American Bison - Buffalo Field Campaign

administrations, and the increasing capacity to implement
modern wildlife management for wildlife on tribal lands. Some
tribes have developed independent bison projects. Others
have joined the Intertribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) to obtain
guidance and support. The ITBC was formed in 1990 with the
mission to restore bison to Indian Nations in a manner that is
compatible with their spiritual and cultural beliefs and practices
(ITBC website: http://www.itbcbison.com/). In cooperation with
the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, the ITBC was
able to secure U.S. congressional support for bison restoration
in 1991. In 1992, tribal representatives met and the ITBC
became an officially recognised tribal organisation in the U.S.
The ITBC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organisation governed by a
Board of Directors comprised of a tribal representative from
each member tribe. Currently there are 57 member tribes that
collectively manage more than 15,000 bison. The role of ITBC
is to act as a facilitator for education and training, developing
market strategies, coordinating transfer of bison from federal
ownership to tribal lands, and providing technical assistance
to tribal members to encourage sound management. The ITBC
does not have a presence in Canada, nor is there an equivalent
organisation there. A summary of tribal bison conservation
initiatives is in section 8.5.5.5.
8.3 Important Policy and Regulatory
Considerations
8.3.1 Legal status and listings of bison
8.3.1.1 International and global status
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a multilateral agreement among
nations to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild
animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Species
listed in Appendix I are those threatened with extinction, while
species listed under Appendix II might soon be if trade is not
controlled. Wood bison were transferred from CITES Appendix
I to Appendix II in 1997 based on Canada’s ability to satisfy
the “precautionary measures” of Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Annex
4, paragraphs B.2.b.i and ii). Although bison are in demand
for trade, they are managed according to the requirements of
Article IV. It was determined that Canada maintains appropriate
enforcement controls to prevent the unauthorised taking of wild
bison for commercial farming, and that the transfer to Appendix
II was consistent with the goals of the government’s recovery
plan, and would not hamper progress toward the recovery
of wood bison in the wild within their original range. Import
and export of wood bison is regulated under permit by CITES
authorities within member nations. Plains bison are not listed
under CITES (http://www.cites.org/).
American bison were recently listed as “Near Threatened” in the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Gates and Aune 2008).
A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against
the criteria, but does not qualify for Critically Endangered,
Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for, or is
likely to qualify for, a threatened category in the near future. No
distinction is made between wood and plains bison in the World
Conservation Union (IUCN) Red Book.
NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organisation and
international network of biological inventories known as natural
heritage programmes or conservation data centres operating in
all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
It assigned an overall conservation status rank to American
bison of G4 (Apparently Secure), meaning they are globally
common (more than 100 occurrences) generally widespread,
but may be rare in parts of their range, and although they are
secure in their global range, there may be a concern for their
security in the long term (NatureServe 2006). The wood bison is
ranked by NatureServe as G4T2Q, where “T” refers to it being
an intraspecific taxon (trinomial), “2” means imperilled, and “Q”
refers to questionable taxonomy. The plains bison is ranked as
G4TU, where “U” means currently unrankable due to a lack of
information or substantially conflicting information about status
or trends.
8.3.1.2 Status in North America
The wood bison was designated by Canada as “Endangered”
in 1978. Owing to progress made towards recovery, it was
down listed to “Threatened” in 1988. This designation was
re-evaluated and affirmed in May 2000. The wood bison is
protected under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (2003), but
hunting is allowed in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and the
Yukon, subject to conservation strategies and management
regulation. In June 1970, the wood bison was listed under the
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) as “Endangered in Canada”
to reflect its status in Canada at that time. Canada and the U.S.
are undertaking efforts to harmonise the national listings of this
subspecies (Gates et al. 2001b). A recent petition to down list
wood bison from endangered to threatened in the U.S. was
submitted and the decision is under 90-day review by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Although plains bison are currently not listed in the U.S.
or Canada under species at risk of extinction legislation,
consideration of a listing status is being undertaken (COSEWIC
2004). In 2004, COSEWIC recommended designating plains
bison as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act in Canada
(Wilson and Zittlau 2004). The proposed change was listed
for comment on the public registry in 2005. Criticism ensued
from commercial bison producers concerned with the
impact on their industry and international trade, and there
American Bison: Status Survey and Conservation Guidelines 2010 65