Record of Decision for a Bison Management Plan

On July 24, 2024, the National Park Service (NPS) announced a decision about the future management of bison at Yellowstone National Park. The Record of Decision, a culmination of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and National Environmental Policy Act process that began in 2022, will allow the NPS to manage bison based on new scientific information and circumstances that have changed since the previous EIS, completed in 2000.

Yellowstone National Park will implement this decision (Alternative 2, the preferred alternative in the EIS) in the following ways:

Bison will be managed within a population range of about 3,500 and 6,000 after calving and average about 5,000, consistent with the 10-year average.

The NPS will work with IBMP partners to control bison population numbers using:

Bison Conservation Transfer Program (BCTP) to restore bison to Tribal lands.

Tribal Food Transfer Program (TFTP) to provide meat and hides to Tribes.

Tribal and state harvests outside the park.

The NPS will prioritize the BCTP and place bison in the BCTP when bison migrate to the park boundary and there is space in the facility.

The NPS will establish a population assurance threshold of 5,200 bison. This action was not in the original IBMP.

When the population reaches this threshold, the NPS will begin to manage for a declining bison population by relying primarily on Tribal and state harvests.

If harvests do not reduce numbers, the NPS will remove additional bison through the TFTP.

When the population is below 5,200, the NPS will only place bison in the BCTP and use the TFTP to remove brucellosis-positive bison that are identified when animals are selected for the BCTP.

If the late-winter population nears 3,000 animals, the NPS will protect the population inside the park and encourage partners to reduce hunting outside the park.

Yellowstone National Park will begin to implement this decision immediately.

Document Content:

Record of Decision for Bison Management_YELL_July 2024_508_FINAL.pdf   (575.3 KB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.