Blackfeet bison project could return herd back to Glacier National Park, Badger Two Medicine

Back in 1873 a Pend d’Oreilles named Running Coyote was on the outs with the tribe. He had a wife on one side of the divide in the Mission Valley and a Blackfeet wife on the other side of the divide.

In an attempt to make amends, Running Coyote along with Blackfeet Warriors Greengrass Bull, Boy Chief and Calf Tail captured several buffalo calves near Buffalo Lake on Blackfeet lands and took them over the Continental Divide to the Pend d’Oreilles as a gift.

It didn’t work out for Running Coyote, he still wasn’t forgiven. But the buffalo remained and two other men, Michel Pablo and James Allard took possession of the herd. About 26 years later, the reservation was opened up to homesteading and the free-ranging herd of about 300 animals had to go.

Then President Teddy Roosevelt wanted to purchase the animals, but Congress would have none of it, so Pablo, who now owned the remains of the herd, sold them to the Canadians. From 1906 to 1912 they were slowly, but surely, rounded up and taken across the border.

Meanwhile, the bison on the Blackfeet Reservation were all but wiped out by the 1890s in a campaign where the animals were slaughtered as a way for the white man to conquer Native Americans across the West.

Most of the Pablo herd went to Elk Island National Park near Edmonton, Alberta, where they have thrived in the 40,000 acre preserve for more than 100 years.

On April 4, the story will come full circle, Harry Barnes, Blackfeet Tribal Council chairman said last week. About 90 calves from the Elk Island herd, which have been quarantined and inoculated and tested for disease, will be trucked back to the reservation and released on a ranch along the Two Medicine River, not far from where their descendants were originally captured.

The long range goal, Barnes said, is to build a herd in two places — the Badger Two Medicine region of the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the east side of Glacier National Park.

The 1896 ceded strip treaty, where the Blackfeet sold the lands along the divide to the federal government, retains grazing rights to the tribe. But both agencies would likely have to do an environmental analysis.

The idea is to keep the bison away from cattle herds on the reservation, Barnes noted.

“We’re not out to pick a fight with the ranchers of Montana,” he said.

The idea has been met with optimism by Glacier National Park officials. The Park retains nearly all of its native species but one — bison. They were extirpated by white men in the late 1800s. But for thousands of years, bison were sustainably hunted by St. Mary Lake by the Kootenai, who would cross the divide at what is now Logan Pass to get at the herds. Recent studies have found bison bones in the high country of the park, near Goat Lake.

“We’re intrigued by the idea of restoring a species that used to be here,” said park spokeswoman Margie Steigerwald. But she noted it would likely require an environmental analysis by the Park Service. The status of the animals — whether they’re considered livestock or wildlife by the state of Montana — will also be a big factor in the park’s decision.

Bison are a controversial animal in the Yellowstone National Park region, as cattle ranchers near the park are worried about the animals spreading brucellosis, which causes pregnant cattle to abort their calves.

Barnes doesn’t see it as an issue. The tribe already has a bison herd of about 700 animals and any bison that migrate from the front would be taken by Blackfeet hunters, he said.

But the reality is 99 percent of bison don’t carry the brucellosis, said Keith Aune of the Wildlife Conservation Society. The society helped facilitate the transfer of the Elk Island bison back to the Blackfeet.

The tribe is in a unique position from a conservation standpoint, Aune noted. It can introduce a nearly pure genetic herd back to its original landscape. It’s a restoration of not just buffalo, but a culture. Bison were the lifeblood of the Blackfeet people for thousands of years. Every part of the animal, from the meat to the hide to the sinews and bones, was used in daily tribal life.

The project also has a financial aspect as well. The tribe is partnering with the Oakland Zoo. Some of the bison will be taken to the zoo, where they’ll be bred in the zoo’s 16-acre exhibit.

The tribe will get the calves in return and exposure to fundraising entities, such as tours of the reservation and Glacier Park. In addition, Blackfeet youth will go to the zoo to learn about possible careers in the field of conservation.

Aune said over time, the region collectively could support a herd of 500 to 1,000 bison. It’s a far cry from the millions of bison that once roamed North America from Alaska to the southwest desert.

But conservation comes in small steps.

“We’re releasing these animals back to the original landscape and back to management of the original people,” Aune said. “This hasn’t been done anywhere else in the world.”