Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Saturday may have been another quiet day at the remote Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, but it also marked another historic moment for the return of pure wild bison to the Great Plains. For the second time in four months, I got to see genetically pure bison from Yellowstone National Park gain new ground at Fort Peck.

The first time was in March, when 61 bison came storming off half a dozen trailers into a two-acre temporary surveillance corral. Since then, 21 calves were born to this small herd of pioneers – the first bison of Yellowstone descent to be born on the Great Plains, the heart of their historic range. Many of these bison had never tasted freedom, as they had lived in a quarantine facility on the edge of Yellowstone for up to five years prior to this move to eradicate a disease called brucellosis.

On Saturday, all 82 bison stampeded out of the corral into a 2,100-acre pasture that will be part of their new home. See my photos below:

PausePlayPlayPrev|Next

Leaving the corral

Two acres isn't much room for 61 bison and their 21 calves, but keeping them in this temporary surveillance corral helped the animals adjust to their new surroundings at Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana.

Looking on

Robert Magnan with Fort Peck Fish & Game and several community members watch as the bison exit the corral and head into the 2,100-acre pasture.

First steps

This calf takes its first steps ever outside of the two-acre corral where it was born.

Big Sky country

Three adult bison spread out on a hillside in their native habitat.

Herding up

Bison herds, once a familiar sight all across the Great Plains, are making a triumphant return at Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

Powwow

Tribal members at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation celebrate during a summer powwow.

The bison now have free reign of this area. Once they’re settled, an additional 5,000 acres will be added to their home this fall, giving them more than 7,000 acres of grassland to graze and grow their numbers. Additional expansions are very likely, as we look to help the tribes acquire enough land to support at least 1,000 bison—the number scientists estimate is necessary to maintain genetic diversity.

Though it may be a long time before bison are truly “free roaming”, our hope is that these bison will be “wide ranging” enough to once again fulfill their essential ecological role in the Great Plains, while also helping to restore the culture of the people of the region. Tribal elder Iris Greybull was on hand to witness the event and said:

“We have always been known as buffalo people because we followed them, they fed us, they gave us clothes, they gave us our homes, they took care of us… Now the buffalo nations are coming back.”

At Defenders, our hope is that the people of Fort Peck Reservation are just the first of many landowners to offer bison a large home on the plains. The people of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation are also planning to start a new conservation herd of Yellowstone bison, and they have plenty of land to do it.

I attended a powwow at Fort Belknap on Sunday with Mark Azure, the tribes’ bison manager, and – along with two friends from World Wildlife Fund – helped him map the condition of the existing fence around their 22,000-acre area that will one day be home to wild Yellowstone bison. Defenders is assisting with a plan to upgrade the fence where necessary prior to the arrival of the Yellowstone bison, as required by the state of Montana prior to the bison’s return.

Beyond tribal lands, both Montana and federal agencies are looking to restore bison on some of our public lands as well. We look forward to partnering with them to make these plans a reality and see that more wild bison are returned to the Great Plains.

To learn more visit www.defenders.org/bisonhome.

It’s been slow but steady progress lately for bison conservation in Montana.

Tribal wildlife managers at Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian reservations are busy making preparations to receive 65 disease-free, genetically pure bison from a quarantine facility near Yellowstone National Park—a move that was approved late last year by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission. Litigation from a handful of local private landowners threatens to stop the move, which could occur any day.

Meanwhile, the state has agreed to open more land outside the park for bison to use during the winter when heavy snow sends them in search of food at lower elevations. Last week, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks released its updated interagency bison management plan that will allow bison to continue roaming north of Yellowstone National Park into Gardiner Basin during winter months.

The revised plan is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction for Yellowstone bison, the most important bison population in the United States. These genetically pure wild bison are essential to the ecological restoration of the species, and there is no better place than Gardiner Basin for Montana to learn how to live with free-roaming bison.

Yellowstone bison were first allowed to roam Gardiner Basin last year when deep snow pushed hundreds of bison to leave the park in search of food. In previous years, bison that strayed beyond park boundaries were promptly hazed back into the park, shipped to slaughter, or held in captivity. But the new policy allows bison to remain in the area until May 1 each year. Just as with the proposed move to tribal lands, litigation threatens to end this progress as well.

Montana Governor Schweitzer has also weighed in, once again prohibiting the shipment of Yellowstone bison to slaughter, thereby forcing the state and federal agencies involved to seek alternatives. Defenders supports this move to prohibit needless slaughter and will continue to help in the effort to find alternatives. In 2011 Defenders contributed $7,000 to pay for fencing to keep bison off private property in Gardiner Basin where they are not wanted. This new effort, managed by the state wildlife department, increases tolerance for bison by allowing local landowners and bison to coexist.

The revised plan for Gardiner Basin is not all that these bison deserve, as some bison will continue to be hazed and held in captivity should more than 300 or so roam the basin at any one time. Ultimately, we believe bison should be allowed to roam year-round in Gardiner Basin – and other locations around Yellowstone – without confinement. Still, this is a start, and our hope is that we will see greater tolerance in the near future based on the success of coexistence projects.

The FWP Commissioners listen to Fort Peck Tribal Chairman Floyd Azure’s testimony.

A meeting to remember

Attending day-long meetings of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission isn’t usually at the top of my list of favorite things to do. But last Friday was one meeting that I simply couldn’t miss. The Commission was finally considering a proposal to relocate 68 bison from a quarantine facility near Yellowstone National Park where they’ve been held for more than five years to two tribal reservations in northeast Montana.

For years, Defenders has been pushing state wildlife managers to give the bison to the tribes, and this was our last chance to show our support. When it was my turn to testify, I told the commission that although we cannot return to the past when tens of millions of bison roamed the Great Plains, surely there are at least a few places to restore genetically pure wild bison. These two reservations stand ready and willing; this is an offer we should not refuse.

The bison of Yellowstone National Park are some of the only genetically pure wild bison left, and the Assiniboine, Gros Ventre and Sioux tribes of these two reservations have long wished for their return. Giving the bison to the tribes would mark the beginning of efforts to restore new conservation herds of these important bison to the heart of their historic range in the Great Plains.

Although we cannot return to the past when tens of millions of bison roamed the Great Plains, surely there are at least a few places to restore genetically pure wild bison.

Several Defenders’ Montana members spoke in support of the plan too, as did other local Montanans and tribal members as well.

“These majestic animals have played a very significant part in the history, religion, and the culture of our native people of the fort peck reservation,” said Floyd Azure, Fort Peck Reservation Tribal Council Chairman, as reported by the Associated Press. “These bison have sustained our ancestors for thousands of years and they are in need of us of returning the favor. We are here to make sure they will always be here for our children.”

The proposal seemed like a no-brainer to us, and the majority of people testifying supported the move. But some came to testify in opposition, including commissioners from counties near the reservations and some local landowners who fear the bison will escape and damage their fences and property. Despite these objections, the Commission voted unanimously to approve the plan.

The 22,000-acre bison reserve at Fort Belknap awaits genetically pure bison. In 2012, Defenders will assist the tribe with improvements to fencing in preparation for these bison.

Over the past several years, Defenders has helped Fort Peck and Fort Belknap expand the size of their designated bison reserves (currently 4,800 acres and 22,000 acres, respectively) and purchase the required fencing in preparation for return of these bison. We continue to raise funds to help finish the job, and will continue to help expand the bison reserves as opportunities arise in the future.

The next step is for the state and tribal governments to complete and sign agreements. This could take a few weeks to a few months. Then, the tribes are planning a “welcome home” ceremony for their return.

When that happens, we’ll be one step closer to the true restoration of wild bison to their historic stomping grounds.

Bison gather near the road at the archway marking the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Montana poised to approve the return of 68 bison to tribal lands

We’re almost there!

This Friday the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will decide what to do with some of the last genetically pure bison left in America: keep them locked in a quarantine facility or relocate them to start new wild herds on the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Indian Reservations.

As part of a government experiment to see if the disease brucellosis could be removed from a herd of genetically pure Yellowstone bison, hundreds of bison were placed in quarantine. These bison have been proven time and again to be free of brucellosis, yet they remain in quarantine more than 5 years later.

Governor Schweitzer and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff have recommended that the Commission approve the transfer of the 68 Yellowstone bison remaining in quarantine to these tribal lands.

Defenders of Wildlife supports release of these bison for restoration on tribal lands. After years of working towards restoring additional herds of these American icons, one final approval remains.

The Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck Reservation and the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes of Fort Belknap Reservation have stepped up to the plate and welcome the responsibility of living with these respected animals, the way their ancestors did for years before.

This is an offer our state should not refuse.

If the relocation proposal passes, these bison could be moved anytime in the next few months.

Read more about bison in the latest issue of Defenders magazine…

A vista across Badlands National Park in South Dakota, site of the black-footed ferret celebration.

Thirty years ago, the black-footed ferret was thought to be extinct, a casualty of the war this country has waged against prairie dogs for more than a century. (Black-footed ferrets are completely dependent on prairie dogs for survival: they live in prairie dog burrows and eat prairie dogs, and we’ve lost over 95 percent of prairie dogs and their colonies due to plowing of the prairie, poisoning and exotic disease.) But on September 26, 1981, a ranch dog named Shep caught a black-footed ferret in Meeteetse, Wyoming, leading to the discovery of a single remaining population. Eight of these ferrets bred successfully in captivity, and from them we now have about 1,000 ferrets in 19 reintroduction sites across the west. Successful recovery is far from guaranteed, but we are on the right track thanks to some luck and a lot of hard work.

Rocky Mountain Region Representative Jonathan Proctor attended a weekend-long “ferret festival” at Badlands National Park in South Dakota to mark the 30^th anniversary of the rediscovery of the black-footed ferret. Here are some of the highlights from his trip:

The three biologists who pioneered black-footed ferret research returned to Badlands for the 30th anniversary of ferret rediscovery.

On Friday, Sept. 23, my morning started before sunrise as I traveled from my home in Missoula, Montana to Badlands National Park in South Dakota to join dozens of people who have worked over the past several decades to recover black-footed ferrets from the brink of extinction. The park’s “ferret festival” included scientific talks, media events, and – of course – tours to see ferrets in the wild. Close to 100 people attended the various events.

The festival began with the release of four captive-bred ferrets into the wild as part of the park’s ongoing effort to restore the species. The three men who helped release the ferrets were pioneers of ferret research prior to the 1979 death of the last-known captive ferret–the presumed extinction of the species. It meant a great deal to them to release these ferrets and see that their early work in ferret conservation had not been in vain.

Festival attendees were treated to a night of spotlighting for ferrets. You can see the green flicker of light in the eyes of these nocturnal predators.

When ferret researchers get together they tend to get little sleep because it’s only at night that studying ferrets in the wild takes place. As darkness fell we all went back to the park’s prairie dog towns with spotlights to search for the bright green eye shine of black-footed ferrets. This was part of the park’s annual effort to count the number of wild ferrets and evaluate the level of success at this particular site. Although the census is not yet complete for the year, the latest estimate is 25. Our day ended around 2 am, earlier than usual for a night of spotlighting for ferrets. But we all had a lot more to do in the coming days.

On Sunday afternoon, Dean Biggins discussed the latest research on sylvatic plague, the greatest threat to ferret and prairie dog survival. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say it’s going to be tough to save our most important ferret recovery areas from this non-native disease. For now, the only strategy we have is “dusting,” which means applying insecticide to each prairie dog burrow to kill the fleas that carry and transmit plague. This is time-consuming, expensive and probably not good for the environment. It is basically a stop-gap measure until a more efficient and affordable oral vaccine is developed to protect ferrets and prairie dogs from plague. Such a vaccine would still require regular human intervention to keep our most important prairie dog colonies alive, but quitting is not an option. If we give up, we lose not only prairie dogs and ferrets but also the many other species that thrive on large prairie dog colonies.

Juvenile prairie dogs cluster near the entrance of their burrow. Prairie dog colonies at Conata Basin have been wiped out by plague, impeding the recovery of the prairie dog-dependent, black-footed ferrets.

Next up was National Grassland biologist Randy Griebel, who updated us on the latest status of prairie dogs in Conata Basin, an area just south of Badlands National Park that is home to the largest and most important complex of prairie dog colonies on public lands in the entire Great Plains. This is an area Defenders has been working to save from both poisoning and plague for years. Conata Basin had been home to over 30,000 acres of prairie dog colonies and over 300 ferrets only a few years ago. Randy announced that Conata Basin’s prairie dog colonies are now below 10,000 acres in size, and ferret numbers are below 100. The loss is all due to plague, which first struck in 2008. The only colonies that survived were those that were dusted.

I have to admit that seeing first-hand the loss of a once-thriving prairie dog colony was tough. But all is not hopeless, and later that evening an inspirational slideshow by Michael Forsberg helped remind us of the natural beauty of the Great Plains that still exists and that we work so hard to restore. Ferrets have been given a second chance. Now it’s our job to make sure their miraculous rediscovery 30 years ago was not in vain.

Hundreds more prairie dogs moved to safety at Thunder Basin

Eric, Jonathan and Lacy, prairie dog relocators. Photo by Lindsey Sterling Krank.

For the second year in a row, black-tailed prairie dogs at Thunder Basin National Grassland in eastern Wyoming are getting a reprieve from the “poison-first” mentality that is all too common across the Great Plains. Last week, Defenders’ Bozeman staffer Lacy Gray, Wildlife Volunteer Corps participant Eric Paprocki and I helped the U.S. Forest Service and our conservation partners relocate – rather than poison – 248 prairie dogs from areas at the edge of Thunder Basin where they are not wanted to a fully-protected area in its core that has been designated for wildlife recovery.

Why is this such a big deal? Let’s consider the big picture. Americans own more than three million acres in nine national grasslands across the Great Plains, managed on our behalf by the U.S. Forest Service. One of the most important “keystone” species of the Great Plains is the black-tailed prairie dog, whose colonies once covered 10-20 percent of the Great Plains and provided an immense source of food and habitat for dozens of other animals.

Sadly, prairie dogs – and some of the animals that depend on them – have declined by more than 95 percent across the Great Plains due to poisoning, shooting, plowing and non-native disease. They continue to be poisoned and shot even on our national grasslands. But at Thunder Basin National Grassland, this is changing thanks to a new plan that includes nonlethal management and active restoration. This new plan is not perfect, but it is a good compromise that included enough of a commitment to prairie dog restoration that Defenders could get behind it.

Prairie dog awaits release into its new home. Photo by Lacy Gray.

And get behind it we did: working 12- to 16-hour days, waking from our tents before dawn and enduring the relentless heat, wind and mosquitoes that are so ubiquitous in this landscape.

We used two methods to capture the prairie dogs. One method is trapping, which involves setting and baiting hundreds of traps. The other method is filling burrows with soapy water to force out the prairie dogs. Neither is all that fun for the prairie dogs, but both sure beat a slow death by poison.

At the relocation site we built cages over old burrow entrances to keep prairie dogs on site so they could acclimate to their new homes. We moved them as family units, a proven way to increase success rates. After three days, we removed the cages and let the prairie dogs decide to stay or leave. It appeared most – if not all – liked the new location, and began feeding on nearby grasses almost immediately.

Last year’s precedent-setting relocation effort saved 550 prairie dogs and restored over 100 acres of prairie dog colonies. This year’s effort promises similar results (the Forest Service is continuing to relocate animals for a few more weeks).

But this is just one part of the restoration effort. In addition to relocating prairie dogs rather than just killing them, the Forest Service is also prohibiting prairie dog shooting in a large core area, encouraging prairie dog colony expansion through burning and dusting prairie dog burrows to protect them from deadly plague.

The Forest Service gave us awards for our work. Photo by Lacy Gray.

Basically, the Forest Service is using every tool in the toolbox to work toward the new plan’s goal of restoring 18,000 acres of prairie dog colonies in the protected area. This may sound like a lot of land, but it is less than four percent of this 550,000-acre national grassland.

During the public input process for this new plan, Defenders promised to offer assistance if the Forest Service chose to include nonlethal management. We are pleased to be able to make good on that promise, alongside our friends at the Humane Society of the United States, World Wildlife Fund and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

We thank the Forest Service employees who are making this philosophical shift possible, specifically retired Forest Supervisor Mary Peterson, Deputy District Ranger Misty Hays and District Biologist Cristi Painter. Way to go! We look forward to similar reforms at all nine national grasslands.

Here’s a slideshow of last week’s work.

PausePlayPlayPrev|Next

Bumper sticker

Jonathan, lovin' the bumper sticker. Photo by Eric Paprocki.

Prepping the site

Lacy and Eric prepare a new prairie dog home. The cages come off after three days, which allows the prairie dogs to acclimate to their new home rather than immediately running off. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

Field of cages

Photo by Kristy Bly.

Soapy burrows

Besides trapping, we used soapy water to force prairie dogs out of their burrows. This is faster than trapping and also makes keeping families together much easier. We placed them in animal carriers and transported them to their new home. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

Flush 'em out

Flushing out prairie dogs with soapy water. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

Soapy escapee

An escapee covered in soap suds. Once caught, we towel them off and squirt saline solution in their eyes to clear out the suds. Photo by Lacy Gray.

Cages in truck

A truck of prairie dogs. Each cage is marked to make sure families are released together into their new burrows. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

Let me out

Prairie dog awaits release into its new home. Photo by Lacy Gray.

Jonathan's release

Jonathan and Lindsey (HSUS) release a juvenile prairie dog into its new home. The cages come off after three days of acclimation to the new location. Photo by Eric Paprocki.

Lacy's turn

Lacy about to release a juvenile prairie dog into its new home. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

The release

Takin' one for the team

Not excited about being moved into his new home, a juvenile prairie dog bites Jonathan right through the glove. Photo by Lacy Gray.

Eric removes cage

Eric removing the cage after three days. Prairie dogs usually come out of the burrows within a few minutes and seem satisfied with their new location. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

Prairie sunset

Sunset on the prairie. Photo by Jonathan Proctor.

The Relocators

Eric, Jonathan and Lacy, prairie dog relocators. Photo by Lindsey Sterling Krank.

Awards

The Forest Service gave us awards for our work. Photo by Lacy Gray.