Bison population, with Yellowstone National Park roots, explodes in Colorado

In 2015 researchers at Colorado State University, in conjunction with the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County, released a small herd of bison onto the 2,700-acre Soapstone Prairie north of Fort Collins. The herd originally included just 10 bison, but thanks to advanced assisted reproductive technologies at CSU, the herd has grown significantly and has been kept as close to genetically pure as possible and free of brucellosis.  

"They do a lot of natural breeding, but those assisted reproductive technologies help us build a herd that is healthy and free of brucellosis," said Dr. Jennifer Barfield.

What makes these bison special is that they have lineage to the bison in Yellowstone National Park. CSU and its partners are now sending bison to Native American tribes enabling them to use the bison for cultural endeavors, food sovereignty and the ability to start their own herd.

"It feels very rewarding to be able to rehome these bison with tribes," added Barfield.

"From my point of view something like this is really important so we get to know back ourselves again, and take these animals back to their place, and where our people can get to know about themselves again," said Darryl Slim of the Dine' Nation.

"There is a lot of cultural importance," adds Matt McCollum one of CSU's head researchers and herd coordinator.

In April the Oglala Lakota tribe traveled to CSU from South Dakota to transfer bison to their new home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

"They roamed that area a long time ago," said Jamie Ghost of the Pine Ridge Tribe. It's part of their homelands too, so it's a good thing for the people and the buffalo."

Tribes in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Montana and Minnesota have all received bison this spring. 

You can support the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd at advancing.colostate.edu/bison.