USGS science in support of the Department of the Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative.
The Bison Conservation Initiative is a Department of Interior (DOI) cooperative initiative that will coordinate conservation strategies and approaches for the wild American Bison over the next 10 years.
The 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative builds on previous DOI conservation efforts and reaffirms commitments to large, wild, connected, genetically diverse and healthy bison herds and to conservation that includes shared stewardship, ecological restoration and cultural restoration. DOI remains uniquely positioned to play an active role in developing the next stage in bison conservation by working with states, tribes and partners to accomplish linked ecological and cultural restoration goals that are both broader and more meaningful.
As part of these efforts, the USGS is a member of the DOI Bison Working Group (BWG) along with representatives from the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BWG is working to strengthen resource coordination, institute a conservation genetics framework and publish investigations into metapopulation management and herd health. Working with states, tribes, and other stakeholders is essential to bison conservation and restoration.
USGS scientists are working with partners to provie science that supports bison conservation through studies promoting herd health, habitat quality, and sustainable management strategies. Click on Related Science above to see more.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Promoting Climate Resilience and Soil Health in Northern Rockies Grasslands Through Bison and Cattle Grazing Management: Weaving Together Indigenous and Western Science
Support the Development of a National Park Service Midwest Region bison stewardship strategy
Grazing resources for integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Supporting the National Park Service Midwest Region Bison Management Plan
Brucellosis
Herbivore-Ecosystem Interactions
Where the Bison Roam: Public-Private Partnership Supports Potential Restoration
Elk and Bison Grazing Ecology in the San Luis Valley, Colorado
- Overview
USGS science in support of the Department of the Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative.
The Bison Conservation Initiative is a Department of Interior (DOI) cooperative initiative that will coordinate conservation strategies and approaches for the wild American Bison over the next 10 years.
The 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative builds on previous DOI conservation efforts and reaffirms commitments to large, wild, connected, genetically diverse and healthy bison herds and to conservation that includes shared stewardship, ecological restoration and cultural restoration. DOI remains uniquely positioned to play an active role in developing the next stage in bison conservation by working with states, tribes and partners to accomplish linked ecological and cultural restoration goals that are both broader and more meaningful.
As part of these efforts, the USGS is a member of the DOI Bison Working Group (BWG) along with representatives from the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BWG is working to strengthen resource coordination, institute a conservation genetics framework and publish investigations into metapopulation management and herd health. Working with states, tribes, and other stakeholders is essential to bison conservation and restoration.
USGS scientists are working with partners to provie science that supports bison conservation through studies promoting herd health, habitat quality, and sustainable management strategies. Click on Related Science above to see more.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.Bison standing in the snow at the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Learn more at www.doi.gov/bison-2020 - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Promoting Climate Resilience and Soil Health in Northern Rockies Grasslands Through Bison and Cattle Grazing Management: Weaving Together Indigenous and Western Science
Native American tribes are interested in managing their homelands for future generations, using both Indigenous and western science to make decisions in culturally appropriate ways. In particular, there is interest in strategic grazing management as a natural climate solution to strengthen the resilience of grasslands to a changing climate. This includes the restoration of free-ranging bison as weSupport the Development of a National Park Service Midwest Region bison stewardship strategy
Bison have played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia. National Parks are a major last bastion for wild herds of the national mammal and symbol of the Department of the Interior. However, even as the National Park Service aims to maintain as natural as possible ecosystem conditions within its parks’ boundaries, managers regularly make decisions affecting their...Grazing resources for integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Badlands National Park (BADL) contains one of the largest protected expanses of mixed-grass prairie in the United States, much of which supports a herd of nearly wild bison. The park nevertheless is too small to accommodate bison’s natural nomadic behavior, which in the past resulted in their ephemeral but intense influence on Great Plains grasslands. This research is assessing the spatial...Integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Badlands National Park contains the largest contiguous bison range in the core of the species’ historic range on the northern Great Plains. The park nevertheless is too small to accommodate natural movements of free-ranging bison. As a result, continual grazing by resident bison has supplanted intense-but-ephemeral grazing by nomadic bison. The herd also is currently too small to prevent gradual...Supporting the National Park Service Midwest Region Bison Management Plan
The bison, which has long served as the symbol of the Department of the Interior, became the official national mammal of the United States in 2016. Bison played a key role in shaping the grasslands of the Great Plains for millennia, but today they are confined to unnaturally small ranges. National parks, including four in the Great Plains, provide a major last bastion for wild bison. Herds in BadlBrucellosis
Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade.Herbivore-Ecosystem Interactions
Data from these studies help inform management decisions regarding ungulates on public lands, typically in large, jurisdictionally complex landscapes. Recent work involves investigations on the effects of herd size and movements of elk, bison, and wild horses on various ecosystem components. Specifically, scientific efforts include quantifying interactions among herbivores, plants, and soils...Where the Bison Roam: Public-Private Partnership Supports Potential Restoration
A little over one hundred years ago, plains bison were prolific in the Great American West. Reports describe herds containing thousands of animals migrating through the central and western states, totaling 20–30 million across their entire range. With commercial, unregulated hunting in the late 1800s came the rapid demise of bison to barely more than 1,000 by 18891. Recently, renewed interest in...Elk and Bison Grazing Ecology in the San Luis Valley, Colorado
Managers need information on the grazing ecology of bison and elk in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve to develop science-based management alternatives.