Earlier this month, Jason Baldes drove along a sagebrush-dotted highway, transporting 11 young buffalo from Colorado to Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation. His blue truck, adorned with a painting of a buffalo and calf, led the way. As the executive director of the Wind River Buffalo Initiative and Eastern Shoshone tribal member, Baldes has dedicated over a decade to increasing the buffalo population on the reservation. Currently, the Eastern Shoshone host 118 buffalo, while the Northern Arapaho have 97.
“Tribes are crucial for restoring buffalo for purposes of food sovereignty, culture, and nutrition, as well as for overall bison recovery,” Baldes emphasized.
The Eastern Shoshone recently decided to classify buffalo as wildlife instead of livestock, aiming to treat them similarly to elk or deer rather than cattle. Since both tribes share the same land, the Northern Arapaho are anticipated to vote on this distinction as well. This decision reflects the desire to restore buffalo to the landscape and rethink the relationship between animals and products. Although scientists use ‘bison’ to describe the animal, tribes prefer ‘buffalo’.
While not the primary motivator, reclassifying buffalo as wildlife could impact climate change efforts positively. With Wyoming’s glaciers shrinking, droughts worsening, and wildfires increasing due to climate change, any contribution toward mitigation is vital. Similar to cattle, buffalo release methane, a greenhouse gas; however, their exact emissions compared to cows are not well understood. Despite this, buffalo contribute to increased biodiversity, resilience to drought, and carbon storage.
Baldes suggests allowing buffalo to roam freely to enhance biodiversity and restore the ecological health of the area, requiring a shift in perspective. “Treating buffalo as wildlife lets them exist naturally,” Baldes noted, moving away from economic and Western perceptions of animals. Wildlife encompasses all living organisms, not directly controlled by humans, while states individually define this term. Generally, non-domesticated animals are seen as wildlife.
Lisa Shipley, a professor at Washington State University specializing in wild ungulate management, explained the complicated history of bison and their near extinction over a century ago. During settlers’ expansion, bison were nearly eradicated due to hunting, habitat loss, and policies targeting Indigenous food sources. In 1870, about 8 million buffalo roamed the U.S., but within two decades, numbers plummeted to fewer than 500.
Today, North America hosts around 20,000 wild plains bison, with many residing in private operations to support the booming bison meat industry. In 2023, approximately 85,000 bison were processed for consumption in the U.S., compared to 36 million cattle. Although this number is small compared to cattle, some producers see buffalo as a promising component of the global meat market. Similar trends exist for various wildlife, where livestock often outnumber wild animals drastically.
Many believe reducing dependence on cattle could mitigate climate change, as cattle account for roughly 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Overgrazing by cattle can erode soil and limit carbon absorption by land. Buffalo, unlike cattle, naturally migrate when space allows. One study revealed cattle grazed half the time, while buffalo only a quarter, preferring diverse grass varieties. Yet, improper management could lead buffalo to damage landscapes like cattle would.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s wildlife management coordinator, Justin Binfet, cautioned that too many animals could degrade rangelands and pose health risks. Wyoming classifies buffalo both as livestock and wildlife, allowing private ownership or conservation management. Yet, regulations vary across the state, with about 70 buffalo hunting permits issued annually.
Yellowstone National Park, managed by the National Park Service, maintains the oldest untouched buffalo population across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. However, Montana has filed lawsuits against park officials over management plans, fearing consequences from herd growth aiming to grant buffalo similar freedoms as other wildlife.
The Montana Stockgrowers Association criticized Yellowstone’s management plan for lacking diverse management options, such as more population control and tribal hunting. Wyoming and Montana ranchers, including tribal cattle raisers, argue for strict separation of buffalo and cattle due to the disease brucellosis, although no bison-to-cattle disease cases have been recorded.
Wyoming’s complex history of opposing tribal hunting rights intersects with wildlife classification debate. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld tribal hunting rights in Herrera vs. Wyoming, but how this will affect buffalo’s status remains uncertain. On the Wind River Reservation, tribes govern wildlife management and hunting regulations, exercising their sovereignty by designating buffalo as wildlife.
Baldes envisions hunting buffalo similarly as other wildlife, working toward buying property that replicates their historical roaming freedom. He disapproves of calling the Wind River Buffalo Initiative a “ranch” due to cattle associations. For him, reviving buffalo encompasses reclaiming relational, not dominational, connections that settlers disrupted. “Restoring buffalo is about renewing relationships with them,” he declared.