Alaska Wood Bison Restoration project poised to build on decades of effort

The recent announcement of Secretary’s Order 3410 is welcome news as the many groups involved in restoring Alaska’s native wood bison reflect on milestones reached and consider future potential. Indeed, the Order echoes many of the shared values of the successful Wood Bison Project in Alaska.

The chronicle of restoring a previously extirpated species (e.g. a species that no longer exists in the wild in Alaska, but lives in Canada) to their previous home requires alignment of countless variables. For Tom Seaton, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADF&G) Wood Bison Project Biologist, there is one place to start.

“We couldn’t restore a species without local support,” Seaton noted when reflecting on nearly 30 years of work restoring Alaska’s only native bison species, the wood bison.

With paleontological data and oral and written history in hand, ADF&G developed a 1994 feasibility study and offered it for public comment. The response showed much support among Alaskans for the restoration of wood bison, and since then, grass roots support has kept the project going. Many people in the 49th state wanted to see these herbivores return to the landscape. The next 21 years of community outreach and local support produced the Wood Bison Management Planning Team and a tangible plan for importing and managing this threatened and endangered subspecies.

But support alone wouldn’t return the wood bison to Alaska.

“We also understood the biology of the animal and habitats they need to thrive,” Seaton hinted at the need to weave local knowledge with western science.

One region of Alaska stood out for their interest, local support, and hosting good habitat – the Lower Yukon – Innoko Rivers area. It has a wide-open landscape without fences and great forage. And, Seaton recalled, scientists were certain the wood bison would not compete with other important subsistence hunting resources, like moose.

There was yet another potential barrier to overcome. Alaska has a variety of landowners and managers including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, rural villages, Alaska Native Tribal Corporations, and larger Alaska Native Regional Corporations, to name a few. These groups often have different and potentially conflicting priorities for the lands they manage. But the groups involved in the Innoko River herd planning team and this cross section of land managers enthusiastically stepped up and coordinated in near symphony.

“The wood bison have been a great unifier,” reflected BLM Alaska’s Wildlife and Threatened and Endangered Species Lead, Casey Burns.

In 2015, Alaskans welcomed home 130 wood bison as they were released into the wild. These were the wood bison that had been carefully imported several years earlier from Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada, and their offspring. The bison had been held at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage Alaska for many years before release.

For the first time in about a century, a wood bison herd galloped wild in Alaska.

In 2022, 28 more yearling-aged wood bison were added to the Innoko River herd. Another chapter added to the restoration story of this iconic animal.

“It has really brought together our partners at all levels,” Burns expanded. “The expediency to procure funding, set an agreement, analyze impacts, and then get bison on the ground was remarkable; considering the complexity and care of importing the animals from Canada.”

Seaton and his colleagues regularly monitor the Innoko River herd as it faces the natural challenges of all wild animals. Regular photo censuses are taken from small planes and veterinary data is carefully collected from a few herd members each year. Collars on several of the wood bison help track their movement as a few individuals explore vast areas of new territory.

The story of restoring Alaska’s native wood bison isn’t over yet. With 30 years of knowledge and experience in hand, the wood bison project looks to write it’s next edition.

“We’re looking at establishing other herds,” Seaton shed some light on the future. “It’s a much more robust way to restore a species.”

With unequivocal support from the Secretary of the Interior and funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, Alaskans – and Americans down south - may see movement toward future releases of wood bison. But first, Seaton pointed out, the program will build on community support.