Historic repatriation of wild free-roaming buffalo

[liketohike]

Interesting read:
The Blackfeet Nation released a bison herd into the wild near Babb on June 26, 2023, marking the first time a herd of bison has freely roamed the landscape in 150 years

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2023/06/28/b ... nd+more%21

https://www.glaciertwomedicine.org/blog ... 2503de900b

[teapot57]

This is really cool! Would love to see them roaming the meadows on the way to the Belly River.

[liketohike]

Definitely! Just be careful on the road driving!:-)

[orin]

You already have to be careful driving from Babb to the border because the Blackfeet graze cattle in the area and they are often on the road. I didn’t see the newly released bison today as I left Chief Mountain trailhead. I also didn’t see any cows so possibly the Blackfeet replaced cows with bison which would be a big improvement.

[paul]

I wonder if they will work their way into the park. It would be really cool to see bison grazing the meadows near belly river ranger station.

[liketohike]

A quote from the the Flathead Beacon article: "As tribal leaders worked to ease tensions with neighboring ranchers concerned about how free-roaming bison would co-exist with domestic livestock, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council brokered an agreement to retire six tribal grazing leases bordering Glacier National Park’s eastern boundary, collectively known as the Chief Mountain Wilderness Unit, which unfolds across 24,000 acres."

[orin]

Thanks for pointing that out. I managed to miss it. That would make the hike into Slide Lake a lot more pleasant than the last time I did it. There were cows everywhere. I would also love to see bison in the Belly River meadows. A great improvement.

[liketohike]

No problem, it was a fairly long read.

I am hoping the bison acclimate as best as they can. And agree that seeing them in the park would be neat. Time will tell.