The American bison surviving in the Yellowstone ecosystem are truly distinct and unique.

Their ancient memory, migratory behavior, and wildness remains woven into their DNA. They remember what it is to be a real American bison.

I admire American bison for their resolute determination to survive in the face of all the threats surrounding them.

I am filled with wonder by the distinct and unique population structure of the Central and Northern range bison herds.

I am not surprised they carry half of the known genetic haplotypes of their kind.

But they number far below the minimum population size required just to avoid inbreeding.

A 10 degrees Fahrenheit increase in temperatures forecast under rapid climate change is a looming threat to the large-bodied American bison.

Can American bison adapt body size to the new climate coming?

As temperatures warm, bison become smaller. During the last glacial maximum, bison adapted to warming temperatures and reduced their body size by one-fourth over 3,000 years.

Bison must lose more body size in 10 generations than their ancestors did over 325 to 1,080 generations: somehow, shrink to half their size by the end of the century.

Jeff Martin's prescient warning on climate change threatening bison is included in our objections, but will the warning be heeded? (Download BFC's Objections, PDF)

There must be one place left in the world for American bison to roam wild and free and adapt as a wildlife species. This is the legacy the distinct and unique American bison in Yellowstone carry. We must do more for them.

Please join us in doing more for them by demanding standards in the Custer Gallatin National Forest land management plan. Habitat must be secured for American bison to freely roam our National Forests.

Only 6 days remain for you to weigh in on the Custer Gallatin's land management plan. The last day for submitting your objections is September 8, 2020.

Nitsíniiyi'taki, Pidamaya, Thank you.

Darrell Geist, habitat coordinator
Buffalo Field Campaign
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American bison a Species of Conservation Concern web page