A New Day for America's Bison?
A new matching grant from Animal Planet will help NWF's efforts to protect Yellowstone bison, wolves and other imperiled wildlife
Every harsh winter, hundreds of bison in the Yellowstone ecosystem are needlessly slaughtered. The hungry animals leave the park in search of food and are killed by ranchers to protect livestock grazing nearby. In recent years, 1,600 bison—symbols of the American West—have been killed on grazing lands surrounding Yellowstone National Park. And they're not the only wild animals suffering from such confrontations; 186 wolves have also been slain to protect livestock.
With its Adopt-a-Wildlife-Acre program, the National Wildlife Federation is working with ranchers in the area to create a safe zone for wildlife outside the park. Since the program began in 2002, NWF has successfully retired 30 allotments totaling 551,940 acres. Recently, a rancher agreed to retire grazing rights on the 10,000-acre Wapiti allotment in Gallatin National Forest outside Yellowstone. This will allow vital habitat to be restored to bison, wolves, grizzlies and other species.
In order to retire the grazing allotment, NWF must raise $75,000 immediately. Recently, our partners at Animal Planet have pledged a $25,000 matching grant to help us work toward our goal. It only costs $7.50 to symbolically adopt an acre of Wapiti land. With the matching grant, that same amount will adopt two acres.
Please help NWF retire the Wapiti allotment and save the lives of Yellowstone's most majestic creatures by adopting a wildlife acre today.
Related Resources:
Find out how one retired Yellowstone allotment became a haven for wildlife.
Read more about bison, wolves and other Yellowstone species in our wildlife library.
Join NWF - Become a member and receive a special welcome gift.