| American
Bison Society
http://www.americanbisonsocietyonline.org
Founded in 1905 by Theodore Roosevelt and William Hornaday,
the American Bison Society pioneered the United States first
conservation effort to prevent the extinction of American
bison. The society was disbanded in the 1930's and re-launched
in 2005 by the Wildlife Conservation Society "to secure
the ecological future of bison in North America."
The American Bison Society held a Building Blocks for Bison
Ecological Restoration conference November 17-18, 2008 in
Rapid City, South Dakota convening Federal land managers,
Tribal, State and Provincial government officials, private
bison ranchers, non-government organizations, scientists,
ecologists and many others. Presentations were made on disease,
ecology, economy, management and policy developments, cultural
perspectives, and the conservation and legal status of American
bison.
Conference Notes
Author's note: These notes are not a verbatim transcript of
the keynote speakers and presenters but the most memorable
portions recalled. The conference proceedings will not be
available for several months and I have made these notes available
to provide an overview of what people talked about at the
American Bison Society conference.
Darrell Geist, habitat coordinator Buffalo Field Campaign
z@wildrockies.org
Building Blocks for Bison Ecological Restoration
ABS Conference Proceedings (PDF, Size 1.3MB, 40 Pages)
ABS Conference
Working Agenda (PDF, Size 112kb, 3 Pages)
Best practices
for disease management (PDF, Size 40kb, Pages)
Best practices
for disease management presentations (PDF, Size 48kb,
3 Pages)
Discussion
on genetics (PDF, Size 44kb, 4 Pages)
Ecological
role of bison in ecosystems (PDF, Size 40kb, 3 Pages)
Ecological
role of bison in ecosystems presentations (PDF, Size 48kb,
3 Pages)
Economic
and social context for bison restoration (PDF, Size 36kb,
1 Pages)
Economic
and social context for bison restoration presentations
(PDF, Size 52kb, 3 Pages)
Genetic issues
influencing ecological restoration (PDF, Size 44kb, 4
Pages)
Genetic
issues influencing ecological restoration presentations
(PDF, Size 44kb, 2 Pages)
Kaush Arha,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior (PDF, Size
28kb, 1 Pages)
Legal status of Bison
in North America - IUCN document (PDF, Size 32kb, 1 Pages)
Management
and conservation on mixed-use landscapes (PDF, Size 36kb,
2 Pages)
Management
and conservation on mixed-use landscapes presentations
(PDF, Size 44kb, 3 Pages)
State, provincial, and tribal
management forum (PDF, Size 40kb, 3 Pages)
State, provincial,
and tribal management forum presentations (PDF, Size 48kb,
3 Pages)
Additional papers and presentations
Gardipee_A key
for understanding basic conservation genetics (PDF, Size
248kb, 4 Pages)
Halbert and Derr_Is
Genetic Intregrity Important in the Ecological Restoration
of Bison? (Powerpoint, 10.3MB)
Plumb et
al_Carrying capacity of Yellowstone bison: implications for
conservation and brucellosis management (PDF, Size 1.1mb,
4 Pages)
The American Bison Society conference featured participants
in the US Department of Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative,
a framework organized through Fish, Wildlife and Parks at
Interior. Hardy Pearce, U.S. Geological Survey Liaison staffs
the project. This initiative is guiding the "long-term
framework for ecological recovery of plains bison and wood
bison."
Hardy Pearce
USGS Liaison
Asst. Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Department of the Interior MS 3156
Washington DC 20240
(202) 208-5914
Hardy_Pearce@ios.doi.gov
"On October 28, 2008, Secretary Kempthorne announced
the Department of the Interior Bison Conservation Initiative
to strategically manage wild bison on Interior's lands for
their ecological and cultural value. The Bison Conservation
Initiative provides a framework to address the conservation
issues of Interior's bison herds and to promote cooperative
bison conservation through partnerships with states, Native
American tribes, landowners, agricultural interests, conservationists
and others interested in bison health and recovery."
New Interior Actions for the Initiative
* Action Item 1: Prevent, control, or eliminate non-native
diseases impacting Bison conservation.
* Action Item 2: Actively pursue improved efforts to strategically
manage wild bison by building the bison working group, and
pursue improved efforts by the Department of the Interior
to create bison metapopulations of herds with high levels
of bison genetic integrity, diversity, and not impacted by
non-native diseases.
* Action Item 3: Manage DOI herds through conservation of
genetic variation and natural selection.
* Action Item 4: Facilitate collaborative Bison conservation
projects.
A Framework
for Bison Conservation in the US Department of the Interior,
January 2008
(PDF, Size 272kb, 11 Pages)
DOI Bison
Conservation Initiative Framework (PDF, Size 1.4mb, 28
Pages)
Interagency
Bison Charter (PDF, Size 8.2mb, 4 Pages)
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