PROJECT TYPE: Rewilding, Trans-boundary conservation, Partnership building
PARTNERS: U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. National Park Service, U. S. Forest Service, World Wildlife Fund, Parks Canada, CONAP_MX
VISION: Convening and organizing the efforts of bison conservationists across North America to amplify and increase the success of continental bison rewilding.
MOTTO: A collaborative, continent-wide approach to bison conservation
Numerous individuals, organizations, institutions and nations are dedicated to the recovery of bison, each with their own mission, capacity and reach. Some groups are focused on ensuring the restoration of large wild herds, roaming freely across the landscape. Others are focused on the need to ensure sustainable livelihoods and economic returns, while recognizing the critical role bison in “production” herds can play in maintaining grassland and rangeland health. A growing number of Native American Tribes and First Nations are working to return buffalo herds to their Homelands and catalyze the revitalization of Indigenous lands, economies, community well-being, and culture. There are also small display herds in zoos and on public lands that may supplement rewilding efforts while educating and engaging with large, diverse publics of all ages and backgrounds.
Working with these diverse partners, WCS is co-creating a strategy for organizing, funding, and amplifying bison restoration efforts across North America. Our vision is a biocultural strategy developed in deep collaboration and partnership with First Nations and Tribes, ranchers, federal, state, and local agencies, and other conservation organizations to establish wide-ranging herds that can move freely across North America’s complex land matrix, and help bison resume and fulfill their once transformative ecological and cultural role.