Yellowstone National Park could increase the number of bison migrating into and out of the park known for its nomadic herds under a management plan released this week.
The National Park Service released a plan Thursday that calls for potentially allowing the park’s bison population to grow, while increasing transfer of the keystone species to Native American tribes. An important part of the Great Plains ecosystem and significant in Native American traditions, bison roam the park and surrounding forests throughout the year.
The final environmental impact statement outlines three alternatives to handling the bison. The preferred alternative would favor the increased transfer of Yellowstone bison to tribal lands while allowing continuation of public hunting outside of park grounds. Park managers would also continue capturing bison and shipping meat to tribes in order to decrease the number of bison coming into and out of the park.
Environmental advocates who have called for more bison migrating freely across the plains celebrated aspects of the plan but said they wanted to see a bolder approach to boosting bison populations. Millions of bison once roamed freely across parts of the West but were hunted almost to extinction in the 1800s.
