHA was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, United States Department of the Interior, in 2008. Previously, he practiced law in Washington, DC, with the firm Latham & Watkins LLP. He was also the director of the National Forum on U.S. Agricultural Policy: Conserving Economic Resilience and Ecological Integrity of American Farmlands, a forum sponsored by Stanford University, American Farmland Trust, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Yale University. In 2005, Kaush steered the National Forum on Endangered Species Act and Federalism: Effective Species Conservation through Greater State Commitment. From 1997 to 2002, he directed the Private Lands Public Wildlife Conservation Program for the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission and was the special policy adviser to the Commission on conserving threatened and endangered species within the state. He received his MSc in Agricultural and Resource Economics and PhD in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and his JD from Stanford University.

BILL BATES has worked for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for 26 years as a wildlife biologist, wildlife manager, mammals program coordinator, and regional supervisor. His projects have included the reintroduction of river otters, black-footed ferrets, desert bighorn sheep, and bison, and he has led efforts to write management plans for cougar, black bear, and the Henry Mountains bison herd. Working with bison has been a family affair for Bill, whose father, Jim, managed the Henry Mountains bison herd from 1963 to 1985, and brother, Steve, currently manages the Antelope Island herd. Bill received his MS in wildlife science from Utah State University.

JAMES DERR is a Professor of Genetics in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, and Director of the DNA Technologies Core Sequencing and Genotyping Laboratory. He and his collaborators have conducted research on American bison for over 15 years, including studies on developing modern molecular genetic technologies specifically for bison investigations from the U.S. National Park and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service herds, the large U.S. state-maintained herds, most of the NGO-maintained herds, and well over 100 private bison herds. Over 15,000 American bison samples were collected during these studies, representing one of the largest and most comprehensive DNA repositories for a wildlife species.

DICK DOLAN is Managing Director of the American Prairie Foundation (APF). He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Finance, and subsequently attended the University of Washington School of Law, where he earned his JD with high honors in 1990. Dick worked as an attorney at the Bozeman law firm of Goetz, Gallik, Baldwin, and Dolan, where he was a partner for 10 years. He has served the local conservation community as a consultant, and, after leaving the world of law, worked as a program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Dick was raised in Billings, MT, and currently lives in Bozeman with his wife and two children.

PETER A. DRATCH joined the National Park Service in 2001 and is currently Manager of the Endangered Species Program. He works on genetic issues in many species in national parks,

from Devils Hole pupfish to desert tortoises, wolves, and bison. Peter also teaches conservation genetics at the National Conservation Training Center. He spent 10 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where he was one of the scientists that started the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, and also spent a year in the Office of International Affairs, working on listing decisions for cheetahs and koalas. Peter has long been interested in communicating science to the public and wrote for The Oregonian as a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

ARMANDO “JOHN” FLOCCHINI III is Ranch Manager for Durham Ranches, Inc., in northeastern Wyoming, which is owned by the Flocchini family. John conducts the ranch‟s annual 5k/10k walk/run “Buffalo Stampede” for charity. He is also President of the National Buffalo Foundation and Vice President and Chair of the Finance Committee of the National Bison Association. He earned his Bachelor‟s degree in agriculture from California Polytechnic State University in 1980.

DAN FRANDSEN has been working as a Conservation Biologist in Prince Albert National Park since 1994, where he has devoted significant attention to research and management issues concerning the free-ranging Sturgeon River plains bison population. He has also served as Park Warden for Prince Albert, Wood Buffalo, Jasper, and Ivvavik National Parks. Dan earned his Master‟s degree from the University of Toronto‟s wildlife program, where he studied the relationships between the density, habitat, and behavior of blue grouse on Vancouver Island, BC.

SAMUEL D. FUHLENDORF is Sarkeys Distinguished Professor in Rangeland Ecology at Oklahoma State University, where he has been working since 1997. He received his MS in Range Science in 1992 and his PhD in Rangeland Ecology and Management in 1996, both from Texas A&M University.

BRUCE KNIGHT is Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He provides leadership and oversight for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration. These agencies protect animals and plants and promote fair, open, and orderly markets for U.S. agricultural products. From 2002 to 2006, Bruce served as Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the lead agency for conservation on private working agricultural lands. Under his leadership, the agency assisted 1 million farmers and ranchers in applying conservation on more than 130 million acres of working farm and ranchlands. A third-generation rancher and farmer and lifelong conservationist, Bruce grew up on a small farm near Gann Valley, SD, where he owns a diversified grain and cattle operation that uses no-till and rest rotation grazing systems.

JOHN NISHI recently established EcoBorealis Consulting Inc. and has joined other ecologists in the ALCES© Group to work on current issues in landscape ecology and cumulative effects, and to help facilitate balanced and sustainable land-use decisions. He.is a professional biologist with over 13 years of service with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) in Canada, and has worked extensively on wildlife management issues with northern communities and co-management boards. John started his career as the Kitikmeot Regional Biologist for the GNWT and worked on a variety of species including muskoxen, arctic-island and barren-ground caribou, wolverine, barren-ground grizzly bear, and gyrfalcon. He then moved from the arctic to work as a Bison Ecologist. Through collaboration with aboriginal

communities, university researchers, and other government agencies, John and his colleagues used a team approach to provide leadership in understanding and developing options for conservation of the threatened wood bison and management approaches to the larger northern diseased bison issue.

RAY RASKER is Executive Director of Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonprofit research group whose mission is to improve community development and land management decisions in the West. Ray has written extensively on rural development and the role of environmental quality in economic prosperity. He has a PhD from the College of Forestry, Oregon State University, a Masters of Agriculture from Colorado State University, and a BS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Washington. Ray also holds an affiliate position in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University.

JACK RHYAN is a veterinarian and wildlife disease investigator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture‟s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) and is located at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, CO, where he is involved with research on brucellosis in bison and elk, oral vaccine development for wildlife applications, contraception as a tool for wildlife disease management, marine mammal brucellosis, foot and mouth disease in wildlife, and chronic wasting disease in cervids. John received his DVM and MS from Auburn University and has maintained an interest in wildlife diseases during four years of mixed veterinary practice, nine years as a pathologist in state diagnostic laboratories, and seven years at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, IA.

JIM STONE is Executive Director of the Inter Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring buffalo to Tribal lands. ITBC has 57 member Tribes in 18 states. Previously, Jim worked for the Yankton Sioux Tribe, of which he is an enrolled member. Jim received his BS from the University of South Dakota in 1993.

GORD VAADELAND was born and raised on a cattle ranch near Big River, Saskatchewan. He lives with his wife Sheila and son Jake on the southwest boundary of Prince Albert National Park, in the heart of the area also occupied by Canada‟s only free-ranging herd of plains bison still within historic range. Gord currently operates Sturgeon River Ranch, an adventure tourism business that allows guests to view wild bison while on horseback in Prince Albert National Park. In addition to his work as Executive Director of the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Stewards, Gord currently serves as Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. He plays in a bluegrass band and has recorded six albums with a seventh on the way. He is also the Artistic Director for the Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival.

CONFERENCE CO-SPONSORS

American Prairie Foundation

Safari Club International

The Nature Conservancy

VERMEJO WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

Keith Aune, Montana Department of Fish, APPENDIX 1 Wildlife and Parks

Dick Baldes THE ECOLOGICAL FUTURE OF THE Wind River Alliance, Wyoming NORTH AMERICAN BISON Joel Berger Wildlife Conservation Society Vermejo Statement – May 2006 Dave Carter, Na tional Bison Association

Charles Curtin Malpai Group / Gray Ranch Ecological restoration of the North American bison will James Derr, Texas A&M University occur when multiple large herds of plains and wood

Steve Dobrott bison move freely across extensive landscapes within all Ladder Ranch, New Mexico major habitats of their historic ranges, interacting in Eva Fearn Wildlife Conservation Society ecologically significant ways with the fullest possible set

Craig Fleener, Council of Athabascan Tribal of other native species, and inspiring, sustaining and Governments connecting human cultures. Steve Forrest, WWF-US

C. Cormack Gates, University of Alberta Ecological restoration of bison will likely take a century

Craig Gerlach, University of Alaska and will only be realized through a collaborative process

Peter Gogan, USGS - Northern Rocky engaging a broad range of public, private, and indigenous Mountain Forestry Sciences Laboratory partners who contribute to bison restoration by: Shaun Grassel, Lower Brule Sioux Reservation, South Dakota o Maintaining herds that meet the criteria for John Gross, National Park Service ecological restoration, as well as herds that Jodi Hilty Wildlife Conservation Society contribute in some significant way to the overall ecological restoration of bison, regardless of size Marv Jensen Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico o Managing herds so they are subject to natural Kyran Kunkel, World Wildlife Fund-US selection and with attention to maintaining the Duane Lammers 777 Ranch, South Dakota health, genetic diversity, and integrity of the species

Rurik List, National Autonomous University, Mexico o Restoring native ecosystems, ecological interactions,

Karen Minkowski and species Wildlife Conservation Society

Tom Olson, Canadian Bison Association o Providing conservation incentives for bison

Chris Pague producers, managers, and other stakeholders The Nature Conservancy-Colorado

Kent H. Redford o Creating education, awareness and outreach Wildlife Conservation Society programs to public and policy-making constituencies Paul B. Robertson, The Nature Conservancy- Medano-Zapata Ranch o Conducting research and monitoring that lead to Eric W. Sanderson Wildlife Conservation Society improved bison restoration and management

Robert Stephenson Alaska Department of Fish and Game o Building capacity and sharing information among

Joe Truett key stakeholder groups Turner Endangered Species Fund

Bill Weber o Working across international borders, where Wildlife Conservation Society necessary