Ceremonies took place in the southern part of the P.A.National Park before speakers got on the microphone (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Bringing back the buffalo

Conservationists gather to advance bison at P.A. National Park

Aug 21, 2019 | 8:15 AM

A number of groups and people focused on buffalo conservation gathered in Prince Albert National Park Tuesday.

The Paspiwin Cultural Heritage Site hosted a Buffalo Treaty Gathering, which brought together Indigenous peoples, government and area landowners.

Those who sign the Buffalo Treaty, which includes First Nations in both Canada and the United States, agree to recognize the importance of the wild animal to everything ranging from conservation to culture. Signatories to the treaty also commit to help bring the species back.

P.A. National Park is home to the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Herd, which is one the last remaining free roaming herds in the country.

At the gathering a variety of speakers stepped up to the microphone with many talking about the spiritual importance of the buffalo to Indigenous peoples and various ceremonies beforehand included a round dance.

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Joanne Watson, who works in resource conservation with the national park spoke about the history of the bison in the park. This year marks the 50^th anniversary since the herd was introduced in 1969.

“What they did was called a hard release, so basically they opened the trailer doors and let the bison free,” she said.

Watson explained when they were released, a large number of bison left the area and tried to go back to Elk Island National Park where they had been moved from. Corralling the animals took a collaborative effort involving parks staff and area ranchers.

Since their original introduction there has been a wide range of cooperation involving the park, Indigenous groups and landowners. Watson said everyone has the same aim.

“With one goal to hopefully keep them managed as free ranging self-sustaining bison herd,” she said.

The herd reached its peak population in 2005 when it was estimated there were between 450 to 500.

According to Watson one of the major hurdles the animals face currently is the number being taken by hunters. Watson is optimistic the issue of over-hunting can be dealt with by communicating with landowners and others about not taking breeding females or taking fewer animals overall.

“I think that as we work together, we can reach those goals,” she said.

Gord Vaadeland, an area rancher and a member of the Bison Stewards, who work to conserve the animals, recalled what happened when the herd was first introduced in the summer of 1969.

“Bison we’re running around, helicopters were flying like under power lines to try and chase them,” he said.

Vaadeland said there have been ups and downs in the conservation process. One of those major negatives was in 2008 when an anthrax outbreak did a lot of damage to the bison herd’s numbers. There was also another period where there was a lack of funding and not enough people at the table. During this time Vaadeland said the animals were almost lost.

Looking into the future, he is optimistic as he feels the right things are now in place across the board.

“We’re heading to another high and that’s fantastic,” he said.

Conservationists are also excited about the Indigenous Guardians program, which will train young people in the work to preserve the buffalo.

Anthony Johnston, who helped to organize the treaty gathering said heading into the future they want to get more young people involved in the process. He added when talking about buffalo conservation he would like to move away from using terms like stakeholder or rights holder.

“A term that we want to begin using is responsibility holder, we’re all responsible,” he said.

A diverse crowd was on hand for the gathering Tuesday (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn