Amelia Schafer
ICT
Over 100 years ago, buffalo freely roamed the plains of what would become the Wind River Reservation in western Wyoming. Following the Civil War, all of that changed, as the United States worked to systematically eradicate the animal. Now, organizations like the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative are working to bring the buffalo back by advocating for and protecting them.
In late August, the Northern Arapaho Tribe took a historic step in buffalo preservation by joining the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in designating buffalo as wildlife rather than livestock or cattle, a move that paves the way for protections of the keystone species under tribal law. While the buffalo will still be kept in contained pastures, they’ll be given different protections and distinctions.
“For us, we have a long history of protecting land, water and wildlife, including fisheries here on the Wind River Reservation,” said Jason Baldes, Eastern Shoshone and the executive director of the Buffalo Initiative. “It’s not too far out of step to classify buffalo as wildlife. One, so that they’re not seen as competitive with individual cattle producers, but then to protect them so that they can exist outside of the auspices of livestock and agriculture on designated, contained habitat.”
The resolution ensures that buffalo receive the same protections as other native wildlife under tribal law and follows a similar resolution passed by the Eastern Shoshone in April. The two tribes are distinct and separate tribal governments that share one reservation in western Wyoming near Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone.
“We believe that buffalo is a treaty right and having access to buffalo is also a treaty right and an (exercise) of sovereignty,” Baldes said. “We at the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative are very supportive of our tribal governments for exercising sovereignty and self-determination to help heal and restore our communities on our reservation.”
The Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, founded in 2022, is a local entity on the Wind River Reservation founded by Baldes to provide reconnection to buffalo. The organization advocates for the preservation and protection of buffalo, much of which is happening now through tribal law.
“Buffalo belong on the land and they shouldn’t be seen as competitive with cattle ranching,” Baldes said. “We’ll still have those animals contained on designated land, but it just means that they are no longer subject to a Bureau of Indian Affairs grazing permit.”
Recognizing buffalo as wildlife is an important distinction, Baldes said. While bison are a bovine, they function differently than cattle do, especially when it comes to wildlife restoration and the fact that they’re Indigenous to North America having once roamed nearly all of the United States and Canada.
Nearly 10 years ago, the Wind River Reservation was given 10 buffalo, the first in generations. Now in 2025, there are nearly 200 buffalo on the reservation between the two tribes’ herds.
Bringing back real buffalo wasn’t easy. Many today are high in cattle-gene introgression, Baldes said, meaning they have a high portion of domestic cattle DNA. This isn’t something the tribes wanted for their herds.
“We wanted to restore buffalo back as wildlife,” Baldes said. “We wanted to start with the best genetics and that means that you have to get them from particular herds and primarily those that are managed by the Department of Interior.”
So the tribes needed to work with the Department of the Interior to apply for surplus animals. As member tribes of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes were able to apply and obtain genetically pure buffalo. The council would then handle the transportation, veterinary services and other details for the tribes.
Those first 10 buffalo came from the Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, which is managed by the Department of the Interior. Later, the tribes brought animals in from the Fort Peck Tribes and Yellowstone via the Yellowstone Bison Transfer Program.
Since then, 70 new calves have been born in the Eastern Shoshone herd, and 50 were born in the Northern Arapaho herd.
When released onto their natural habitat, buffalo play a major role in the environment as a keystone species, Baldes said. They can actually bring back plant and animal biodiversity.
When they walk, the buffalos’ hooves not only aerate the soil but also leave depressions, making perfect spots for seeds to be planted naturally. Their hides aid in pollination and their patchwork grazing style doesn’t lead to overgrazing, which can damage grasslands, Baldes said.
Baldes said he became interested in this line of work as a child by watching his father’s work. He said his father paved the way for the reintroduction of pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep back to the Wind River Reservation.
Aside from his work with the Buffalo Initiative, Baldes said he’s worked to support the two tribes’ buffalo programs as herd manager for the Eastern Shoshone and through cultural field harvest and food distribution, hosting visits and tours with local schools and visitors, creating ecotourism.
Aside from laying groundwork for protections and preservation of buffalo, these buffalo revitalization efforts can play a larger role in revitalizing cultural practices.
If the tribes can designate enough ground for the buffalo to roam, they can eventually initiate a hunting season for tribal members similar to permits and regulations that exist on the reservation for moose and bighorn sheep hunting, but it could take nearly a decade.
What’s needed now is land, and lots of it.
Like many other reservations, significant portions of land have been lost to the tribes through homesteading and other loopholes allowing for non-Native land ownership of tribal land.
“We became trespassers on our own reservation when that happened,” Baldes said.
The Buffalo Initiative is attempting to raise money and buy back land for buffalo habitats, rematriating it back to the tribes from which it was stolen.
“That’s our form of land back, getting land restored for the tribes and for buffalo,” Baldes said.