Bison reduction project

[huntlines]

 

 

 

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

 

Grand Canyon National Park News Release

April 27, 2021

 

PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023

 

Office of Communications

grca_bison_info@nps.gov

www.nps.gov/grca

 

Grand Canyon National Park seeks skilled volunteers for North Rim bison reduction

 

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is forwarding this Grand Canyon National Park news release to constituents who may have an interest in this opportunity

 

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — The National Park Service, in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), seeks skilled volunteers to assist with the removal of bison on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in the fall of 2021. Interested parties should carefully read this announcement and the information in the links below.

Given the current distribution, abundance, density and the expected growth of the bison herd on the North Rim, the NPS is concerned about increased impacts on park resources such as water, vegetation, soils, archaeological sites and values such as visitor experience and wilderness character. Reducing the herd size will protect the park ecosystem, resources and values.

Individuals who are interested in applying to be volunteers can submit an application on the following website (www.azbisonstewards.com) beginning at 12 a.m. (Arizona time) on May 3 through 11:59 p.m. on May 4, 2021. Volunteers must:

• Be U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older with valid photo ID
• Have the ability to purchase and pass a background investigation and have no criminal or wildlife violations
• Self-certify a high level of physical fitness ability
• Have a firearm safety certification and pass a marksmanship proficiency test (3 of 5 shots in a 4-inch circle at 100 yards)
• Provide their own equipment, firearm, lodging, food and field dressing supplies. See firearm FAQs.
• Be available for the entirety of one of the assigned lethal removal operational periods. Individuals may not participate in more than one: Sept. 20-24, 2021; Sept. 27-Oct 1, 2021; Oct. 18-22, 2021; Oct. 25-29, 2021
• Meet all additional requirements listed on the NPS FAQ page and on the application (the application will be available at www.azbisonstewards.com when the application period opens).

Only 25 applicants will be selected to form the pool from which 12 qualified individuals will be chosen to become a skilled volunteer. The volunteer pool will be selected using a random lottery system and selected individuals will be contacted by the NPS by May 17, 2021. At the end of the week, volunteers may be given up to one bison in exchange for removal by AZGFD. Employees of the National Park Service or other Department of the Interior agencies, as well as employees of the Arizona Game and Fish Department or members of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, are not eligible to apply.

Future volunteer removal operations will be announced on a later date and will require a separate volunteer application. Please note, this is not an AZGFD permit hunt or draw application, and applying or being selected for this skilled volunteer opportunity will not affect bonus points, count toward lifetime species limits, or invalidate any big game tag or application an individual may have with AZGFD.

There will not be an opportunity to correct applications once submitted. Detailed information is available on the NPS FAQ page and will also be on the application page at www.azbisonstewards.comonce the application period opens. Any questions should be emailed to grca_bison_info@nps.gov. 

This effort to reduce bison to a more manageable herd size is supported via consultation with the public and traditionally associated Tribes as well as in the 2017 Environmental Assessment conducted by NPS, the State of Arizona and the US Forest Service.

In addition to removal, Grand Canyon National Park biologists began piloting live capture and relocation in 2019. Since the program began, 88 animals have been captured and relocated to five American Indian Tribes through an agreement with the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council. These animals will augment existing herds managed by these Tribes. In addition, NPS and USGS biologists have placed GPS collars on 25 animals to help with population estimates, migration patterns and temporal locations. Grand Canyon will continue live capture and relocation operations in the fall of 2021.

For more information regarding bison impacts and monitoring, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-impacts-and-monitoring.htm.

 

-NPS-

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Planning on going for this deal, need to look into the firearms side of it. I don’t have any official paperwork for firearms training other than concealed carry so not sure what to do for that. 

[5guyshunting]

Snipers only for that 100 yard shoot, or creedmoor owners only.

[yotebuster]

They did something similar up here in ND with the elk on Theodore Roosevelt national park.  Except you couldn’t approach them and couldn’t collect any part of them.  Just shoot them and walk away.  They hired packers with helos and horses to pack them out and donated the meat.  I wouldn’t want any part of that.  If I got to keep a bison for meat I think I’d be down for something like this.  That’s a cool way of doing it.  Hope they get someone who is qualified and doesn’t ruin the name for everyone else.  3/5 in 4” at 100 in hardly a “qualified” shooter!   

[UggRedBilly]

Is the hunters ed considered the firearm certification? Or is that a different sort of thing? I wanna do this!

[CouesFanatic]

27 minutes ago, huntlines said:

At the end of the week, volunteers may be given up to one bison in exchange for removal by AZGFD.

What does this mean?

[stanley]

2 minutes ago, CouesFanatic said:

What does this mean?

I think it means the volunteer gets to keep one of the bison.

[stanley]

25 applicants selected, then cut down to 12.  With all the press this thing is getting, this might be the toughest draw of the year!

[idgaf]

A random thought on getting the bison off of the park.  Drain all park water for may and June.  Get rid of the water and salt within 3 miles of the park fence.  They will move to find new water and salt.  Just a theory. 

[GreyGhost85]

All you’ve gotta do is fence the water, you don’t even need to drain it. Buffalo won’t jump a fence but all the other critters will. A few hundred T-posts, several thousand feet of barbed wire and some volunteers will fix the problem in about a week and you don’t have to slaughter all the dang bison. G&F doesn’t want solutions though. 

[stanley]

4 minutes ago, idgaf said:

A random thought on getting the bison off of the park.  Drain all park water for may and June.  Get rid of the water and salt within 3 miles of the park fence.  They will move to find new water and salt.  Just a theory. 

Just a theory, indeed.   I like it, but thinking in practice it really wouldn't be feasible (In fact, getting rid of all the water would likely be impossible...).   

I was talking to a park employee while I was up scouting for my bison hunt last summer.  He was sort of mentioning this same thing, in that if they could 'bison proof' all of the water in the park, the animals would go elsewhere.  The practicality, along with the red-tape of putting fences up sort of stopped the idea in it's tracks, though. 

[stanley]

3 minutes ago, GreyGhost85 said:

All you’ve gotta do is fence the water, you don’t even need to drain it. Buffalo won’t jump a fence but all the other critters will. A few hundred T-posts, several thousand feet of barbed wire and some volunteers will fix the problem in about a week and you don’t have to slaughter all the dang bison. G&F doesn’t want solutions though. 

They've thought about that and virtually ALL sorts of other options.  It is not a G&F problem, only.   It is in the park, and hence there is BIG TIME red-tape in dealing with them.  Putting-up a fence sounds easy until you're dealing with the regulations inside of a national park.

I'm honestly amazed they were able to get the park service to agree to letting shooters in to do this.

[Buff-it Ranch]

Some interesting points on the FAQ page. 
https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/bison-reduction-faqs.htm

What is the difference between lethal removal and a hunt? 
Lethal removal is a fundamentally different activity than hunting. Key differences include: (a) During lethal removal, the animals are destroyed primarily for management purposes; in hunting the animal is destroyed for recreational purposes. (b) Lethal removal is conducted under controlled circumstances under the direction and supervision of the National Park Service; hunting is performed at the hunter’s discretion and with elements of “fair chase” present. (c) Lethal removal does not allow the person who killed the animal to keep the entire animal; hunting does. (d) Conclusion: Simply put, lethal removal serves a public purpose, while hunting serves both public and private purposes. 

[ctafoya]

So you don't get to keep it according to this. 

[stanley]

10 minutes ago, ctafoya said:

So you don't get to keep it according to this. 

They are planning on letting each shooter keep one bison.   The verbiage in the FAQs looks more like legalese to me.....