Photo caption: Jason Baldes’ efforts to restore bison as a wide-ranging wildlife species has led to roughly 300 animals on the Wind River Indian Reservation. These animals are grazing outside of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative headquarters near Morton in 2023. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)
February 6, 2026
Excerpt from WyoFile
Article by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile
Although the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes consider buffalo wildlife, the state manages the native ungulates as livestock near the reservation — a duality that has some neighbors seeking clarity.
Jason Baldes sat horseback outside his neighbor’s gate for hours in early October waiting for the highest levels of Wyoming government to help resolve what, on its surface, looked like little more than an old school good-fences-make-good-neighbors ranching dispute.
Had the matter involved cattle or sheep, it would likely have been settled in no time. But the alleged offenders that day were buffalo, a native species with a newly complicated legal status and a long history of attracting politically charged debate.