American Bison Society conference

The American Bison Society (ABS) was founded in the early 20th century by pioneering conservationists including Theodore Roosevelt and William Hornaday. The organization was responsible for the first wildlife reintroductions in North America, established the National Bison Range in Montana, and is credited as helping prevent the extinction of the American bison (Bison bison). Now, the ABS is a part of the Wildlife Conservation Society and hosts a tri-annual conference and workshop, which gathers researchers, Indigenous community members, ranchers, and artists to develop a strategy for the ecological and cultural restoration of American bison.

I attended the 2019 ABS conference and workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the native lands of the Pueblo of Pojaque. There were representatives from various fields from Canada, the USA, and Mexico. Fascinating panels reported on recent research related to grazing management in Yellowstone National Park, the status of reintroduced bison in Banff National Park, conserving bison as a continent-wide metapopulation, and wood bison shrinking in Elk Island National Park among other topics. Wes Olson was the keynote speaker delivering a comprehensive oration of bison ecology from a the microbiological perspective to their role as a ecosystem engineer. I presented a poster on latitudinal plasticity in bison diets, describing an increase in protein and lipid consumption by bison in the north. We had the opportunity to observe the most recent reintroduced bison herd at Rio Mora National Wildlife refuge in Watrous, NM. The conference concluded on National Bison Day and we were all invited by Dr. Leroy Little Bear to sign the "Buffalo Treaty", which has the inention to have the buffalo "lead us in nuturing our land, plants, and other animals to once again realize the buffalo ways for our future gnerations."