Thank you for sending comments and signing our petition advancing Endangered Species Act protection for Yellowstone’s wild bison herds.

Over 8,500 people have signed our petition to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland — closing in on our goal for 10,000 herd strong! Over 600 people have sent comments. The drum roll of your support is beating faster and getting louder!

With one-third of the Yellowstone bison population taken from the wild this season including an unknown number killed by a harsh winter, there is an urgency for action to undo the damage done that was set in motion by the State of Montana decades ago.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is accepting your input on a 12-month species status review to determine if the evidence supports listing Yellowstone bison as threatened or endangered in the wild — and it does.

Why are they endangered?

• Government slaughter has decimated the genetically distinct Central herd and the number of bison in the subpopulation remains dangerously low.
• Human land use has destroyed more than 85% of Yellowstone bison’s range and habitat while the government prohibits and excludes the migratory species from millions of acres of National public trust lands in the bioregion.
• Human developments have destroyed all 14 long distance migration corridors for Yellowstone bison to escape catastrophic events, and an inhospitable environment created by the government.
• Livestock control and veterinary management threaten Yellowstone bison’s wild genome – forged by their ancestors over thousands of years in a wild environment.
• Yellowstone bison may not be able to adapt body size in time to match the rapid change in climate and rising temperatures forecast over the next century.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s determination is based “solely upon the best scientific and commercial data available,” a broad term that includes publications, reports, traditional ecological knowledge, empirical evidence, ecological and biological science, books, peer-reviewed research, common sense observations, and questions.

You can help in a number of ways:

• Sign BFC’s petition to the Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
• Send your comments to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
• Invite your friends, family, and colleagues to do the same.
• Amplify this message by posting it on the platforms you use to connect with more people.

Uncertain about how to write a comment? Send a question. For example, can Yellowstone bison survive climate change by the end of the century? A question requiring examination and investigation from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is a strong comment to contribute.

Buffalo Field Campaign also has a FAQ online to help you build confidence in sending a comment in support of Endangered Species Act protection for Yellowstone bison.

We need more hearts and brains working on sending unique information, comments, and questions. You can do this!

Please take action today. We are advocating for as much public involvement as possible through June 4, 2023. Together we can honor, protect, and restore Yellowstone bison in the one place where they still roam wild.