We have many things to be thankful for this year, and so many of them are possible because of your inspired contributions, strong support, and unfaltering love for the buffalo. The actions you take, the donations you make, the encouragement you provide, and the help you lend allow Buffalo Field Campaign to remain on the front lines in defense of the country’s last wild buffalo.

We are so thankful that even in the face of so much danger, buffalo still find their playful side and always live life to the fullest. Photo by Stephany Seay, BFC.

We give thanks that there are still wild buffalo walking the Earth. Buffalo that follow their migratory instincts and carry the wisdom of the ancients who do not bend or bow to human fences, boundaries, or prejudice. We give thanks for the wild buffalo's instincts to simply place one foot in front of the other and walk the land, regardless of government plans or artificial lines in the sand; a drive so deeply rooted in their time before time that man's shallow greed has not taken this from them. We give thanks that buffalo still roam, confounding certain humans' selfishly inflicted consequences. We give thanks for the last remaining buffalo that found shelter in Yellowstone's remote Pelican Valley barely 150 years ago; the twenty-three who were all that remained of tens of millions, who ensured the survival and wild integrity of their prehistoric kind. We give thanks that buffalo have biologically withstood diseases brought by invasive cattle, their blood building resistance to the dark gifts from these bovine invaders. We give thanks that it is still possible to look into the eyes of a wild buffalo and remember a time we forgot we once knew, and dream of its return, inspiring action to make it so. We give thanks that the land cries out for the return of wild buffalo, welcoming their homecoming when the hearts of humans open to the drumming of the buffalo's footsteps, and the land is again shared, healed and whole with their presence.

We are immensely thankful for the habitat we have gained for wild buffalo and for the end of the industrial strength hazing operations that no longer take place. Photo by Stephany Seay, BFC.

We give thanks for the abundance of snow that will soon come, snow that brings the life giving waters when the sun waxes and the rivers run fast and deep through the veins of the mountains and out to the sea. Bittersweet this gift, as the buffalo will also flow with the deepening snow, and this is as it should be, and though we know harm awaits them, we celebrate their life force and give thanks that they continue in their wild ways despite the obstacles. We give thanks for the persistence, resistance, and endurance of wild buffalo.

We are incredibly thankful and profoundly humbled by the wisdom of the matriarchs, who know how to use the shelter of a storm to lead their families to safety. Photo by Stephany Seay, BFC.

We give thanks for those who hear the call of the buffalo. We are grateful for the volunteers who come from around the globe to defend the buffalo, whether joining us for the first time, coming back year after year, or returning after an absence. We give thanks for everyone everywhere who cares about wild buffalo, celebrates their wildness, and takes action for their right to roam. We give thanks to all of you who make it possible for us to be here standing with the buffalo, bearing witness, sharing their story, making change. We give thanks for the realization that long-term perseverance and passion-turned-action will bring the necessary change we all seek. We give thanks for the ground we have gained for wild buffalo, like the south facing expanses of their Horse Butte birthing grounds, and for the awakening occurring in the hearts and minds of others who embrace wildness as the way. We give thanks that the status-quo that harms the buffalo and the land is an unsustainable and temporary thing in the grand orchestra of life on Earth. We give thanks that there is still time to act, though the time is short, and act we must. We give thanks for the elders who guide us — human and non-human — with experience and wisdom and for the flame of passion that burns within the hearts and minds of the youth; for the combined energy and power we hold in our hands to save us from ourselves, and learn to be more like the buffalo. We give thanks for the lessons the buffalo teach about family, solidarity, fearlessness, resistance, abundance, resolve, gentle strength, coexistence, following our instincts without compromise, and for showing us the simplicity of the solutions right before our eyes. We give thanks for the hope and vision of a life for buffalo in which they thrive within their inherent wildness, for a world in which buffalo and all other native wildlife are given precedence on the land, and that buffalo herds will flourish as self-regulating, self-willed communities, a rich and viable source for their future evolutionary potential and ambassador for the sovereignty of the land. We know we have a long way yet to go, and we give thanks for the deep commitment the buffalo have inspired us to make.

We give thanks, everyday, for the wild buffalo who remain and for each and everyone of you who cares about buffalo and makes the work of Buffalo Field Campaign possible