Technical Note on Bison Conservation and Bison Ranching in Canada

This technical note asks what role Canadian Bison ranchers play in conserving North American Bison. Bison are keystone species in grassland ecosystems and pose numerous ecological benefits as wild animals. Unfortunately, most wild Bison have been eradicated through the process of colonization. Today, over 90% of Bison exist in commercial production rather than for conservation; however, the Canadian Bison Association—an organization committed to protecting the industry—wishes to blur the line between the two. Conversations with a few members of the CBA suggest that ranching may support the numerical recovery of Bison but may not support ecological recovery. Although there have been calls for cross-jurisdictional collaboration in the Bison conservation literature, more research is needed to reconcile what appear to be incompatible values between ranchers and ecological conservationists.