Caption for photo: Jason Baldes’ efforts to restore bison as a free-roaming wildlife species has led to roughly 90 bison on the Wind River Indian Reservation. These animals are grazing outside of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative headquarters in Morton. Credit: Mike Koshmrl / WyoFile
OCTOBER 13, 2023
Excerpt from article on WyoFile
By Mike Koshmrl
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, residents and visitors gathered to help grow the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative’s swelling herd.
MORTON— Jason Baldes poked a little fun at his task: Leading a caravan of bison enthusiasts on a slow-going cruise through the prairie overlooking the Wind River.
The problem was there weren’t any bison, save for a far-off errant bull here or there.
“We’re killing time for the food to get done,” Baldes, an Eastern Shoshone Tribe member and Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative executive director, said from the cab of his pickup. “They’re all right behind the house.”
The herd was near Baldes’ home and the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative’s headquarters on Monday evening, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but the organizers of a Sierra Club bison benefit scheduled for that evening needed to finish preparing dinner.