Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 12 sepTember 2017
Wanted: Volunteer shooters to thin Grand Canyon bison herd

By FELICIA FONSECA, Asso-
ciated Press
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The
National Park Service plans
to thin a herd of bison in
the Grand Canyon through
roundups and by seeking
volunteers who are physi-
cally fit and proficient with
a gun to kill the animals
that increasingly are dam-
aging park resources.
Some bison would be
shipped out of the area
and others legally hunted
on the adjacent forest.
Within the Grand Canyon,
shooters would be selected
through a lottery to help
bring the number of bison
roaming the far northern
reaches of the park to no
more than 200 within three
to five years.
About 600 of the animals
now live in the region, and
biologists say the bison
numbers could hit 1,500
within 10 years if left uncon-
trolled. The Grand Canyon
is still working out details of
the volunteer effort, but it’s In this Aug. 26, 2010, file photo provided by the Kaibab National Forest, bison in the national forest adjacent to the Grand Canyon
taking cues from national in Northern Arizona group together.
parks in Colorado, the Da- ammunition to protect en- Cottonwood. “It definitely Much of the work would be wildlife manager for Game
kotas and Wyoming that dangered California con- would be worth going, es- done on foot in elevations and Fish in Flagstaff, said
have used shooters to cut dors that feed on gut piles. pecially with a group.” of 8,000 feet or higher be- some models require volun-
overabundant or diseased Hunters cannot harvest Grand Canyon is working tween October and May teers to be capable of hik-
populations of elk. The Park more than one bison in their with state wildlife officials when the road leading to ing eight miles a day, car-
Service gave final approval lifetime through the state and the Intertribal Buffalo the Grand Canyon’s North rying a 60-pound pack and
to the bison reduction plan hunt, making the volunteer Council to craft guidelines Rim is closed. Snowmobiles hitting a paper plate 200
this month. effort intriguing, they say. for roundups and volunteer and sleds would be used yards away five times.
Sandy Bahr of the Sierra “I would go if I had a shooters, who would search to remove the bison meat, The head and hide of the
Club says she’s hopeful bison would be given to
Grand Canyon will focus tribes, or federal and state
mostly on non-lethal re- agencies.
moval. Lutch said one scenario dis-
The Grand Canyon bison cussed is splitting the bison
are descendants of those meat among volunteers,
introduced to northern with each volunteer able
Arizona in the early 1900s to take the equivalent of
as part of a ranching op- meat from one full bison.
eration to crossbreed them Anything in excess of that
with cattle. The state of Ari- would be given to tribes
zona now owns them and and charities, he said. A full-
has an annual draw for grown bull can have hun-
tags on the Kaibab Nation- dreds of pounds of meat.
al Forest. Nearly 1,500 peo- Theodore Roosevelt Na-
ple applied for one of 122 tional Park in North Dakota
tags this year, according to used volunteers in 2010 for
the Arizona Game and Fish elk reduction, selecting 240
Department. people from thousands
The bison have been mov- of applicants, said park
ing in recent years within spokeswoman Eileen An-
the Grand Canyon bound- des. Some quit before the
aries where open hunting is week was over, she said.
prohibited. Park officials say “We had quite a bit of
they’re trampling on veg- In this July 31, 2016, file photo, a park ranger and a group of motorcyclists pass a sign warning of snow, so you’re not in a
etation and spoiling water bison within the Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona. vehicle, you’re not on a
resources. The reduction Associated Press horse,” she said.
plan would allow volun- “You’re hiking through
teers working in a team with chance to retain a por- for bison in the open, said and helicopters in rare in- snow to shoot elk and haul
a Park Service employee to tion of the meat,” said Tra- Park Service spokesman stances, park officials said. them out. It was exceed-
shoot bison using non-lead vis McClendon, a hunter in Jeff Olson. Carl Lutch, the terrestrial ingly strenuous.”q