Bison Program Application

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Bison Project will serve a variety of purposes that are designed to uphold the best of Tribal bison herd expansion interests, including a focus on ecosystem restoration through bison conservation. The Bison Project will foster practices that are traditional and culturally attentive to the historical coevolved relationship with bison to support the Tribe’s own self-determined well-being. Furthermore, the projects will work to foster the intent of the Department of the Interior Secretary’s Order 3410, the purpose of which is to restore wild and healthy populations of American bison and the prairie grassland ecosystem through collaboration among the Department’s Bureaus and partners such as other Federal agencies, states, Tribes, and landowners using the best available science and Indigenous Knowledge. The analysis in this dashboard is based on data provided to the BIA from a multitude of resources including but not limited to the BIA, Federally Recognized Tribes, and partner organizations. All data was current as of time of collection for this project, data will be updated as determined by the BIA. Data displayed within this application can vary at different times of the year as external factors may affect herd sizes and will not reflect changes in real time. Herd numbers can also decrease between data updates due to range management practices performed on the local level, not managed by the BIA. The Bison Program Application’s data is made up of a polygon feature layer and a point feature layer hosted on the BIA online portal. The Bison Polygon layer features the geospatial extent of known Bison ranches as provided to the BIA. Tribes without any GIS data on ranch boundaries will only be featured in the Bison points feature layer. Both feature layers contain data including, name of Tribe, herd size, rangeland acres, and a link to their Bison website (if available). The Bison Program Application will focus on ecosystem restoration through bison conservation and expansion and improved management of existing herds on Tribal trust lands, individual Indian allotment lands, or in areas managed by Tribes through treaties or agreements. The Bison Project will focus on bison conservation and expansion and improved management of existing herds on Tribal trust resources and describe the role of Tribal bison on ecosystem restoration on Tribal landscapes and altered Tribal environmental conditions. This can cover bison as indicator keystone species on agricultural pasture, grassland, and rangeland settings. The Bison Program Application also features data from partner organizations who focus on promoting the restoration of Bison. These organizations include The Nature Conservancy (TNC). For more information on data contributors, follow the links below. The feature layers used in this application from partner organizations are not managed by the BIA. The Nature Conservancy (TNC): https://www.nature.org/en-us/. Disclaimer: The analysis in this dashboard is based on the analysis of available data provided to the BIA from a multitude of resources including but not limited to the BIA, Federally Recognized Tribes, and partner organizations. All data was current as of time of collection for this project, data will be updated as determined by the BIA. Data displayed within this application can vary at different times of the year as external factors may affect available foliage due to weather or other uncontrollable circumstances. The number of Bison within herds may also change throughout the year and might not be accounted for within this application. Herd numbers can also decrease between data updates due to outside factors or range management practices performed on the local level, not managed by the BIA.This application also uses data provided from other sources such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC). This data is owned and maintained by their respective owners. These data sources have been developed from the...