Original article reproduced for non-commercial use with permission.
DECEMBER 24, 2024
Excerpt from Billings Gazette
Article by Brett French, Billings Gazette
Wyoming’s Eastern Shoshone Tribe has received a $3 million grant to expand the Yellowstone Bison Conservation Transfer Program, the tip of a funding iceberg meant to return bison to tribes across the nation.
“There’s a big effort to get buffalo out of Yellowstone to tribes,” said Jason Baldes, the Shoshone Tribal Buffalo representative. “A lot of tribes are interested in those Yellowstone genetics to enhance the heterogeneity of other herds.”
The injection of money will “supplement bison cultural herds along with the aim to create 20 new herds, which will stabilize and strengthen the efforts of each tribal nation and support cultural renewal while fostering ecological rejuvenation in northern short mixed-grass prairies,” according to the grant announcement.