Endangered Species Protection

Help protect and restore an endangered, migratory species: America’s last bison in the wild, roaming free on the land of their birth right.

Breaking News: Court Orders Reconsideration On Petition To Protect Yellowstone Bison Under Endangered Species Act
Read Judge Moss’s decision here (PDF)

 

Endangered Species Day

Share and post our Endangered Species ads for American bison
Buffalo Field Campaign Help Save The Yellowstone Bison ad 1 (PDF)
Buffalo Field Campaign Help Save The Yellowstone Bison ad 2 (PDF)
Buffalo Field Campaign Help Save The Yellowstone Bison ad 3 (PDF)

Endangered species: “any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” 16 U.S.C. § 1532(6).

Threatened species: “any species which is likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” 16 U.S.C. § 1532(20).

Under the Endangered Species Act, a species qualifies for legal protection and recovery if one of any five factors threaten or endanger the species.

There is substantial evidence that bison are at risk of extinction. According to the best available science, bison are threatened or endangered in the wild by:

• Loss of range and habitat to cattle and human developments.
• Domestication and artificial selection.
• Federal management and state law.
• Ineffective and inadequate regulatory mechanisms.
• Rapid climate change, extended drought, and freezing snow may result in local extinction due to other factors above.

Any one of these factors could drive bison to extinction in the wild.

(Download a PDF version)

Take Action!

Please Support HR 4348 the PAW & FIN Conservation Act

It is the “declared national policy of saving endangered species,” to “halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.” Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978).

How are species listed as threatened or endangered?

90-day determination

A petitioner must present “substantial evidence” that listing a species may be warranted. If the “substantial evidence” threshold is met, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service commences a status review of the species.

12-month status review

The agency publishes a rule in the federal register. The rule is open to public comment, and subject to peer review by independent scientists.

Decision

Is the petitioned action not warranted, warranted but precluded, or warranted? The decision made must be based “solely upon the best scientific and commercial data available.” 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(1)(A).

Click here to see the full endangered species ad (PDF).
Click here to view the endangered species ad resources (PDF)

Action to list the Distinct Population Segment of Yellowstone bison as threatened or endangered

Court Case

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss's decision, Buffalo Field Campaign, Western Watersheds Project, Friends of Animals v. Martha Williams, Jan. 12, 2022 (PDF, bench opinion)

Buffalo Field Campaign v. Williams, 2022 WL 111246 (slip copy) (PDF, Word)

Buffalo Field Campaign v. Zinke, 289 F. Supp. 3d 103 (D.D.C. 2018) (PDF, Word, published case)

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper’s decision, Buffalo Field Campaign v. Zinke, Jan. 31, 2018 (PDF, bench opinion)

In 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper struck down as unlawful, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 90-day finding rejecting our petition to list the Yellowstone bison as an endangered species.

In 2019, Buffalo Field Campaign, Western Watersheds Project, and Friends of Animals filed another complaint in court to force the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to comply with Judge Cooper’s order. In response, the wildlife agency issued a 90-day finding denying our petition to list the Yellowstone bison under the Endangered Species Act. The groups filed suit again, and in 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss found the agency’s finding to be unlawful. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service must now issue a new 90-day finding in compliance with the court’s order and decision.

Stay tuned!

Click here to see the full endangered species ad (PDF).
Click here to view the endangered species ad resources (PDF)

Press Release

March 24, 2020
Groups Seek Protection for Yellowstone Bison Amid Roundup and Slaughter

September 6, 2019
Conservationists blast USFWS Denial of Yellowstone Bison Protection

February 1, 2018
Court Overturns Political Decision to deny Endangered Species Protection to Bison

90-day petition

Buffalo Field Campaign & Western Watersheds Project, Petition to list the Yellowstone Bison as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act, Nov. 13, 2014 (PDF).

James Horsley, Petition to List the Yellowstone National Park Bison Herd as Endangered (Jan. 5, 1999) (PDF 2.9MB)

James Horsley, A Petition to Protect Yellowstone's Wild Bison from Extinction (Jan. 2017) (PDF 13MB)

James Horsley, Yellowstone's Wild Bison On the Brink of Extinction (Feb. 2018) (PDF 6.5 MB)

Roamin’

A Short Film by Sharon Colman

(A non-affiliated project and artwork to give the wild American bison a voice). https://vimeo.com/555009172