Whitefish (Bison Range)

This morning I made the two hour drive down to the Bison Range .

From their website:

“The Bison Range, formerly known as the National Bison Range, was established in 1908 by the U.S. Federal Government in the middle of our treaty-reserved home, the Flathead Indian Reservation, on land taken without our consent. The bison living on the Bison Range also are descendants of the free-ranging Reservation herd started by Tribal members in the 1800’s when plains bison were near extinction.

Through Public Law 116-260, Congress restored the Bison Range as a federal trust ownership under the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) so that our award-winning natural resource managers can take over as stewards of the Bison Range.

The Tribal Council has adopted, as its interim Bison Range management plan, the current Comprehensive Conservation Plan that was developed and adopted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in 2019 (for which CSKT was a cooperating agency).

As of 2022, the Bison Range is fully owned and managed by CSKT Natural Resource employees.”

There are two roads through the Bison Range, only one of which is open in the winter season. It is a pretty short road, maybe 5-6 miles. On my first pass, I saw literally no bison. Apparently the herd was all on the other side of the range. I came back to the visitor center and spent a bit of time with the very well-done exhibits that explain the history of the range, the bison, and the treaties. It also contains exhibits about the interdependent culture of Native peoples and bison.

I drove the road again, and did see a few bison up on the hillside. I have had, and likely will have, much better opportunities to photograph bison, so I let those go. I did see my first elk of this trip, so took the opportunity to photograph him. I stopped to speak with Todd and Jo who had driven up from Louisiana. I told them that I had very much enjoyed the Atchafalaya NWR near Baton Rouge and we agreed it was an under appreciated refuge, the better for those of us aware of all it has to offer.

Knowing I had a two hour drive back, and that I had another long drive tomorrow, I called it a day.

Tomorrow I drive down to Gardiner, MT. But really this is the gateway to the only road into Yellowstone NP in the winter season. So Wyoming will get an early start.