Speak Out: Restore the American bison

Julie Larsen Maher ©WCS

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Great news! We have an unmissable opportunity in the United States to bring about the ecological and cultural restoration of the American bison, also known as the buffalo. If we seize this chance, we can help establish wild, wide-ranging herds of this iconic species; herds that would have the freedom to roam across North America, as they once did.

Today, bison are absent from most of their former range. Bison once thundered across North America, 30 million strong, leaving an indelible mark on the heart and soul of North America’s cultures, identities, and heritage. The path to recovery has been slow, which is not surprising when we consider that at the end of the 1800s, they were on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 500 left in the wild. Where once as many as 30 million bison roamed the continent, today just a few wild bison herds remain, mostly in small, isolated populations. But we have a chance to change all that.

The Department of Interior (DOI) has demonstrated visionary leadership in the launch of its 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative (BCI). Please help us thank Secretary Bernhardt and the DOI Bison Working Group for their collaborative conservation leadership and urge him to fully resource and implement the BCI.

We have a plan. Now we must take action to change the world.

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Your Message

Subject Restore the American Bison

Dear Secretary Bernhardt:

Message

As a supporter of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), I am writing to express support for the U.S. Department of Interior’s 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative (BCI) that you announced in May. The BCI’s aspirational vision represents the leading edge of wild American bison conservation and restoration in North America.

I applaud the Department for drawing on sound science to develop a strategic approach that recognizes bison are wildlife, and that in order to realize their full potential as ecological and cultural keystone species, they need to be managed as wide-ranging herds in deep collaboration with tribes, ranchers, state agencies, and conservation organizations across the West.

I urge the Department of Interior to provide all necessary resources to implement the BCI’s vision across the American West. This is an investment in our National Mammal, and it is also an investment in the health and sustainability of our rich and highly threatened grasslands, and the diverse human communities and rural economies that rely on them.

Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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