#118: Where the Bison Roam

Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

The American Bison symbolizes a bygone era when the Great Plains, with their millions of acres of tallgrass prairie, were undisturbed by railroads, fences, farmland, and towns. While we nearly squandered this extraordinary natural resource into extinction, instead of becoming a forgotten footnote about a lost wonder, our national mammal is thriving in numbers not seen in over a hundred years.

Today, the tale of the bison is one of the greatest success stories in American history. Yet the story could have ended very differently if it weren’t for the efforts of a small number of people who took it upon themselves to protect this magnificent species and bring them back from the brink of disaster.

In this episode, we take you to several public lands where bison are protected and free to roam and share a few stories about the people who helped save them. As a complement to our Episode #13: The Great American Bison Road Trip, we talk about new places we did not cover in our previous episode, places you’ll want to consider adding to your itinerary as you explore our incredible public lands.

The places we discuss in this episode include the following:

· Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma

· Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas

· Antelope Island State Park, Utah

· Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge (NIGH-oh-brare-ah), Nebraska

· The Bison Range (formerly known as The National Bison Range), Montana

· Catalina Island, California

· Caprock Canyons State Park, Texas

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