significant,” says Nick Hernandez, secretary-treasurer of Tanka Fund’s board of directors. “Bualo means everything to us. Building up our bualo herds strengthens Tribes and makes us more resilient.” Since 2020, more than 1,800 bualo born and raised on TNC preserves have journeyed home to Indigenous communities across the country. The rate of transfers is expected to triple in coming years. Traveling Home In the fall of 2021, a decade after the first herd of bison arrived at Dunn Ranch Prairie, livestock trailers once again pulled onto an open field. Only this time, the location was Wind River Reservation near Lander, Wyoming. Fifty bualo from TNC’s Missouri herd were going home to grow herds on the lands of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe. As the bualo rumbled o the metal ramps, their hooves hit dirt in the shadow of mountains. “I have been a part of many amazing projects during my career with The Nature Conservancy, but I have to say this one is truly special and will have lasting impacts beyond the conservation benefits of these animals returning to the land,” says Adam McLane, TNC’s Missouri state director.
“It’s a great feeling to be a part of an eort that’s helping to restore bison to the Indigenous tribes whose cultures are still deeply interwoven with them.” TNC’s sta in Missouri have embraced the eort of the Conservancy’s Bualo Restoration Program, supporting the work of ITBC, the Tanka Fund and other Indigenous-led organizations through multiple transfers as well as fundraising and even hosting cultural harvests of bualo at Dunn Ranch Prairie. “The transfer of our bison from here at Dunn Ranch Prairie to Native nations and our interactions with those nations has taught us a lot,” says Kent Wamsley, grasslands and sustainable agriculture strategy manager for TNC in Missouri. “It brings with it deep gratitude for all who help support this eort.” The Bualo Restoration Program is still in the early stages and will continue to evolve. Heinert of ITBC says the organizations share many of the same goals to heal the land. Through continued partnership they will be able to support each other. “TNC has done a great job in their beginning of recognizing the importance of bualo on the landscape, but I’m not sure they really understood why,” Heinert says. “And we’re now at that point of being able to talk about the why.”
Why We Do This Work
The Nature Conservancy’s Dennis Perkins, bison manager, and son, Brett Perkins, preserve assistant, work together at Dunn Ranch Prairie. Dennis : I love being around the bison. I love watching what’s going on with them. I don’t know how to describe it really, but it’s a feeling you get when you’re around them as much as I am. You care about them, and they’re like something you’re taking care of, you know? You worry about them all the time. Brett: Dad and I have a really close relationship. We’ve worked together for a lot of years. When I was ocially hired here at Dunn Ranch Prairie, being able to say that I’m a part of this, too, has been one of the best experiences. I now enjoy bringing my kids to the preserve, just as Dad did with me. I hope through this work future generations have the chance to enjoy these ecosystems as we have. Dennis: I love working with Brett and being around him. But I’m getting to the point where I realize he really doesn’t need me around anymore. He’s able to do everything that needs to be done. So, I feel good about where everything’s going to go with him being here. LISTEN TO Dennis and Brett Perkins on our podcast It’s in Our Nature at nature.org/mopodcast
THIS PAGE BOTTOM The community welcomes bualo home to Wind River Reservation. © Brad Christensen THIS PAGE TOP Dennis and Brett Perkins © Kristy Stoyer/TNC
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