To comment, go to https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-R6-ES-2022-0028-0001. Click on the Comment tab. Type in your unique comment. You can also attach electronic files. Select an identifier (individual, organization, or anonymous). Scroll down and click on Submit Comment.

There are many factors threatening Yellowstone bison in the wild, a few are listed here:

• Loss of habitat and home range to cattle.
• Loss of long distance migration corridors to human developments.
• Loss of connectivity to habitat impairing bison’s ability to migrate in response to natural or human-made disturbances.
• Exclusionary management boundaries preventing bison’s natural migrations on public lands.
• The State of Montana’s intolerance for wild bison in the state.
• Yellowstone National Park’s trapping bison for slaughter operations - ongoing since 1996 and the single largest source of mortality.
• The U.S. Forest Service’s land management plan excluding bison from substantial portions of the migratory species’ National Forest range and habitat.
• Management actions leading to the domestication of the wild species such as trapping, quarantining, vaccinating, birth control experiments, etc.
• Management actions impairing bison’s ability to naturally adapt and evolve in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
• Montana Dept. of Livestock authority over wild bison migrating into the state (MCA § 81-2-120).
• The lack of State and federal measures for conserving Yellowstone bison in the wild.
• Rapidly rising temperatures threaten bison’s ability to adapt to increased heat stress.
• Less nutritious grasses resulting from climate change.

Any factor threatening or endangering Yellowstone bison is cause for protecting and recovering wild bison under the Endangered Species Act.

It is an assessment of Yellowstone bison’s “ability to maintain self-sustaining populations over time . . . based on the best available scientific and commercial information regarding the life history, biology and consideration of current and future vulnerabilities.” For more information, visit U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Species Status Assessments web page.

It is also a framework by which the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service evaluates the status of Yellowstone bison using the biological principles of representation, resiliency, and redundancy.

Shaffer and Stein broadly define the biological principles of representation, resiliency, and redundancy as “saving some of everything,” and “saving enough to last.”

In their application to Yellowstone bison:

Representation is saving populations “in an array of different environments,” and “the ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes” that allow for natural selection, adaptation and reproduction in the wild.

Redundancy is the ability to withstand catastrophic events by “having essential backups” elsewhere “as a hedge against the failure of any individual population” in the wild.

Resiliency is the ability to withstand disturbances and adverse events in protected habitats large enough to accommodate population dispersal and recovery in the wild.

Mark L. Shaffer & Bruce A. Stein, Safeguarding our Precious Heritage, (2000).

“Together, the 3Rs, and their core autecological parameters of abundance, distribution and diversity comprise the key characteristics that contribute to a species’ ability to sustain populations in the wild over time. When combined across populations, they measure the health of the species as a whole.” U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Guidance on Responding to Petitions and Conducting Status Reviews under the Endangered Species Act (August, 2016, PDF).

Any of the following factors (individually or in combination) determine whether a species is threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act:

• The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range.
• Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes.
• Disease or predation.
• The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms.
• Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.

Yes. You can copy and paste bullet points and questions found on our web page. For example, the bullet points threatening the migratory species in our FAQ What factors threaten or endanger wild bison in Yellowstone?

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

If you are uncertain about how to write a comment, send a question. For example, how can Yellowstone bison survive catastrophic events without protected corridors to safely migrate and find forage in designated refuges?

A question requiring examination and investigation from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is a strong comment to contribute.

Yes. For example, what evidence exists that Yellowstone bison in the wild can adapt to rapidly rising temperatures and climate change over the next century?

Your questions should focus the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s attention on any factor threatening or endangering Yellowstone bison in the wild. For example, what State or federal regulatory mechanisms exist to perpetuate self-sustaining herds of Yellowstone bison in the wild?

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service does not define the term, but the agency’s determination of whether Yellowstone bison warrant Endangered Species Act protection and recovery must be based "solely upon the best scientific and commercial” evidence — not politics or economics.

Broadly speaking, it is credible and relevant information from publications, reports, traditional ecological knowledge, empirical evidence, ecological and biological science, books, peer-reviewed research, common sense observations, and questions.