In this April 20, 2014, file photo, a group of bison graze along a state highway near West Yellowstone, Mont.BILLINGS, Mont. – Federal wildlife officials on Monday listed 20 parcels of public lands in 10 states that could be suitable for bison from Yellowstone National Park, but said it would be years before any relocations of the animals.
The sites eyed for potential future herds include areas as diverse as Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park, an Iowa wildlife refuge and a North Dakota national historic site.
They were identified in a long-awaited Department of Interior report that looked at using Yellowstone’s bison herds to further the restoration of a species that once ranged most of the continent.
Tens of millions of bison occupied North America before overhunting nearly drove them extinct by the late 19th century.
Yellowstone was one of the last holdouts for the animals in the wild. It had roughly 4,600 bison at last count. During their winter migrations, the animals periodically spill into neighboring Montana, triggering large-scale, government-sponsored bison slaughters to prevent the spread of the animal disease brucellosis.