Conservationists creating bison preserve in Montana.

When conservationists Curt Freese and Sean Gerrity look out on the rolling prairie of north-central Montana, they see grasslands largely unchanged by time or man — the perfect place, they believe, for bison to roam again.

"Our vision is not a small herd on a few acres, but to create that exciting, visual image that really gets people’s hearts beating fast: ‘Wow, look at those bison!’" said Freese, Northern Great Plains Program director for the World Wildlife Fund.

That vision will begin to take shape this week. On Thursday, 16 buffalo will be released from a holding pen onto a portion of the nearly 32,000 acres of land that has been purchased or leased as the start of a wildlife reserve. The conservationists hope it will eventually grow to hundreds of thousands of acres.

The American Prarie Foundation: http://www.americanprairie.org

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-13-montana-bison_x.htm

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Milestone Approaches in Bid to Restore the Great Plains

By JIM ROBBINS

MALTA, Mont. – "Got to feed my buffies," Bill Willcutt, a black silk kerchief tied around his neck, says as he jockeys a pickup truck into place behind a large, round bale of hay.

Two metal arms swing down and pick up the roll and drop it in front of 16 bison in a pen made of hay bales.

Mr. Willcutt is no ordinary rancher. He manages more than 31,000 acres here in the heart of Phillips County, one of the most remote counties in the continental United States.

He has been entrusted with the bison, which are seed stock for the start of a restoration project by the American Prairie Foundation, which owns 11,000 acres and leases 20,000 more.

On Nov. 17, the bison will be turned out of their pen onto the dun-colored prairie in the middle of their ancestral home.

The foundation’s project is one of several major independent efforts under way across the West intended to re-create North America’s ancient prairie. The players include the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund and Ted Turner, the media mogul, who owns a large bison herd.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/national/17prairie.html?8hpib

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16 ‘pure’ bison to graze prairie

By CLAIR JOHNSON
Of The Gazette Staff

The planned release today of 16 bison on the north-central Montana prairie marks the start of bringing back the plains bison from ecological extinction.

While the burly beasts look like your average bison, they’re not. The animals are among the few remaining genetically pure bison in North America.

The private wildlife preserve project by the World Wildlife Fund and the American Prairie Foundation is to establish a wild herd of genetically pure bison that eventually will be large enough to reclaim its key role in Montana’s prairie ecosystem.

That means having large herds of bison roaming over the landscape, which for now is 31,000 acres of land purchased or leased by the American Prairie Foundation.

"We have some unique bison genomes, and we need to act to make sure they’re conserved,” said Curt Freese, Northern Great Plains Program director for the World Wildlife Fund.

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/11/17/build/state/40-bison-graze.inc