A Brief Review of the Status of Plains Bison in North America

Boyd, Delaney; Gates, C.

In the United States, numerous bills to protect bison were introduced by members of Congress between 1871 and 1876, but no laws were enacted (Ogilvie 1979; Dary 1989; Danz 1997). Several state and territorial governments were able to enact legislation to protect bison during the last three decades of the 1800s; however, these laws were largely ineffective and unenforceable (Danz 1997). In 1872, President Grant created Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to protect all natural resources, including bison, within its borders. By 1894, however, poaching had reduced the park bison population from 200 to only 25 animals (Danz 1997). On May 7, 1894, President Cleveland signed the National Park Protective Act (Lacey Act), ameliorating the longstanding problem with jurisdiction and law enforcement in YNP. This was the first U.S. federal law to provide specific protection for bison. It carried a two-year jail term and a $1,000 fine for anyone removing mineral deposits, cutting timber, or killing game in YNP (Dary 1989; Danz 1997). In Canada, official protection of bison began in 1877 with the passing of An Ordinance for the Protection of Buffalo (Ogilvie 1979; Gates et al. 2001). This act was nearly impossible to enforce by the small regiments of Northwest Mounted Police scattered across the plains, and was later repealed (MacEwan 1995). In 1883, the Ordinance for the Protection of Game was passed, but it was also ineffective (Ogilvie 1979). The government of the Dominion of Canada enacted the Unorganized Territories Game Preservation Act in 1894, in part as a response to reports that the wood bison (B. b. athabascae) population in northern Canada had declined to 250 (Ogilvie 1979). Enforcement of this legislation was minimal, however, until the Northwest Mounted Police was given an enforcement mandate in 1897 (Soper 1941). Despite protective legislation, prior to 1907 plains bison in Canada were reduced to a small herd in Rocky Mountains Park (Banff) and a few animals near Winnipeg (Ogilvie 1979). In 1907, the Dominion of Canada purchased the entire Pablo-Allard herd (approximately 716 plains bison) from Michel Pablo of Montana. Four hundred and ten of these bison were temporarily held at Elk Island National Park (EINP) near Edmonton, Alberta until most were transported to Wainwright Buffalo Park in east-central Alberta; forty-eight bison were left at EINP, forming the nucleus of that national park herd (Coder 1975; Fuller 2002). The Pablo-Allard bison were subsequently used to establish herds in other Canadian national parks. Founded in 1905, the American Bison Society pressed Congress to establish several public bison herds including Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, the National Bison Range, Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, and Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge (Coder 1975). National parks in both the United States and Canada were also established in part to conserve bison and other large mammal populations (Ogilvie 1979).

A Brief Review of the Status of Plains Bison in North America

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