On a Mission - The Nature Conservancy in Missouri

Priorities in Action: Supporting People and Nature

BUFFALO RESTORATION PROGRAM Nearly wiped out by the forces of colonization, buffalo play a vital cultural, material and spiritual role in the lives and history of Native peoples. Indigenous-led efforts to restore buffalo to tribal lands have created a roadmap toward healing damage done to tribes, buffalo and the prairies. The Nature Conservancy supports those endeavors, partnering with Indigenous organizations since 2020 to transfer buffalo from TNC preserves to tribal lands. There are a dozen TNC preserves, including Dunn Ranch Prairie in Missouri, that collectively managed more than 6,000 buffalo. Those herds annually produce an excess of about 1,500 buffalo. Through its Indigenous Landscapes & Communities strategy, TNC is working with Native organizations to transfer more of those buffalo to Native nations. As a keystone species, buffalo are central to thousands of relationships within the natural landscapes of North America. Plants sprout in their hoofprints. Seeds hitch rides in their fur. And water pools in the wallows left behind by buffalo rolling in the earth, supporting new life. European settlement and the ensuing violence against Native peoples destroyed those connective webs and caused lasting, ongoing harm to Tribes, who have been longtime stewards of the land. Returning the buffalo is a gesture of healing. In the first three years of the partnership, more than 1,000 buffalo were transferred from TNC preserves, including Dunn Ranch Prairie, to Native lands.

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