Friday, January 06, 2006

Ranchers Key to Bison's Return to Grasslands National Park


Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

For many visitors at Grasslands National Park, this was the next logical step. The reintroduction of the Plains bison in this protected territory—born out of the foresight of a few visionaries, including landowners along the Frenchmen River valley near Val Marie— establishes new standards in relationship-building.

“We are receiving 70 plains bison from Elk Island National Park,” explains Heritage Presentation and Visitor Services Co-ordinator Colin Schmidt. “They are young animals: 30 female calves, 30 male calves and 10 one-year old females. A small holding facility of 40 acres in the West Block will be their home for their first winter.”

What made the reintroduction possible is the way in which the process engaged park neighbours, including a number of stock growers, with their expertise in how to best maintain harmony between the needs of landowners and those of the park.

“While we created our Park Management Plan, which is an obligation of all national historic sites and parks, we realized we required a great deal of input,” says Schmidt. “We set up an advisory committee made up of stakeholders like ranchers, scientists, tourism operators, reeves and RM representatives. As a result, it was identified that bison were the preferred means of restoring grazing in the park.”

One of the prerequisites to reintroducing the bison was the establishment of a suitable perimeter fence.

“Come spring, when the grass is greened up on the native prairie, we’ll open those gates at the holding facility and the bison will be allowed to roam within that larger fenced area over 70 square miles.”

But in order to build the fence, park authorities needed some guidance. They got it from folks who know best what makes sense in the area: ranchers.

“Including their insight in our planning efforts proved invaluable, says Schmidt. "We went from eight-foot posts down to seven-foot posts, and realized substantial savings on materials. In terms of the wire as a result, we ended up switching from conventional hi-tensile page wire to five strands of barbed wire.

The barbed wire is about 18 inches above the ground. It is a little higher than what we are used to. That allows Pronghorns to go back and forth with greater ease. It was also recommended that the top two wires be smooth, so there are no barbs to these wires. In the event a mule or whitetail deer gets caught, that allows them to kick sideways without hooking a tendon into a barb.”

Fence construction started in April and was completed in October. Meanwhile, an elaborate strategy was developed to minimize stress for the animals when they would arrive.

“This is what is referred to in the reintroduction world as a soft release," Schmidt explains. "A hard release would just be bringing the animals, dropping them on the ground and hoping that they make it. A soft release is when you try to take steps to mitigate the harshness of moving from a previous facility, by giving the animals time get used to a new location. Thanks to that small holding area, they will able to adapt to a new horizon, to an area that has very few trees compared to Elk Island, and perhaps to a different climate.”

It so happens that the bison holding facility is located over an old Russian rye field.

“We are putting them there to chew down the exotic vegetation and help the native prairie come back. It is easily accessible because it is close to a road. It is out of sight, away from where visitors typically travel, so it won’t scar the horizon. We have some oats hay stored up for their first winter."

“Having at a very minimum 50 animals—we eventually chose 70—allows us to capture 99 per cent of the genetic material of the source herd. We wanted to capture as much genetic diversity from Elk Island as possible and bring it over here for our herd. We see ourselves growing into the 250- to 300-animal range. We didn’t want to bring all those animals at once. This allows us to start small, adapt, and get used to managing bison in our park. We can grow with them, says Schmidt.”

The reintroduction of bison to the area is a major milestone for those involved: neighbours, members of the community and the Parks Canada organization. The return of the bison will give those who earn their livelihood along the Frenchman River something else to be proud of, believes Schmidt.

"Neighbours have long wanted us to reintroduce the role of grazing, as they noted it was good for the grass early in the development of Grasslands National Park. This acknowledges ranchers' stewardship efforts to this day."

“The great thing about bringing the bison back is the restoration of the grazing element that was missing from the park since the land was acquired. It also helps in the overall conservation of Plains bison in North America, by having yet one more herd on a large expanse of native prairie behaving 'as wild as possible.' This will be one more herd from which animals can be drawn for future conservation initiatives.

“The bison is an icon of the prairies. Having them helps provide visitors to the park that connection with the prairies, and a fuller assemblage of species on the ground.”

For more information, contact:

Colin Schmidt
Heritage Presentation and Visitor Services Co-ordinator
Grasslands National Park
(306) 298-2257
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands/index_e.asp

posted by Claude-Jean Harel, MA MAHI @ 11:01 PM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home