We’re excited that you chose to become a member of the Howdy! 4-H Bison project.

 We hope you have a great time this year making new friends, taking part in 4-H activities, and learning more about Bison—also known as Buffalo—and their agricultural value!

To complete your Project year in 4-H Bison:

• Complete 4 to 6 of the units of this manual material per club year
• Take part in at least 70% of club activities
• Do a communication project
• Complete a record book
• Take part in your achievement day
• Have a lot of FUN!!!

About the Bison project material

Congratulations! You have made the decision to do the Alberta 4-H Bison project. We hope that you find the information in these manuals to be educational and fun!

Prepare yourself to learn about the colorful past and inspiring future of bison. Today’s bison industry is relatively new despite the long history in North America.

Because this industry is going through rapid evolution, information may change as more research is developed. We encourage you to add to the information provided in these manuals as it comes available to you.

The project material will be covered in three member manuals, this is the first of those manuals.

By placing this material in a three-ring binder, you will be able to create your very own “Bison Handbook.”

In years to come, this book will be a valuable reference, as you witness the progress of this growing industry.

About your record book: You will be using the Alternative Livestock Record Book for this project. You must complete all applicable information in this book by the date specified by the club.

Achievement day requirements

For achievement of this project, you may be required to prepare a display of the information depending on the individual project you have selected. This may be done using pictures, words or even demonstrations.

 Provincially, you are strongly encouraged to attend the Wild Rose Show and Sale held in the spring at Camrose. At this show members can meet other youth interested in bison from across the province.

 Members will also learn valuable skills and info needed in the industry.

Other Opportunities in 4-H

Your bison project is only a small part of 4-H. There are many fun and exciting activities that are offered at club, district, regional and provincial levels.

 These activities will provide you with the opportunity to attend social events, where you can meet other people your age. Clubs are encouraged to invite special guests, plan fun activities, tours and trips.

 Your district and regional 4-H councils may sponsor workshops, camps and exchanges as well as fun events.

 At the provincial level, members are encouraged to attend camps, shows and development programs. Many scholarships are also available to 4-H members who choose to continue on with their education.

Why does 4-H have a Bison project?

Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development along with the Alberta Bison Association have worked together to bring you this golden opportunity to learn about one of the greatest land animals of North America.

The Bison was a major human economic resource for thousands of years! The recovery of these magnificent animals is not only important from an agricultural perspective, but it is also an important aspect of the history of this great province in which we live.

 The Bison project does not follow the traditional 4-H livestock rules! It can’t be rode, It can’t be showed!

 The Bison project is a truly unique livestock project that will allow you, as a member, the opportunity to learn about the role that the bison played in our history, and the value they will continue to have in the new millennium!

What is the “Bison Advantage”?

Your challenge, as you work through this project year is to answer this question.

 Actually, this is a question that is nearly impossible to answer!!

 However, one thing that all people in the Bison industry do completely agree on is the fact that a Bison advantage really does exist.

 Are you confused? Let’s try to make sense of this. The Bison advantage is all the benefits people gain from Bison. This affects everyone from producer to consumer, and all those in between.

List a few Bison advantages

 There are many advantages, a few that you may have come up with include:

• Healthy food value
• Benefits to the ecosystems
• Inspiration to many artists
• Naturally adapted to our province
• Major part of our history

And the list goes on…

 What are the project possibilities? The possibilities are endless! Here are three major categories that your project can fall under.

Exploring Bison

Exploring Bison

This is the ideal project for those members who are interested in the bison industry, but do not have access to a bison herd. Interested members may choose to get involved in a number of self-directed projects that will allow them to learn about the Bison Industry.

The options include items such as Bison history, folklore and the value of the numerous Bison products and by-products. Achievement day for this project may require a display on one aspect of the industry they have studied, including their project book.

Bison Herd Observations

Members, who have access to a Bison herd, may choose to do a Bison observation project. With this project, members will monitor a specific herd and record their observations in a record book.

 Within the herd project, 4-H members may choose to select one project animal that they will observe and record its behaviour.

 They will then monitor the social order of the entire herd, and determine the role of the selected animal within the herd.

Other possibilities under the Bison Herd project may include the effects of the herd on the environment, methods of marketing a Bison operation, developing a management system or raising a novice bison project.

 Senior members may even choose to develop a research project that will provide valuable information to Bison producers.

Carcass Bison

Members may choose a weanling bull, or market heifer, for their project animal. This animal will be fed until it is ready for market.

At that time it will be sent for slaughter and the carcass information will be obtained.

 The member is responsible for choosing the time to sell their animal, so that it obtains the optimum carcass grade.

A 4-Her with the Carcass project may choose to market the meat—or develop recipes for cooking it.

The carcass project may also include marketing the meat, or even developing recipes for a variety of meat processing methods such as burgers and jerky.

 Achievement of this project may be a wide range of things from preparing a meal to a display of photos, carcass data and marketing strategies.

 The best part of any 4-H project is that you will “learn to do by doing.”

 There are a variety of fun activities to help you learn.

Alberta 4-H Bison – Level 2

Welcome to the 4-H Bison Project

We hope you were challenged with the first manual and you are excited to learn more about Bison in this second level manual. Once again, this project year will be a great opportunity for you to make new friends, take part in 4-H activities, and learning more about Bison and their native value!

Howdy!

To complete your project year in 4-H Bison, you must:

• Complete four to six of the units per club year of the manual material
• Take part in at least 70% of club activities
• Do a communication project
• Complete a record book
• Take part in your achievement day
• Have a lot of FUN!

About the Bison Project material

Congratulations! You have completed the first manual and you are about to begin the next level. We hope that you find the information in these manuals to be both educational and fun!

 Prepare yourself to learn about the colourful past and inspiring future of today’s Bison.

 Today’s Bison industry is relatively new despite their long history in North America. It is important to remember that this industry is going through rapid evolution, and information may change as more research is developed.

 You are encouraged to add on to the information provided in these manuals as it comes available to you. The project material is covered in three member manuals, this is the second of the manuals. By placing this material in a three-ring binder, you will be able to create your very own “Bison Handbook”.

 In years to come, this book will become a valuable keepsake, as you witness the progress of this growing industry.

About your Record Book

 Depending on the project you wish to do, you will have a choice in what record book you can complete.

If you decide that you would like to do a project involving the Exploring Bison you may wish to use a craft, sewing or generic record book available at the 4-H office, or create your own record book that explains your project from the beginning of the 4-H year through to your achievement.

If you wish to create a record book of your own you would need to include the components that are listed at the back of this chapter.

If you choose to do the Bison Herd Observations project, you can use the Alternative Livestock Record Book to complete this project.

In general the 4-Her will not be handling the Bison close up.

All applicable information would need to be completed in this book by the date specified by the club.

The Carcass Bison project is another project that you may wish to create your own record book for, or you could use the generic record book depending on the nature of your specific project.

Once again, if you choose to create your own record book for this project, please refer to the last page of this chapter for a guideline of required topics.

Achievement Day Requirements

For achievement of this project, you may be required to prepare a display of your information depending on your individual project you have selected to do.

This may be done using pictures, words or even demonstrations. Provincially, you are strongly encouraged to attend the Wild Rose Show and Sale held in Camrose.

This show will provide all members with the opportunity to meet other youth from across the province, and will teach you valuable skills needed in the Bison industry.

For more information you can contact the Bison Centre of Excellence web page at www.bisoncentre.com or phone toll free using the rite line at 310-0000 then coding in 780-986-4100.

Member Level 3

The 4-H Motto

“Learn to Do By Doing.”

The 4-H Pledge

I pledge:

My Head to clearer thinking,

My Heart to greater loyalty,

My Hands to larger service,

My Health to better living,

For my club, my community and my country.

The 4-H Grace

We thank thee, Lord, for blessings great on this, our own fair land. Teach us to serve thee joyfully, with head, heart, health and hand.

Table of Contents – Level 3

Revised May 2003/css

Welcome to the 4-H Bison Project

 Welcome back!  We’re excited that you chose to return as a   member of the 4-H Bison project.  We hope you have a great time this year making new friends, taking part in 4-H activities, and learning more about bison and their native value!

To complete your project year in 4-H Bison 

• Complete four to six of the units per club year of the manual material
• Take part in at least 70% of club activities
• Do a communication project
• Complete a record book
• Take part in your achievement day
• Have a lot of FUN!

About the Bison project material

 Congratulations!  By now you have learned a great deal about Bison and their value.  We hope that you have been able to keep all of your past manual information and updates all together in one place. 

 Now you will have the opportunity and challenge of working through the information in this manual.  As you know, this industry continues to evolve, and as a result new information is constantly coming in.

 This is your third and final member manual.  You are well on your way to having your very own personalized “Bison Handbook”.  In the years to come, this book will become a valuable keepsake, as you continue to witness the progress of this growing industry.

 Because you have completed the other manuals, and you have a good understanding of the basics, your role as a senior member is going to change this project year. 

 The activities covered in this manual will become more involved and will require greater effort than the past manual activities.  

About your Record book

 Depending on the project you wish to do, you will have a choice in what record book you can complete. 

 If you decide that you would like to do a project involving the  Exploring Bison you may wish to use a craft, generic record book available at the provincial 4-H office, or create your own record book that explains your project from the beginning of the 4-H year through to your achievement. 

 If you wish to create a record book of your own you need to include the components that are listed at the back of this chapter. 

 If you choose to do the Bison Herd Observations project, you can use the Alternative Livestock Record book to complete this project.  All applicable information would need to be completed in this book by the date specified by the club.

 The Carcass Bison project is another project that you may wish to create your own record book for, or you could use the generic record book depending on the nature of your specific project.  Once again, if you choose to create your own record book for this project, please refer to be last page of this chapter for a guideline of required topics.

Achievement day requirements

For achievement of this project, you may be required to prepare a display of your information depending on the individual project you have selected to do.  This may be done using pictures, words or even demonstrations.   Provincially, you are strongly encouraged to attend the Wild Rose Show and Sale held in Camrose.  This show will provide all members the opportunity to meet other youth from across the province, and will teach you valuable skills needed in the industry.

For more information you can contact the Bison Centre of Excellence web page at www.bisoncentre.com or phone toll free using the rite line at 310-0000 then coding in 780-986-4100.

Other Opportunities in 4-H

Your Bison project is only a small part of 4-H.  There are many fun and exciting activities that are offered at club, district, regional and provincial levels.

These activities will provide you with the opportunity to attend social events, where you can meet other people your age.  Clubs are encouraged to invite special guests, plan fun activities, tours and trips.

Your district and regional 4-H councils may sponsor workshops, camps and exchanges as well as fun events.   At the provincial level, members are encouraged to attend camps, shows and development programs.

Many scholarships are also available to 4-H members continuing on with their education.  You deserve to get the very most you can out of the entire 4-H program!!

The Ultimate Challenge!

 Explain what you believe to be the most important points of the Bison advantage and why?  Remember, everyone has their own beliefs about what the Bison advantage is.  

 Based on everything that you have learned up to now, why do you think that the preservation of the Bison as an agricultural industry is important.

Your challenge is to prepare a short 5 – 10 minute activity, presentation or story about the “Bison advantage.” You will be responsible for presenting this activity at your club meeting to introduce others to the Bison advantage. Have fun with it and the others will too!

 Write a summary of your 4-H year and project just to summarize everything  that you did. You can include photos and news articles, etc.  (If you do use  news articles remember to reference and date them.) 

Alberta 4-H Bison Project – Leader

Welcome to the 4-H Bison Project

We’re excited that you chose to become a leader of the 4-H Bison project.

LEADERS MANUAL- Nutrition for 3 levels

 Nutrient Requirements

Roll Call:

Name a nutrient. ____________________________

 Name a feed item that is a good source of this nutrient.

 This roll call will provide a good introduction to this topic. Some of the answers you should hear are:

Nutrient              Good source of this nutrient

Water                                    clean, fresh drinking water, available to the animals at all times

Protein                                  soybean meal, canola meal, corn gluten meal, fish meal, meat and bone meal         

Energy                                   grains, forages

Vitamins                                forages, grains, sunshine, manufactured in the rumen, vitamin supplements

Minerals                                forages, grains, mineral supplements

Objectives

Level 1

1. To introduce the members to the concept of essential nutrients.
2. To create an appreciation of the importance of these nutrients.

Level 2

1. To understand that different animals require different amounts of nutrients.
2. To learn more about the different vitamins and minerals and their importance.

Level 3 

1. To learn some of the effects of deficiencies of vitamins and minerals.
2. To understand about energy and how the body uses it.

 We have provided the level 3 members with some interesting information about vitamin and mineral deficiencies and energy. As activities to accompany these topics, we ask that they share the concepts with the club members.

 Use these level 3 members!

AND THERE’S MORE!

 WHAT A GREAT START for many STATES IN THE US and more PROVINCES IN CANADA to Follow up!

 JUST IMAGINE WHAT ELSE you could do with a BUFFALO  4-H PROJECT!!!

Published by: 4-H Branch

Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development

Room 200, 7000-113 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 5T6

Check out our web site at http://www.4h.ab.ca

 4-H Branch of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.

Drafted by Leila Milne, 2002.

NEXT: THE BUFFALO TREATY

______________________________________________________________

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

What does 4-H stand for? Head, Heart, Hands and Health!

Today nearly six million children and teens are learning important values through the 4-H program. But how did 4-H find its humble beginnings?

The 4-H program began in the late 1800s when researchers learned adults in the farming industry did not readily accept new developments but also learned young people would accept those new ideas, according to the 4-H.org history page.

The 4-leaf clover is simplicity itself: Head, Heart, Hands and Health—since 1910!

In 1902 A. B. Graham started the first youth program in Clark County, Ohio, called “The Tomato Club” or the “Corn Growing Club.”

It seems others had the same idea about the same time, as T. A. Erickson, Douglas County, Minnesota started an agricultural after-school club.

Jessie Field Shambaugh developed a clover pin with the 4-H on each leaf in 1910. By 1912 they were called 4-H clubs.

1914 saw the Smith-Lever Act passed, which helped the US Department of Agriculture create the Cooperative Extension System. Extension offices combined the knowledge and resources of federal, state and local governments to meet the needs of educational programs through 4-H.

Today, in the US 4‑H serves youth in rural, urban and suburban communities in every state across the nation. 4‑H’ers are tackling the nation’s top issues. Projects range from cooking to cattle, from entomology to electricity, archery to art and from sewing to skateboarding.

4‑H out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs, clubs and camps also offer a wide variety of STEM opportunities—from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, robotics, environmental protection and computer science—to improve the nation’s ability to compete in key scientific fields and take on the leading challenges of the 21st century. There are so many excellent opportunities in 4-H to improve life for your children.

4-H members gain confidence through practicing skills like public speaking, presentation, demonstrations and expressing a point of view as club members during meetings.

Also exciting social events such as 4-H Fair, 4-H Camp, Congress and more. They learn to be organized, problem solvers and volunteers through local, state and national leadership positions on 4-H Council, 4-H Foundation and 4-H Youth Council.

Each member enrolls in projects of their own choice to learn more about topics of interest to them. They can even design their own projects if they choose.

A Buffalo Rancher-Leader

With a long list of over 200 4-H projects available, why not include BUFFALO—our magnificent NATIONAL MAMMAL?  YES!

If you’re a 4-H Leader or parent maybe you have a 4-H member or two who would love to take an “Exotic Animal” project. Why not encourage them to learn about Buffalo, as the species is commonly known?

Even though Buffalo have lived in North America since before the last ice age, there’s much of interest to learn about our magnificent new National Mammal.

4-Hers can design their own program even without owning a bison themselves. They can study, each at their own level, other aspects of buffalo—for example, their history, their long and unique cultural relationship with Native American peoples, how buffalo were saved from extinction, their social order, or how to handle a herd.

Or they might “purchase” an animal from a neighboring herd, either in reality or by figuring out realistic costs and conditions on paper. They can write and exhibit that report at the county level and even state fair.

A rancher with a buffalo herd is a potential 4-H club leader. If you have such a person in your community, why not see if you can interest him or her with being a buffalo project leader?

Or if you own or are familiar with buffalo maybe you will enjoy the challenge of sharing your knowledge with young people?

Yes, its true—4-H Project books that include Buffalo are rare!

Research on Buffalo is rare as well. But that could change, now that we have in the US a Center of Excellence for Buffalo Studies, as of Sept 2020. It’s headquartered at South Dakota State University’s West River Research and Extension facility in Rapid City, SD.

Teaching about our National Mammal can be an enlightening and fun experience for the entire 4-H Club!

One Girl’s 4-H Bison Experience

Ashley McFarland showed her Buffalo calf at age 12, at our County Fair in Hettinger, ND. She lives just south a few miles into SD. Photo submitted by Roxann McFarland.

Ashley McFarland, a 4-H girl in our community developed her own Buffalo Project when she was only 12! And became a 5^th generation Buffalo rancher!

Ashley’s great-great-grandfather, Frank McFarland, came to South Dakota and homesteaded near the North Grand River in 1909. He began to hear about buffalo for sale in the Black Hills State Park and got the idea he’d like to start a buffalo herd.

But first he had to raise a family, build a beef herd and survive the desperately dry years of the 1920s and 1930s. Then, in 1959, he and his son Roy bought four buffalo, according to “Wind and Waving Grass,” the history of Northwest Perkins County, Lodgepole Community.

They ran them with their beef cattle for awhile. But by 1974 the family had a stable buffalo herd and their 3^rd Production sale of buffalo calves and meat.

Ashley grew up on the family homestead with buffalo, her younger brother Paden, Dad Steve, Mom Roxann and Grandpa Eugene and Grandma Verna.

One spring a buffalo cow in the family herd birthed twins and as often happens on the buffalo range, the mother claimed only one.

Steve found the extra little tyke lying alone in the pasture and brought her home for a bottle of colostrum.

Dad, Steve McFarland expertly feeds a bottle of colostrum—rich in nutrients and protective antibodies– to a skeptical buffalo calf.

Ashley named her calf ‘Sienna’ and took over the bottle feedings.

They bonded and soon Ashley had a halter on her buffalo and could lead her anywhere.

In August Ashley brought her well-behaved little calf to show at our County fair in Hettinger, ND. At four months Sienna was still the bright red-gold color of young buffalo calves, but turning dark.

She entered her exhibit under the category ‘Exotic Breed’ and won a purple ribbon. Awarded the best (and only one) in her class.

Ashley’s advice to other 4-Hers who want to show a buffalo calf?

“You have to spend time with your calf,” she says. “Work with it and teach it to be calm with a halter on.”

Remember all those possessive mother buffalo?!  We can imagine a big shaggy mother being all too willing and able to run off a small girl or boy who tries to interfere with her calf!

So If you hope to show a buffalo calf, its probably pretty important, as well, that you have an orphan calf available, as Ashley did—at the age of 12!!

Steve McFarland has been active in the Dakota Territory Buffalo Association since it was started in 1996—deep in the heart of buffalo country—by a group of buffalo producers from a 12-state area and two Canadian provinces.

His family has shown buffalo most every year at the DTBA Show and Sale in Rapid City, SD where they won Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies, and two years ago the High Selling Bull Calf. They have also showed at the Gold Trophy Denver Show.

4-Hers Sharpen Communication Skills.

4-H members have many opportunities to present to a group and interview one on one with an adult throughout the 4-H year. These experiences allow them to develop above-average confidence and skill in communicating with both peers and adults, in both prepared and spontaneous settings.

 4-H brings youth together with caring adults and peers, both face to face and virtually, to ensure belonging and a connection to their community. Youth who are connected to their  community are less likely to suffer from severe depression or attempt suicide.

Best of all they learn to communicate and listen—and “Learning by Doing!” An easy way to learn.

One interesting facet is that 4-Hers of every age help each other—older members help the younger ones. So everyone has a good chance to shine.

That’s very different from sports and school competitions in which young people compete every day with youngsters their own age. In 4-H they likely have even more leadership opportunities.

4-H offers a network of caring peers for young people to reach out to during challenging times.

4-H is a community that allows for building trust and relationships that are not always replicated in other areas of a member’s life. These relationships are built on common interests and are strengthened by the bond of belonging and inclusion.

A recent study indicated that participation in 4-H programming during the COVID-19 Pandemic contributed to keeping communities connected during times of isolation.

This might have been a virtual club meeting, 4-H project work to keep kids engaged, a call from a 4-H volunteer, or an organized service project done at home. 4-H’ers helped themselves, their friends and their community during challenging times.

4-H Promotes Positive Citizenship

 4‑H programs empower young people to be well-informed citizens who actively engage in their communities and the world. Youth become involved in their community, build decision-making skills, develop a greater sense of understanding and increase their confidence in connecting to others.

4‑H members contribute hundreds of thousands of hours back to their community every year. In Montana over half of 3^rd through 6^th grade 4-H members indicated they had more opportunity to help plan a community service project since joining 4-H, while 24% reported having led a community service project as a member of 4-H.

Since I grew up with 4-H in Montana, worked as a County Extension Agent there, was an IFYE, 4-H Leader and am a huge supporter of 4-H for life, I’m enjoying sharing this Montana report with you. (italic) (FMBerg)

Citizenship and community connection are especially impactful in underserved communities, including Montana’s reservations. (14% of 4-H youth served in 2019-2020 identify as Native American. This is double the average participation level statewide.

42% are more aware of important needs in their community after joining 4-H. Over one-third of 7-12th grade 4-H youth report being likely to talk to their friends about issues affecting their community, state or world.  (Ital) Survey Data from Montana 4-H Citizenship Impact Survey 2019.

Quotes from Montana 4-Hers and Parents

“4-H has helped me grow up and be a person who can be confident and well-spoken in a group setting. I can relate to younger 4-H members to help them grow in their projects by using the experience I have had with my own projects. [Because of 4-H] I have also had several successful job interviews.” (ital) Hill County 4-H’er age 17

“I have participated in multiple presentations, from one person in the audience to hundreds. If I had not done 4-H I would not have had these opportunities to develop my speaking and listening skills.” (ital) Gallatin County 4-H’er age 13

“The communication skills my children have gained in 4-H is one of the great benefits that they received from their participation. As they attend college classes, they are amazed at how easy it is for them to complete public speaking assignments and what a difficult time other students have had.” (ital) Parent of Carbon County 4-H Alumni

“Because of 4-H my children have gained the confidence and experiences from the structured and non-threatening environment to excel in most speaking situations.” (ital) Parent of Richland County 4-H members

Alberta 4-H Bison Program

Not many 4-Hers take Bison as a project. I think that’s only because they haven’t thought about how it can work!

My congratulations to Leila Milne and the Province of Alberta, Canada, for creating their unique Alberta Bison 4-H project! Developed in 2002-2003.

It’s the only one I’ve ever seen in either the US or Canada! Surely one of a kind!

It is a truly unique livestock project that allows you, as a member, the opportunity to learn about the role that bison played in our history and the value they will continue to have in the new millennium.

Note that the Bison 4-H project does not follow the traditional 4-H livestock rules! As they say, “It can’t be rode, and it can’t be showed!” Well, not usually!

It’s a great start pioneered in one Canadian Province–Alberta. The third year of their 4-H Bison project, gives a lot of food for thought—and includes this suggestion:

“Your challenge, as you work through this project year is to answer the question:
What is the ‘Bison Advantage!’

“Explain what you believe to be the most important points of the bison advantage and why?  Remember, everyone has their own beliefs about what the bison advantage is. 

“Actually, this is a question that is nearly impossible to answer!! However, one thing that all people in the Bison industry do completely agree on is the fact that a Bison advantage really does exist. Are you confused?

“Let’s try to make sense of this. The Bison advantage is all the benefits people gain from bison. This affects everyone from producer to consumer and all those in between.”

Don’t try to learn everything all at once! To the Alberta 4-Her, Bison becomes a very flexible program.

There’s a great list of contents at each of the 3 levels. At first it seems as if the 4-Hers are expected to look up all that information from buffalo sources on their own.

But as they begin at the first level—the first year— they will want to be selective. Which topic or topics to focus on? Who will help—older members? Adult leaders? The Alberta Bison Association? Maybe all of the above.

In Part 2 of this Blog we’ll bring you more about this amazing Alberta 4-H Program.

Thanks Canada, for your leadership in suggesting many ways 4-Hers can shape their own exciting Bison project!!

Ashley did it! You can too!

_____________________________________________________________________

NEXT: Part 2 – 4-H Bison Project Alberta

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

There is at least one more Historic Buffalo place that I’ve been wanting to visit in our area of historic Buffalo sites. Or actually two—Buffalo Trails and Buffalo Wallows!

My family has been friends for at least 40 years with ranching families who live north on Cedar Creek. For all those years we’ve been invited to drive up and see their buffalo trails and buffalo wallows.

Was I always too busy to go? I don’t think so—but somehow it just didn’t happen. Besides, I never thought there’d be so many of them.

As their veterinarian, my husband Bert might have seen those historic trails and buffalo wallows, but never described them to me! Now he’s gone—but I had another opportunity.

So now I’ve been there! And they are impressive! Honest to goodness Buffalo Trails trod centuries ago, and Wallows rubbed and scratched (and we’re pretty sure, enjoyed) by generations of migrating Buffalo herds. Dozens—maybe hundreds of them!

When they got wind of our Buffalo Grande mission, Allan and Virginia Earsley, ranchers in the Cedar Creek area, offered a motorized side-by-side ride for Dr. John Joyce and me to that special hill and ravines in their pasture where original buffalo trails show up best in spring.

Earsleys live only a few miles north of Hettinger, in the general area where Cedar Creek crosses under Highway 22 on its way east to the Missouri River.

Now we have photos. We plan to shoot more in fall, too. And maybe some more in early spring, when the grasses are just peeking through.

It does make an impact to actually see these trails, note how many there are! And to re-live what was going on in those days! Probably 7,000 years ago.

Older neighbors and Allan’s grandparents identified the Buffalo Trails before cattle began making their own trails. Early settlers told their families these were NOT cattle trails.

They told stories of trails made by big buffalo herds—had to be wild buffalo, they said! Maybe in the thousands! How else would there have been so many Wallows??

Where’s the Research?

On Apr 20 and May 4, 2021, in Blogs 30 and 31 Ronda Fink and I published our first blogs on Buffalo Trails—in Indiana, where they are called Buffalo Traces.

On Jan 11, 2022), in Blog 49, we wrote another blog—this time about “Buffalo Trails in ND” written by a North Dakota Geologist. Made me wonder where other researchers are looking at these features of the landscape. Turns out they may not even be looking??

Unlike our western trails—which were used by wild buffalo more recently—the Indiana Traces have not been used by buffalo since the early 1800’s.

There, local historians are trying to put the buffalo traces back together, after nearly two centuries of intensive farming, invasions of cities and towns and highway building.

In the forested lands of southern Indiana the traces had become welcome travel lanes, swept bare of trees by great annual Buffalo migrations.

Civilization had moved in and the buffalo that had congregated at the Kentucky salt licks were mostly killed off. Survivors moved on to safer pastures west of the Mississippi.

In some places what was called the Vincennes Buffalo Trace was 12 to 20 feet wide and worn down to a depth of 12 feet, even cutting down through solid rock.

John Bluemle: ND Geologist

A North Dakota geologist who wrote about  Bison Trails in North Dakota is John P. Bluemle. He was employed by the North Dakota Geological Survey from 1962 and served as ND State Geologist 14 years from 1990 until 2004. Bluemle cited research by Lee Clayton, also a North Dakotan.

Bluemle said he adapted much of his report from an article by Lee Clayton: Bison trails and their Geologic Significance published in the national magazine Geology, Sep 1975.

The trench-like features seen throughout ND from airplanes were initially interpreted as caused by glacial action, with bedrock joints and faults.

They have also been listed as glacial disintegration trenches, a kind of long, narrow depression resulting from the melting of an ice-cored crevasse filling.

However, the disintegration-trench hypothesis was proven wrong when it was pointed out that these trenches are found throughout southwestern North Dakota—well beyond the limit of the last glaciation.

“An unusual kind of landform found in several places in North Dakota was created by once huge herds of bison. The bison trampled shallow grooves across the prairie, forming trails that appear as lines on air photos,” wrote Bluemle.

“These bison trails were first recognized in North Dakota in the 1960s by former University of North Dakota geologist, Lee Clayton.

“The trails are shallow grooves or trenches, generally a few feet deep, several feet wide, and several hundred feet long. Where they cross narrow depressions, the trails sometimes change to low ridges.

“The ridges probably formed as sediment [solid fragmented material such as gravel transported and deposited by wind, water, or ice] tracked downslope by thousands of hooves.

“Bison trails are common throughout the grasslands of the northern plains, and, in fact, many have been misinterpreted as bedrock joints [a brittle area of a large rock body with pressure-induced fractures with the same orientation] or glacial features such as a small washboard ridge that forms from material along the leading edge of a glacier.

“Bison trails are straight or gently curved and they show up on aerial photographs as dark lines,” says Bluemle.

 “The trails tend to be parallel to high-relief features such as bluffs and steep slopes, and otherwise they typically trend northwest to southeast, parallel to the prevailing wind directions.”

He writes that the trails were probably formed when large numbers of bison converged on water holes or were funneled along a particular path by the constraints of topography.

How Can We Find Buffalo Trails and Wallows?

Early homesteaders noted them first and some correctly identified them as buffalo trails and passed that knowledge down to their descendants who still work the land.

So if you’d like to find out where buffalo trails are in your area, start by asking old-timers and listen to what they have to say.

Some local people—ranchers, pilots and people with an interest in history—already know where there are honest-to-goodness buffalo trails.

And there are probably many more just awaiting our discovery.

The big hooves of buffalo dig deep trenches. And in the right kind of soil their feet pick up big chunks of mud, fling them around and build the trails higher causing a ridged portion of thick topsoil. Not fluvial sand and gravel as would be evident if they had been disintegration trenches.

We can find parts of these trails and the wallows in western North Dakota, if we know where to look. And no doubt in other areas too.

There’s still clear evidence of great buffalo herds!

Here are ‘best ways’ to find Buffalo Trails, according to geologists:

• In Spring when the grass is short (or winter days between times of snow cover)
• Throughout the plains and prairies in pasture lands which have not been plowed
• In soft and permeable soil (where rainfall soaks in readily—instead of draining off, which erodes slopes and destroys trails)
• The trails are like trenches, about 3 feet deep—but on steeper slopes may be 9 to 12ft deep. As wide as 6 to 60 ft across—typically 15 to 30 feet. Stretched out in varying lengths depending on soil and terrain—may be as much as ½ mile long
• In some areas trenches show up in combination with higher ridges of topsoil as if clumps of dirt have been kicked up and gobs of mud released after being stuck to hooves
• Where they cross depressions the trenches may be replaced by ridges
• Trails are usually straight or slightly curved
• They may run parallel to prevailing winds—such as on the diagonal from Northwest to Southeast
• May lead around bogs, to water or salty areas
• The trenches tend to cross ridges, small hills and valleys
• They might be identified on hikes, from high points, low-flying airplanes or on Google maps

I assumed that Buffalo Trails and Wallows would be researched many other places—especially in National Forests and BLM Lands (Bureau of Land Management).

Surprisingly though, other states than Indiana/ Kentucky and ND—even here in the western states—seem not to have researched buffalo trails or wallows.

Looking for confirmation, I requested information from state and federal researchers with the Bureau of Land Management and other US departments.

The typical replies I received are similar to this one:

“Good afternoon, Francie. Thanks for sending your inquiry. I checked with others in the office and no one with BLM Colorado has investigated Bison Trails and Buffalo Wallows in any states in the US, or is aware of any BLM work on the topic. Best of luck with your project!”

From Malia Burton, Branch Chief, Lands, Realty & Renewable Energy, BLM Colorado State Office.

Perhaps others will find this an interesting topic for research, before the evidence disappears entirely.

But as Tom Schoeder attests, the Wallows near Cedar Creek are not as clearly defined as when he was a child, even in that undisturbed School Section near his home. And Buffalo Trails maybe even less so . . .

Trekking down to water in the Cedar Creek, day after day. Cutting deep narrow grooves in the hills as they apparently went single file—with a matriarch cow leading, just as buffalo tend to do today when the herd is headed somewhere—such as to water.

Down the hill they went—single file–then back up onto the grassy plateau where the herd spread out to graze again

In another season and yet another, they returned to follow the same trails—ancient trails that seemed to cut across new fences the newcomers built.

I wanted to take that ride to see the trails. Could hardly wait till spring when grass began to green up and reveal these mysterious trails. Known first to original settlers who refused to plow them up—and passed their stories on to grandkids—although unfortunately they didn’t write them down.

Yet we can still see and document these historic buffalo trails!

Buffalo Wallows

Back up on the plateau where the grazing is good the herd would have scattered to fill their bellies.

One hundred and 50 years ago after a quenching drink it may be that many individuals sought a nice comfortable wallow.

The wallowing evidence is here as well. There’s a School Section—which has never been plowed and is now divided into 4 pastures for rotational grazing of cattle—with many old buffalo wallows.

Tom Schoeder took Connie Messner and me on another “side by side” vehicle to see the wallows in that school section.

They tend to be almost round—perhaps 9 to 10 feet in diameter and perhaps as much as 2 ft in depth. And there are lots of them, nearly all filled now with grass, but clearly noticable. Perhaps made by thousands of buffalo during their many migrations.

In her report of the Buffalo Wallows Conni Messner wrote, “On the evening of 13 July Francie and I drove to meet Tom Schoeder northwest of Hettinger to look at the buffalo wallows that were still visible on land that was owned by his grandfather since 1907.

“Driving west on Hwy 12 and north on Hwy 22, we met Tom not far from the turn on 18^th Ave. He led us to a section of land that is being used for grazing but since it is ‘School Land’ it has not been used for agriculture.

“We jumped onto his 4 by 4 and drove to many sites that Tom remembered his grandfather telling were made by buffalo rutting in the dirt.

“We must have seen approximately 50 depressions. Some of these wallows were on flat land and some were up on what he called the knolls—or ridge line. Tom said the Wallows were more visible when he was a child.

“Cedar Creek was flowing and he related that the buffalo would drink here before heading south to their grazing area. As the buffalo returned, they would go single file so there are supposed to be ‘trails’ that can still be seen but difficult to find right now due to the vegetation.

“Tom was very clear in the fact that he was not an expert on this history and this information he was sharing with us was from his childhood memories.

“He also stressed that this land is Our Land owned by the State of North Dakota and can be visited without permission.

“Other than dealing with the mosquito population and the hard-to-close-gate we had a very pleasant evening.”

Thanks Conni for sharing our Wallow experience with the Bufalo Grande group! I regret not going up there long ago, when invited to see this by Tom’s parents—only a few miles away. I never realized there would be so many visible trails and wallows up there along the Cedar Creek!

I had expected maybe 1 trail—and 1 or 2 buffalo wallows at the most.

As it is, there must have been something like perhaps a thousand buffalo grazing there at once.  Why else would they need so many wallows!

We estimated perhaps 60 or more wallows in a single pasture (which was ¼^th of a section, or 160 acres). They seem to be clustered more heavily together along somewhat higher land than down on the Cedar Creek itself, where the single-file trails came down to water.

Tom tells us his family called the wallows “knolls,” evidently to recognize their placement on higher ground.

Jim Strand, local Buffalo Herdsman of the Blair Johnson herd in SD, tells us that when flies are bad, or it’s hot, his buffalo will seek higher ground where they can catch a breeze.

For a wallow they like sandy soil and will throw  dirt and dust up over their backs. If a wallow happens to contain rainwater—well, splashing mud around and onto their own hides makes it even better!

Now our Buffalo Grande group has done it. We took photos of the buffalo trails and the wallows.

And we heard the remembered words from hardy pioneers who saw them first—and recognized the trails and wallows as ancient evidence—where likely thousands of buffalo once tramped the ground and thrived.

These majestic trails and wallows are one more link in our Buffalo Legacy. They fit in perfectly with the Historic Buffalo sites we celebrate in our Hettinger/Lemmon/Bison/Buffalo area.  

So whether your family has been here 7,000 years or just a few—if you’ve put down roots in this community, this is your Legacy—yours and mine! It’s a Buffalo legacy of which we can all be proud.

Sources

Berg, Francie M, Apr 20/May 4, 2021 Blog 30 & 31: BuffaloTrailsandTales.com. “Buffalo Traces, Part 1 & Part 2.”

Berg, Francie M, Jan 14, 2022, Blog 49: BuffaloTrailsandTales.com. “Can you Find Buffalo Trails where You Live?””
Clayton, Lee, 1970b, “Bison trails and their geologic significance,” Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 2, p. 381.

Clayton, Lee, 1975, “Bison trails and their geologic significance,” Geology, p.498 – 500.

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NEXT: ALBERTA 4-H BISON PROJECT

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

The Banff buffalo had a dramatic history. And the most famous buffalo of all was Sir Donald, named for his donor Sir Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona.

Smith was famous in Canada for helping build the Trans-Canada Railway.

Plains buffalo have been in Banff National Park almost from the beginning—in a small pasture by the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

They became famous with tourists and lived there in a display herd along the new railroad for nearly a century, from 1897 to 1997.

In 1907 the Canadian government—suddenly realizing they were bereft of buffalo—purchased the Pablo Herd of over 700 from the western plains of Montana.

Banff received 77 of these animals, and a new paddock of 300 acres (only!) was built north of the railroad to hold the increasing herd.

How Banff National Park Began

It was a time of railroad building. The Canadian Rails had a major challenge—to link the busy Pacific Coast area, with all its ships filled with Asian produce and returning with high quality timber, with the rest of Canada.

In between stood hundreds of miles of spectacular—but nearly impassable Rocky Mountains. Icy and often snow topped, these rugged mountains are just north of US Glacier Park. Which are also formidable lands, filled with huge glaciers, ice and rocks.

During the 1870s, construction started on the ambitious Canadian Pacific Railway, a coast-to-coast railway across Canada. The planned route tracked through the Bow Valley in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

On October 21, 1880 a group of Scottish Canadian businessmen formed a viable syndicate to build a transcontinental railway.

Many of the workers in the tracklaying crew were immigrants from Europe; many others were Chinese.

Often up to 200 men would be working together to move the track forward and many of them lost their lives laying track in those icy mountains.

Construction began on several fronts.

It was there, at ‘Siding 29,’ that three Canadian Pacific Railway workers in 1883 stumbled on a series of natural hot springs on what is now called Sulphur Mountain. 

The Cave and Basin hot springs were quickly identified as potential hot tourist attractions.

By the end of 1883, the railway had reached the Rocky Mountains, just eight kilometres (five miles) east of Kicking Horse Pass.

Competing claims by ‘discoverers’ of the springs for the right to develop them prompted the Canadian government in 1885 to create a reserve to protect the hot springs and surrounding area.

Enlarged in 1887 and named the “Rocky Mountains Park of Canada” (later to be renamed Banff National Park), this was Canada’s first national park and the world’s third.

The park now occupies 2,564 square miles (6,641 square km) along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and abuts the border with British Columbia.

The townsite of Banff was established; a grand hotel quickly built, and the area was soon promoted as an international resort and spa. 

In Canadian history, four provinces joined together on July 1, 1867, to form the new country of Canada. The four provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario—were joined three years later by Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.

In 1871 British Columbia decided to join Canada, but only if the Canadian government promised to build a transcontinental railway.

British Columbia set a 10-year deadline for the completion of this critical link to the rest of the country.

But this incredible engineering feat was completed on Nov 7, 1885, six years ahead of schedule, when the last spike was driven at Craigellachie, B.C. The rest, is history.

Sir Donald Smith helped stitch the country of Canada together with the railway, but beyond his industrial actions, he had an interesting role to play in the early history of bison conservation.

McKay: A Métis who Saved Calves

The Banff buffalo herd arrived in 1897, with the first gift of three—1 bull and 2 females—from T. G. Blackstock, a Toronto lawyer, who obtained them from the Texas herd of Charles Goodnight.

 Soon after came 13 genuine Canadian Plains Buffalo that originated from calves rescued by James McKay and friends of Winnipeg. 

A Métis leader, McKay had often joined the large semi-annual Métis hunts in the Plains of western Canada and into Montana.

He was celebrated as one of the five people who rescued calves—the only Canadian. Perhaps because the big Métis hunting parties had swept Canada bare of Plains buffalo. There were no buffalo left to save.

Living near Winnipeg, Canada, Tonka Jim McKay began his career working for the Hudson Bay fur trading company, as did his Scottish Highlander father. His mother, Margarete, was Métis.

McKay served as postmaster and clerk, managed small trading posts mostly in what are now southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan and established two Hudson Bay posts in US territory.

Moving into Manitoba politics, he represented the Métis people and helped them negotiate treaties. He served Manitoba as president of the Executive Council, Speaker of the Legislative Council and Minister of Agriculture.

With his knowledge of the prairies and indigenous people, McKay also excelled as a frontier interpreter and guide.

Often McKay wore the popular Métis attire—a hooded blue capote with pants of homemade wool, moccasins and a colorful sash.

McKay became alarmed at the scarcity of buffalo. With each hunt, he noted his friends were going farther west and south into Montana with their Red River Carts to find buffalo herds, which became scarcer and scarcer with each big hunt.

On an 1873 Métis hunt he captured three young calves with the help of friends and the next year, another three, bonding them with nurse cows on his Deer Lodge ranch some 28 miles west of Winnipeg.

He purchased a few more calves from Métis hunters who went west to hunt and returned through Winnipeg.

In about 1877 McKay sold five calves to Colonel Sam Bedson, a penitentiary warden, for $1,000. Bedson’s buffalo thrived. By 1888 he owned nearly 80 full-breed buffalo and 13 half-breeds.

Unfortunately, in 1879, just as his buffalo herd was gaining some natural increase, Tonka Jim McKay died at the age of 51.

After his death some of McKay’s buffalo went to the Canadian government. But 13 went to a neighbor who then donated all his 13 buffalo to Rocky Mountain Park in Banff for that special exhibition herd.

The successful rescue of buffalo calves happened in only five known places in the north American hemisphere—at a time when the species was nearly exterminated by hide hunters.

The five families were able to catch newborn or young buffalo calves, nurture them with range cows or the colostrum that newborns needed to survive and raise them into a viable herd—with enough numbers to ensure herd survival.

The rescuing families were:

1. James McKay and friends in Manitoba, Canada;
2. Samuel Walking Coyote and herd purchasers Charles Allard and Michel Pablo in western Montana;
3. Pete Dupree, Fred Dupris and herd purchasers, the Scotty Philips in South Dakota;
4. Charles and Molly Goodnight of Texas;
5. CJ (Buffalo) Jones of Kansas.

Separately, these people brought buffalo back in significant numbers—onto the western plains and grasslands where they have always thrived so well.

They were ordinary people—westerners, ranchers, even buffalo hunters—with boots on the ground. Or more specifically, in over half the cases—moccasins on the ground.

Most realized buffalo were rapidly disappearing and did what they could to help.

The first three had Native American roots: James McKay in Manitoba, Canada, Samuel Walking Coyote and herd purchasers in Western Montana, the Duprees (with their father Fred Dupris and Scotty Philip (herd purchaser) in South Dakota.

Sir Donald Spikes Tourism

Reportedly, McKay rescued Sir Donald in the Battleford area of Saskatchewan around 1872.

Although one report has it that he was rescued as a 2-year-old bull on the western plains of Canada, it is much more likely—as in other reports—that he was captured as a young calf.

That was McKay’s normal style—saving young calves in a hunt—as had been the others of his growing herd. At his home ranch near Winnipeg, he ‘mothered up’ the calves with dairy cows until they bonded.

Capturing and taming a nearly full-grown buffalo might sound easy to those who haven’t tried it, but was extremely difficult to accomplish successfully.

Older bison when roped often fought viciously. Many simply lay down and died, apparently of a heart attack.

By contrast, young calves certainly required careful attention to nutrition—they needed rich colostrum milk and quickly—but when handled carefully and coaxed with a willing milk cow, they tended to bond well with their nursing mothers.

When Tonka Jim McKay died in 1879 his herd of 13 buffalo were auctioned off at a well-attended sale. They were purchased by Samuel Bedson, warden of the Stony Mountain Federal Penitentiary near Winnipeg for $1,000.

Since he was short of money, Bedson borrowed part of it on that day from Sir Donald Smith, also known as Lord Strathcona.

Near the prison Bedson had built a pen for his bison herd. Locals called this enclosure ‘the Castle,’ and its owner, ‘King of the Castle.’

As a side note: One of Bedson’s new cows gave birth just after the auction and the newly-enlarged herd was driven by cowboys to their new home at the penitentiary.

They escaped during the night, fled back to familiar home ground, then next morning were rounded up again and returned to their new home.

It was recorded that the little newborn buffalo calf kept up with the herd for the entire journey—a total of 63 miles in 36 hours—averaging nearly two miles per hour for a day and a half!

Originating in the western Plains of Canada, the little tyke was hailed as being of ‘hardy Canadian stock!’

The herd was kept at the Penitentiary near Winnipeg, soon growing to the unmanageable size of 118 head. Some were given to Sir Donald Smith as pay back for Bedson’s initial debt conservation.

A Handsome Bull: Winner of Many Battles

Sir Donald was said to represent the ideal that Native hunters favored. With huge forequarters and head, and smaller hips. Glenbow Archives.

Sir Donald was a handsome bull. It was said he represented well the ideal that Native hunters preferred—a bull with well-built forequarters and large head.

The big bull known as Sir Donald became the dominant bull in the popular herd near the visitors’ Center at Banff.

Known as the ‘Last Wild Buffalo in Captivity,’ the famous Sir Donald was apparently rescued from the wild in a Métis buffalo hunt by James ‘Tonka Jim’ McKay and friends of Winnipeg, Canada.

He was hailed as the last of the great wild herds

Many tourists purchased Sir Donald postcards and mailed them throughout the world.

“A grand specimen of the breed,” he was called. The build that Native Americans admired most in a buffalo bull.

As the mightiest bull in the herd, he fought many battles over the years to establish and defend his place at the top of the buffalo pecking order.

For some 33 years Sir Donald reigned as supreme.

Then he was bested by an equally large young Texas bull.

“The fight began early in the morning, the great heads lowered and red eyes glaring, tearing up the turf with their hooves and with tails straight up in the air. With a crash like colliding engines

they met over and over again,” it was reported.

“Several mounted men endeavored to separate the infuriated animals, but were themselves charged and put to flight.

“Sir Donald at last lost his left horn in one of the shocks, at the same time getting a blow in the left eye which destroyed his sight.

“After being thrown on his back and pummeled while down by his victorious challenger, he gave up the struggle and retired from the gaze of the watching herd to begin his lonely wanderings.

Even after he lost one horn and an eye, it was said, “Short and very thick and deep in the body, with an extremely massive head in front. . . undoubtedly a really pure-bred bison!

“The remaining horn is 18½ inches long and its girth around is 14½ inches. Grand specimen that he was, when fully-grown, Sir Donald measured about 49 inches across the widest part of his horns and 15½ inches between the eye sockets across the forehead.”

Another well-known buffalo in the herd was Highland Mary, an early daughter of Sir Donald’s. A smaller ‘bright-colored’ buffalo, she was easily recognized and well known to visitors.

A Retirement of Lonely Wanderings

The fight that finally took Sir Donald down was described in a news story as “a terrific battle for supremacy between him and a young bull of almost equal size imported from Texas.” Glenbow Archives.

“Since that time he has seldom been seen with the rest, preferring to wander and wallow alone in some favorite sand hole.”

Sir Donald’s lonely wanderings lasted 5 years during which the herd largely ignored him.

Although still in one of the small paddocks, he stayed some distance from the herd.

As he began to feel his age, the Commissioner of Canadian parks Howard Douglas, of Banff, announced that as this last of the known buffalo survivors of the immense herds roamed the plains of the Canadian west, “Sir Donald . . . will within a few weeks be put to death, and later mounted” in full-size to be placed in a museum.

On March 12, 1909,  The Wainwright Star at Wainwright, Alberta, reported:

“This veteran bull still grazes with the ancient bulls of the herd at Banff, but he has long since been driven out from the main body by the younger bulls.

“Lately he has shown such signs of age that the authorities have decided to end his career, not only out of mercy to himself, but to keep his hide and fur intact for exhibition purposes.

“Sir Donald is the only living buffalo in captivity who ever roamed the prairies of Canada with the aboriginal herds.

“He was captured in 1872, as a calf, by the late Hon. James McKay, who was a noted figure in the early history of Manitoba and the Canadian west.

“Mr. McKay was collecting a herd for his private ranch, and captured the calf amongst a dozen others. The herd was kept at Silver Heights, near Winnipeg, for a number of years, and later transferred to Warden Bedson of the Stoney Mountain penitentiary, with whom Lord Strathcona had considerable interest in the preservation of the buffalo.

“Sir Donald Smith on the division of the herd, presented this bull with 12 other buffalo, to the dominion government and they were sent to the national park at Banff, where they became the nucleus of the present herd of about a hundred animals.”

About a month before his death, the Commissioner Howard Douglas had gone out with a local taxidermist to the paddocks to inspect him.

At that point, the old bull seemed quite lively. In fact, Sir Donald charged vigorously at his distinguished visitors, and they hastily scrambled over the high fence.

This seemed to indicate plenty of reserve strength in his body, despite the fact he had lost his left eye and left horn in his last desperate fight.

So again Sir Donald was allowed to wander away from the herd—which was unfortunately in a rather small pasture with little chance of escape from raging young bulls.

Then came news of his death.

The cowboy in charge of the paddocks saw Sir Donald walking around at five o’clock on a Monday afternoon, and on looking for him next morning saw that he was down and apparently dead.

He covered the carcass with tarps to keep it safe from prowling wolves and coyotes.

Steps were taken at once to bring the taxidermist Ashley Hine into the paddock.

At this time I won’t go into the details of what actually happened. Let’s just say that it was not a happy ending for Sir Donald.

Some newspapers of the day reported simply that Sir Donald died in a stampede.

That wasn’t exactly what happened. Let’s just say that the details of his death and final tribute are distinctly gory, perhaps considered too much for casual readers at the time.

One newspaper headlined their story: “Old Sir Donald, the Patriarch of the American Bison, Trampled and Gored to Death in Corral at Banff.”

I did quote at length from that paper in my early blog titled: ‘The Sad Demise of Sir Donald,’ which also reported:

“Many thousands of visitors to Banff, the delightful resort in the middle of the Canadian National ark, had seen and admired the grand old buffalo bull, Sir Donald, who had been the leader and chief of his herd for upwards of 38 years.

“But never again will the grand head and massive proportions of this animal, the only really wild bison in captivity, be viewed in their natural environment, for during the early hours of Tuesday morning, April 6 (1909), old Sir Donald came to his final end.

“He was found lying dead out in one of the paddocks, having apparently stumbled over some bogs, probably owing to his being blind in one eye, and while unable to rise he was surrounded by the rest of the herd.”

So I won’t go into it now. Just to reiterate that it was a sad ending for a grand old bull, Sir Donald, reportedly at age 38!

If anyone wants to know more details, they can find them in my early Blog 12, published August 11, 2020.

Seventy-seven buffalo from the Pablo herd were added to the display herd at one time in another 300 acre pasture. Glenbow Archives.

Buffalo Treaty of Co-operation, Renewal and Restoration

Banff has always been a leading actor in the life and death drama of the buffalo.

Since the beginning of time, hundreds of generations of the First Nations of North America have considered the buffalo to be their relatives.

A ‘buffalo treaty’ was signed Sept 23, 2014 on the Blackfeet Territory in Montana, with four additional First Nations signing in Banff, Alberta in August 2015. It’s an agreement of cooperation, renewal and restoration of buffalo on the lands.

“Buffalo is part of us and we are part of buffalo, culturally, materially and spiritually. Our on-going relationship is so close and so embodied in us that Buffalo is the essence of our holistic eco-cultural life-ways.

“It is our collective intention to recognize buffalo as a wild free-ranging animal and as an important part of the ecological system; to provide a safe space and environment across our historic homelands, on both sides of the United States and the Canadian border.

“So together we can have our brother, the Buffalo lead us in nurturing our land, plants and other animals to once again realize the buffalo ways for our future generations.”

The original Buffalo Treaty and resolutions, signed by many First Nations Bands from September 2014 to 2018 are archived at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.

A paper published by experts from Parks Canada and the University of Montana says Banff National Park has the capacity for a bison herd to reach more than 1,000.

Marie-Eve Marchand, with the Bison Belong campaign in Banff National Park, says the findings are good news for long term conservation.

“It’s much bigger than we thought,” Marchand told CBC News.

“There’s only a few herds [in North America] over 1,000 and this paper says that Banff could hold over 1,200. We’re looking at the mid-long term before we even get there.

“I would say it’s probably going to be something for the next generations.”

Future Buffalo Plans for Banff

When the paddock and the bison were removed in 1997 to encourage free flow of wildlife in the Bow Valley area, it was always the stated intention of Parks Canada to return wild bison to Banff to replace the Display Herd.

But it took 20 years. Even though First Nations people and conservationists campaigned continually to get that to happen sooner.

Twenty years of NO Buffalo in Banff—NONE whatever—before the new plan for wild Bison in Banff National Park was deemed ready to be implemented.

Parks Canada now has collected a great wealth of scientific data to enable them to bring more wild buffalo into the Banff National Park in the very best way.

It will be fascinating to see when, how and if that happens!

NEXT: BUFFALO TRAILS and WALLOWS in HETTINGER ND
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Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

At Banff National Park above the tree line the landscape is mostly rocks and ice.

In 2017, a small herd of young Plains buffalo was introduced to this mountainous landscape—but in very deliberate steps.

The 16 adult buffalo—10 two-year old pregnant heifers and 6 young bulls—stayed in the fenced enclosure in the Panther Valley for 2 calving cycles. In 1 year their numbers increased to 26; in 1.5 years to 36.

First they lived for nearly 2 years in a small re-introduction pasture in the Panther Valley. The purpose being for the young buffalo mothers to bond for both years to the place they birth their calves. Twenty calves were born there.

Now after 5 years, the wild herd of Plains buffalo—having lived only in the plains up to this point—climbs to the highest peaks and lives high up in the mountains each summer.

Unlike other western mountain towns that focused on mining or agriculture, Banff was built as a tourist destination from the beginning.

Three to four million visitors come to the Banff area every year.

Planning the “Homecoming to Banff”

The dream of buffalo planners has always been to have free-ranging buffalo in the backcountry of Banff National Park. Wild buffalo, as they had been in prehistoric days when they were hunted by indigenous people.

The historic “Homecoming to Banff” was planned as a high-tech, scientific experiment producing a wealth of detailed research data.

It took years of consultation and detailed planning before the Forest Rangers were ready.

First Nations people and conservationists campaigned through all those years to return bison to Banff. But it took 20 years after the display buffalo herd for tourists was gone from the small pasture by the Banff railroad before it actually happened.

Finally the 5-year restoration plan was ready to go.

A small relocation pasture was prepared in the remote Panther Valley.

The Park Rangers knew they wanted to get all concerned groups involved from the beginning:

The potential visitors—Canadians at large—bison ranchers, environmental, industry, recreation and research organizations, and Indigenous Peoples—many of whom had been previously involved in earlier phases.

At every turn they asked for feedback. One of the first questions they asked was: “How do you get Plains buffalo to bond to a Rocky Mountain home?”

Seasoned buffalo handlers agreed: Buffalo cows from the plains need to calve in the remote mountains—maybe twice—before they will accept it as home.

 “Otherwise any self-respecting buffalo herd will travel until they reach a place they like—breaking down fences and trampling crops as needed to get there,” they said.

 Cattle ranchers voiced concerns that buffalo would escape, damage property and spread disease to livestock. In response, the planners included a hazing zone, recapturing and as a last resort relocating or destroying buffalo that escaped.

Airlifted into Panther Valley

Prayers were spoken and songs sung at Elk Island National Park—the original home of Banff’s 16 bison. Treaty 6 and 7 Nations and the Métis Nation of Alberta helped give bison a proper blessing before the herd began their journey to the mountains.

The bison were loaded into special containers, and they drove through the night as a convoy to the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, on the edge of Banff National Park.

Early the next morning, a helicopter lifted each container and flew them over the horizon to their new home in Banff National Park.

Since the herd is remote, sharing the bison story with Canadians has been a big part of this project.

“We hosted a series of community events, interpretive programs and virtual experiences (such as this blog!) to help give Canadians and visitors from around the world a chance to connect with this historic reintroduction,” according to press releases. “Stay tuned for on-going ways to connect with the herd!”

By June 7, 2017 all 10 heifers had calved.

“Happy birthday, bison! Ten bison calves born in Banff’s backcountry Banff just got a whole lot cuter,” said Karsten Heuer, Bison Reintroduction Project Manager for Banff National Park.

Heuer is leading the effort on the ground to return wild bison to Banff. Ten healthy bison calves were born in Banff National Park’s remote backcountry between Earth Day (April 22) and throughout May 2017, bringing the herd number to 26.

These new arrivals represent the future of bison restoration in Banff and are part of the larger vision to reintroduce wild bison to the park,” he said.

“The new calves are healthy and doing well. They are mingling with the herd, napping in the sun and playing.

“For the next few months, the calves will stay close to their mothers as they explore their new world. Their arrival is key part of the project as it will help the herd anchor to the landscape and adopt it as their new home.”

Canadians and people throughout the world, both adults and children, were urged to follow the Banff buffalo herd online and to participate in related activities.

To learn about the ecological and cultural importance of this iconic animal that once held such importance for native people and early settlers in the area.

“These new arrivals represent the future of bison restoration in Banff and are part of the larger vision to reintroduce wild bison to the park,” he said.

“The new calves are healthy and doing well. They are mingling with the herd, napping in the sun and playing.

“For the next few months, the calves will stay close to their mothers as they explore their new world. Their arrival is key part of the project as it will help the herd anchor to the landscape and adopt it as their new home.”

Canadians and people throughout the world, both adults and children, were urged to follow the Banff buffalo herd online and to participate in related activities.

To learn about the ecological and cultural importance of this iconic animal that once held such importance for native people and early settlers in the area.

“Follow the herd from home! See what life is like for the calves by watching our new webisode on YouTube. Share it with your friends and family on social media.”

These are wild buffalo and the goal is to keep them wild.

In preparation, the modern National Park Staff emphasize the ecological and conservation benefits that bison can bring to change the landscape and enrich plants and animals.

They are committed to increasing opportunities for Canadians and indeed, visitors from throughout the world.

People found they could connect with what was going on by following the Bison Blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts, a YouTube web series and attending fun interpretive programs in the Banff townsite and day-use areas. Live or online.

The 16 adult buffalo—10 two-year old pregnant heifers and 6 young bulls—stayed in the fenced enclosure in the Panther Valley for 2 calving cycles. In 2 years their numbers increased to 26, and then 36.

Re-introduction into the Park

Bison are often considered to be a plains species, but they had called the highest mountain valleys their home for millennia. Bison were hunted from the Banff area in the early 1800s by indigenous people.

Banff School Students Welcome Bison

“We asked the students why they thought bringing back bison was important. We heard:

• ‘Because the land needs them’
• ‘Because they were here for a long time’
• ‘Because they are important for spirituality’

“Then the students rolled up their sleeves, mixed up some paint and coloured their own little bison with help from the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

“This cool art project was a story in collaboration: students at the neighbouring Canmore Collegiate High School used a laser-cutter to make adorable bison wood cut-outs.

“Once the paint dried, we picked 16 bison to represent the original herd from Elk Island National Park that started the Banff reintroduction. The rest of the ‘herd’ will decorate the fence of the new Banff Elementary School.

“This summer, we brought those 16 finished shapes to the soft-release pasture in the Panther Valley, home of the Banff bison herd, to decorate the fence!

“Thanks to all of the new ‘Bison Ambassadors’ at Banff Elementary School for helping our Banff Bison feel welcomed!”

Aug 30, 2017: Summer Vacation for Bison

“Our bison have taken a small but important step to become a wild herd in Banff National Park,” wrote Karsten Heuer in August 30, 2017.

“In July, we moved them from their 6-hectare winter pasture into a 12-hectare summer pasture that includes tasty mountain grass (instead of dry hay), a clear river to drink from (instead of a trough), and hills to climb and explore.

 It’s a pretty big change for these animals,” noted Heuer. “There is no moving water or steep hills in Elk Island National Park where they came from or in the winter pasture where they’ve lived for the past 5 months. We got see the herd cross a river for the first time in their lives!”

“The herd will be on ‘summer vacation’ until the fall, when they will return to their winter pasture for the season.”

Dec 22, 2017: Banff, bison and … horses

Report from the Park crew:

“Imagine the old days of Banff National Park. Wardens travelled the rugged backcountry— crossing mountain passes and fording glacial rivers . . . all on the back of a horse.

“Much has changed in a hundred years, but at least one thing holds true: horses are still the best way for Parks Canada staff to travel in the mountains.

“Horses are also helping bring bison back to Banff. We have a Parks Canada bison steward watching over the herd 24 hours a day on week-long shifts in the backcountry.

“The bison are in one of the most remote parts of Banff, so we use horses as our main mode of transportation in and out of the field.

“To get there, we pack up the horses and ride for two full days into the heart of the bison reintroduction zone. Along the way, we get a glimpse of Banff at its wildest: wolves howling, wolverine tracks and sheep looking down from ridges above.

“Why bring back the bison? Park officials agree it’s an opportunity for redemption of past mistakes, and it offers hope for the future.

“Bison are an ecological and cultural keystone species and humble landscape engineers. Their wallows form ephemeral pools that create habitat for toads, wetland plant species and birdlife.

“As herbivores, their grazing activities lead to increased nutrient levels in the soil, assisting with seed dispersal and building plant diversity.

“The birds are also excited for their return. Ravens and magpies are now enjoying more luxurious nests and have been spotted boldly pulling shedding hair from bison flanks. Cowbirds are gleefully riding on the backs of the bison and following behind, feasting on insects kicked up by heavy hooves.

“While the remote location of the bison was meticulously chosen to allow the herd space to flourish beyond the reach of camera-toting tourists, as a backcountry enthusiast, it does excite me to know that this giant herbivore is re-establishing its rightful place back on its traditional landscape.

“As the population grows and continues to thrive, I hope the sound of the thunder returns.

“Perhaps one day, as I climb up to a mountain pass, my efforts will be rewarded with a glimpse of this noble animal on the horizon and we will feel that heartbeat on the landscape once again. Give me a home where the buffalo roam!”

”On July 29, 2018, we released 31 bison from the soft-release pasture in Panther Valley, and they are now free to roam in a 1200 sq km reintroduction zone.

“They will start to fulfill their role in the ecosystem as ‘keystone species’ by creating a vibrant mosaic of habitats that benefits bugs to birds to bears and hundreds of other species.

“Bison are an icon of Canada’s history. They were an integral part of the lives of Indigenous Peoples, and they still have an important role in the culture of Indigenous Peoples. Restoring bison to the landscape is an opportunity to renew cultural and historical connections.”

After Calving in Aug 2018

“These are not a captive display herd. These are wild bison,” said Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada.

“This is virtually unprecedented. If we look at the largest land mammal in North America, it’s been gone from Banff National Park for over 140 years, and just the role that bison play in the ecosystem, makes this even more significant than perhaps many other species that we work on in the park.

“They will have a huge impact eventually on how wolves interact with their prey. It’s going to affect songbirds, amphibians. We have a whole suite of monitoring in place to try and track and record those changes over time.

“The next five years, we’re studying everything from effects on streams and fish, bug communities that forage in the bison dung, songbird communities—all this monitoring is in place,” added Hunt.

Surveillance of the Herd

“Our network of remote cameras captures the secret life of the herd. We set them up along trails we know the animals use. When an animal passes by, it triggers a sensor and captures a photo or video.

“Images from remote cameras reveal information that would be difficult to observe in person, such as detailed health observations.

“We rely on GPS radio collars as our most essential tool to monitor herd movements. Before we released the herd into the wild, we collared all the adults. Remote cameras capture some special moments that would otherwise go unseen.

“The collars beam location information via satellites to a web platform that our team can access from the office.

“The collar data tells us about how the animals adapt to their new home and the type of habitat they prefer. We closely observe which animals travel together, and for the most part, they have all been travelling as a large group with some side adventures along the way.

“For the next three years of the pilot project, the bison will be closely monitored by Parks Canada as they explore their new home in the backcountry.”

The public is encouraged to get involved in monitoring the small herd.

Nov 2, 2019—Walking With Bison

Indigenous peoples have a historical and cultural relationship with bison that spans thousands of years. The reintroduction of bison to Banff National Park fosters reconnection of this important relationship, inspires discovery, and provides stewardship and learning opportunities.

In summer 2019, Parks Canada led a group of youth filmmakers from Treaty 7 though the remote Red Deer Valley where bison roam once again. In partnership with the Banff Centre, these filmmakers from the Nakoda A/V Club and the Napi Collective created short films inspired by their experience.

This guest blog, written by Amber Twoyoungmen of the Nakoda A/V Club discusses the significance of the return of bison to Treaty 7 Territory.

“The Nakoda A/V Club is a group of young emerging Indigenous artists from the Bow Valley making films and animations about narratives that matter to us. We work together to help each other to get through tough times and to create opportunities for each other to express our stories.

“In the fall of 2018 we learned about the Bison being reintroduced in Banff National Park. We saw the films that Parks Canada made about the project, and we thought about what we could add to the story.

“Bison matter to Nakoda because they were always part of this place. They belong here. Their presence is part of the Bow Valley, just as the presence of people is.

“At one time, Banff was understood by my people as a place of gathering, of trade, and of healing.

“Today its meaning is different, but I’m excited, because it seems like people nowadays are thinking carefully about all the beings in this Valley and how they relate to each other.

“We asked Parks Canada if we could help tell the story of the return of bison, and we were so happy they agreed! We invited out our neighbors, the Napi Collective from the Siksika Nation to tell stories too, because they belong here also.

“We gathered at Banff Centre to think about the stories we wanted to tell, and to learn about Bison. Some of our members, got to go to the Red Deer Valley, where the Bison live! When they came back, they told us about what it was like, and they’ll tell you too:”

Comments of Participants

Javan Twoyoungmen: “Being invited out to the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains was an incredible experience . . . The Rockies hold a precious history with the Nakoda people, walking the path my ancestors once took was a memorable experience one that I will never forget.”

Iris Clarke: “I can honestly say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I didn’t think I could hike that far. But it was the most rewarding too.”

Tashina Ear: “My experience hiking with the Parks Canada crew was very exciting but most of all, a great opportunity to learn with Parks Canada.

“Those very paths were also the same trails our Nakoda ancestors had walked through and I’ve never realized how hard they worked, and how long their days must have been. Our ancestors were so strong, and I want to be like them.

“I’ve been on simple little two-hour hikes but nothing compared to this! I’m greatly appreciative that I was given this opportunity to hike with Nakoda A/V Club members and the staff from Parks Canada.

“After the hike, we made a movie. We used everything we learned, and everything we thought about to help tell the story we wanted to tell.

“As part of making that movie, we camped together, we hiked, we swam and we went back to Banff to edit our work with the support of Banff Centre. Then we will be able to present what we made and what we learned as part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

“The project was such a great opportunity. Bison matter not just to us but also to lots of beings in the mountains. Parks Canada taught us about how Bison leave fur for nests, make indents for pools of water to grow and help to create conditions for grasses to thrive.

“At one time, I might have learned this by watching the Bison here in the Bow Valley, and I’m sad that’s not the case anymore, but I’m so excited that some of our members did get to learn this way by hiking in the Red Deer Valley!

“That’s a connection to who we used to be, and who we might be again someday. In the future, our story will include all the new people in the Valley too, just as this part of our story is so intertwined with Parks Canada.

“It’s an honor to work on something important. We loved working with Parks Canada to tell the story of the return of bison to Banff.

“Like all our stories, it’s not meant to have an end, it’s meant to be re-told and shared often, because in the sharing of stories we bring our gifts to the valley, just like the Bison leaves its fur for all the small birds.”

“Thank you to guest blog writer, Amber Twoyoungmen and to all of the participating filmmakers for sharing their stories with us.”

For Questions or more Information Contact:

Karsten Heuer
Banff Field Unit, Parks Canada
karsten.heuer@canada.ca

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Final Report on the Plains Bison Reintroduction Pilot 2017-2022

Executive Summary, May 2023

Following the 2015 Plains Bison Reintroduction Plan, Parks Canada prepared a draft Report on the Plains Bison Reintroduction Pilot 2017-2022 (the Report).

The Report summarizes key learnings of the five-year pilot and was shared with Indigenous Peoples, stakeholders and the public for comment over a 30-day engagement period between November 9th and December 14th, 2022.

During the engagement period, Parks Canada sought feedback on results of the pilot and input on what is important for Parks Canada to consider in the future of bison management in Banff National Park. All comments received were documented, read and analyzed.

In total, Parks Canada received 56 responses ranging from personal accounts of the importance of the bison reintroduction to specific recommendations to improve the draft Report.

Input was received from individuals (Canadians at large), organizations (environmental, industry, recreation, research) and Indigenous Peoples, many of whom had been previously engaged in earlier phases of the pilot.

Overall, feedback indicates the pilot was a success and there is a strong support for bison to remain on the landscape, with variations in what that may look like in the future.

Major themes that emerged include:

• Indigenous Connection:

Bison hold spiritual importance and enduring cultural, historical and traditional significance to Indigenous peoples.

• Sustainable Management:

The healthy and growing bison herd should be sustainably managed through long-term planning and operations.

• Collaboration:

Continued inter-jurisdictional and partner collaboration will be critical to maintaining and managing bison on the landscape.

• Benefits to Biodiversity:

The bison herd have been observed to positively interact with

The environment and other species over the course of the pilot, resulting in benefits to the surrounding ecosystem and its biodiversity.

• Visitor Education:

Visitor experiences should focus on educational opportunities about

The importance and role of bison, including keeping bison wild and human-wildlife interaction safety.

Results of engagement are further summarized below and have helped Parks Canada finalize the Report. Comments have also been considered in next steps, including the decision to develop a bison management plan. Parks Canada is grateful and thanks all those who participated.

What We Heard

Over a 30-day engagement, Parks Canada sought input from Indigenous Peoples; other levels of government; environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs); scientists and researchers; hunting outfitters and trappers; tourism operators; the livestock, ranching, and grazing industry; recreationalists; and Canadians.

Parks Canada communicated about engagement opportunities via email, letter, newspaper announcement, website announcements, social media postings and in-person and virtual discussions.

In total Parks Canada received 56 responses as either written submissions or verbal comments in meetings, representing a variety of perspectives.

Input ranged from personal accounts of positive encounters with the bison in the backcountry to reflections on how Parks Canada should manage the growing population of the bison in the future and recommendations on how to improve the Report.

The vast majority, 91% of comments, expressed clear support for continued bison presence on the landscape, with a variety of comments as to what the future should look like.

The following is a high-level summary of what we heard on a variety of key topics.

Strong Support: For Future with Bison on the Landscape

The majority of public and stakeholder comments strongly supported a future with bison on the landscape with an emphasis on continuing to build on the success of the pilot.

Indigenous Peoples we heard from also strongly supported a future with bison.

Stakeholders who previously expressed concerns about public safety, the potential for property damage and harm to livestock were well represented in this engagement process and indicated their concerns were addressed or decreased because of the management and results of the pilot.

Some Concerns Remain

In the few instances where opposition to bison on the landscape was voiced, the concerns centred around the perceived potential for human-wildlife conflict, negative side-effects to the local landscape and the incompatibility of bison with current user activities in and around Banff National Park.

The potential for risk to livestock and property outside the national park was a continuing concern for the agricultural sector but decreased notably since before the pilot.

This sector also expressed strong appreciation for how Parks Canada honoured its commitments to test bison for disease and to haze or recapture the few bison that ventured beyond the reintroduction zone during the pilot.

On Managing the Reintroduction Herd

Population Management

Several respondents expressed carefully considered and detailed views on future management of the reintroduction herd, including concerns with how management of the growing population is achieved.

Many Indigenous groups, stakeholders and members of the public support managing the bison population because of the level of growth of the herd so far and the projections of herd size.

A high number of respondents stressed that natural and sustainable ways to manage the population are important for Parks Canada to consider in the future, with many recommending expansion of the bison’s range.

ENGOs voiced sentiments that bison should be monitored and populations managed in sustainable ways, but not contained or restricted.

A small but notable group of respondents support population management tactics consistent with those employed during the pilot.

This was particularly important to members of the agricultural sector who recommended long-term population management is achieved within available habitat in Banff National Park, and that similar management mitigations as utilized during the pilot are employed (i.e., Bison Excursion Response Plan and the Bison Health Monitoring and Disease Response Plan).

Planned Harvesting

Approximately a third of respondents support planned harvesting as a sustainable method for population management. Most of these commenters further explained that opportunities for traditional harvesting by Indigenous Peoples was why they would support this approach.

Many who advocated for this approach also associated harvesting with an expanded bison area, with regulated harvests taking place outside of Banff National Park to provide increased access.

Cultural Significance: Enduring Cultural Significance to Indigenous Peoples

Over half of all feedback RECOGNISED bison as an animal of seminal connection, interest and meaning to Indigenous Peoples. Parks Canada heard overwhelmingly that the Banff bison reintroduction has spiritual resonance, historical and traditional associations and enduring cultural significance to Indigenous Peoples.

 Input also spoke to the reintroduction of bison to the land as an act of reconciliation.

Importance of Ceremony and Stewardship

We heard unanimously from Indigenous Peoples that including ceremony in the reintroduction was important and appreciated, but that its contribution to the success of the project was understated.

Recommendations include:

1. a) to continue coordinating ceremonial activities;
2. b) to continue facilitating Indigenous connection and stewardship of the herd and
3. c) to better recognize the impact Indigenous ceremony has had to date on the success of the reintroduction.

Input also highlighted the importance of exploring Indigenous employment opportunities linked to bison stewardship programs and future opportunities for bison harvest.

On Collaboration: Working Together Toward Range Expansion

After support for a future with bison, the second most frequently heard comment was about the potential for expanding the geographical area bison occupy on the landscape.

Of comments that touched upon this topic, the majority (89%) were in support of an expanded area for bison.

Many respondents identified the importance of Parks Canada working in collaboration with the Government of Alberta and nearby stakeholders to achieve expansion of the area the herd can roam.

Specific recommendations included inter-jurisdictional efforts to facilitate a herd which can roam outside of Banff National Park.

Recommended outcomes of working together include:

a) classifying roaming bison as wildlife once they cross outside of Banff National Park;

b) establishing a buffer area around the park where the bison can roam in the same wayas within the park and

c) collaboration with the provincial government, private landowners and the federally owned Ya Ha Tinda Ranch on measures to facilitate use of lands for the herd.

How the Public Experience the Bison: Keeping the Bison ‘Wild’

Many respondents described different ways they experienced the bison herd, from personal encounters during hikes to stories shared through-out the course of the pilot garnering interest, curiosity and support.

A consistent thread in this feedback stressed the importance of keeping the bison ‘wild’ by ensuring they do not become an attraction subject to increased accessibility.

Many were concerned that increased visitation to the area and possible commercialization of the bison viewing experience may exploit the wilderness area, resulting in negative consequences to the bison themselves.

Strong sentiment against promoting visitation and sightseeing tourism was heard.

Focus on Education

Several Indigenous Peoples, stakeholders and individuals noted the potential for enhanced educational opportunities about bison.

These comments expressed a desire for Parks Canada to improve the visitor experience through a focus on education that shares stories about the importance and role of bison and their connection to Indigenous Peoples.

There were also notable mentions about the need to increase awareness of human-wildlife safety.

A small number of respondents, including some recreational users and businesses, expressed continuing concern for their and their clients’ safety while recreating in the backcountry, especially if bison densities increase.

Environmental Interactions: Benefits to Biodiversity

A substantial number of commenters, particularly researchers, interest groups and ENGOs, spoke about the ecological and biodiversity benefits of reintroducing bison, as described in the Report.

Many support the results of the pilot because of these observations.

The strongest message heard regarding biodiversity was that the reintroduction of plains bison is vital and natural to the ecosystem, that the animals have an important ecological niche on the land and that bison have an important role as a food source for natural predators and scavengers.

While minimal, there were some concerns raised about potential negative physical effects of the herd on the land, such as the extent to which the bison have grazed some of the meadows they have favoured so far.

However, far more input focused on the fact that the pilot has had a net positive impact on the area by returning to a symbiotic relationship with bison.

To Fence or Not to Fence

Feedback was also heard regarding how fencing was used during the pilot. While some cited the Report as evidence that short sections of drift fencing effectively deflected bison while allowing other species to pass through, many commenters expressed concern for fencing as a long-term measure.

Their concerns revolved around the impacts of fencing to the movement of other wildlife and to the natural free roaming of the bison.

Importance of Ongoing Monitoring

The importance of ongoing monitoring of the bison was also expressed, as was the use of scientific analysis to assess their interactions with other components of the ecosystem.

Commenters emphasized the importance of not only monitoring the herd’s progress as part of the reintroduction pilot, but also that monitoring of the bison’s impact to the landscape, their interaction with other species and their growth as central to future bison management.

On Pilot Success and the Report: A Successful Pilot

The majority of commenters believed the pilot was a success. Most respondents spoke positively about the pilot, including how it was communicated outward and about the variety of education and outreach activities that occurred throughout.

Members of the outfitter and trapper communities highlighted the open communication with the reintroduction project team as a key reason why some of their concerns lessened over the course of the pilot.

The Report

Most respondents supported the draft Report as written and were generally satisfied with the level of detail, analysis and scope of information provided.

Several detailed recommendations, however, were to expand upon or better document results of the pilot in the Report.

Feedback for improving the Report ranged from requests for the Stoney Nakoda Nation’s Cultural Monitoring and Traditional Knowledge Study to be better integrated into the Report, to wanting to see results measured against performance or management targets to better gauge success.

Many submissions also noted a need for future options or next steps to be more explicitly stated in the Report.

However, all audiences engaged expressed they are looking forward to next steps of the project and the future of bison management.

Active Future Involvement

A quarter of all respondents requested updates on and opportunities for active future involvement in the decision-making process, in project work and for continued updates as planning progresses. This was unanimous for all Indigenous Peoples.

Conclusion

In summary, Indigenous Peoples, stakeholders and the public expressed appreciation for the five-year pilot, an overall feeling that the pilot was a success and that the Report made valuable information available regarding what was learned over the course of the five-year pilot.

Support for a future with bison in Banff National Park is high.

There is great appetite for Parks Canada to take what we have learned and what we have heard to date and use that to inform a future strategy for managing the bison herd.

The insightful questions, recommendations and considerations illustrate where our attention should be directed to inform our approach moving forward.

Final Report

The final  Report on the Plains Bison Reintroduction Pilot 2017-2022 has been refined and finalized based on feedback. Because of questions we received about the content of the Report, or notes about gaps in information or clarity, additional information and clarifying details have been added.

For example:

• We have endeavoured to better integrate Indigenous perspectives including

 recognition of the importance of ceremony to the success of the reintroduction. 

• Supplementary information to address pilot limitations and scope. 

• Examples of other studies and benefits observed during the pilot. 

• A high-level discussion of population observations and carrying capacities.

Moving Forward

Bison will continue to remain on the landscape within Banff National Park. Parks Canada will explore future options for bison management through development of a bison management plan.

Indigenous Peoples and stakeholders will continue to be informed and involved throughout this process. Feedback received during the engagement on the Report will continue to be considered as we move forward with next steps.

For more information:

Contact Parks Canada Banff Field Unit at opinion@pc.gc.ca

NEXT: Banff Bison—Free and Thriving (Part 2)

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog