Grand Canyon National Park News Release

April 27, 2021



PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023



Office of Communications

[email protected]

www.nps.gov/grca



Grand Canyon National Park seeks skilled volunteers for North Rim bison reduction



The Arizona Game and Fish Department is forwarding this Grand Canyon National Park news release to constituents who may have an interest in this opportunity



GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — The National Park Service, in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), seeks skilled volunteers to assist with the removal of bison on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in the fall of 2021. Interested parties should carefully read this announcement and the information in the links below.

Given the current distribution, abundance, density and the expected growth of the bison herd on the North Rim, the NPS is concerned about increased impacts on park resources such as water, vegetation, soils, archaeological sites and values such as visitor experience and wilderness character. Reducing the herd size will protect the park ecosystem, resources and values.

Individuals who are interested in applying to be volunteers can submit an application on the following website (www.azbisonstewards.com) beginning at 12 a.m. (Arizona time) on May 3 through 11:59 p.m. on May 4, 2021. Volunteers must:

Be U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older with valid photo ID
Have the ability to purchase and pass a background investigation and have no criminal or wildlife violations
Self-certify a high level of physical fitness ability
Have a firearm safety certification and pass a marksmanship proficiency test (3 of 5 shots in a 4-inch circle at 100 yards)
Provide their own equipment, firearm, lodging, food and field dressing supplies. See firearm FAQs.
Be available for the entirety of one of the assigned lethal removal operational periods. Individuals may not participate in more than one: Sept. 20-24, 2021; Sept. 27-Oct 1, 2021; Oct. 18-22, 2021; Oct. 25-29, 2021
Meet all additional requirements listed on the NPS FAQ page and on the application (the application will be available at www.azbisonstewards.com when the application period opens).

Only 25 applicants will be selected to form the pool from which 12 qualified individuals will be chosen to become a skilled volunteer. The volunteer pool will be selected using a random lottery system and selected individuals will be contacted by the NPS by May 17, 2021. At the end of the week, volunteers may be given up to one bison in exchange for removal by AZGFD. Employees of the National Park Service or other Department of the Interior agencies, as well as employees of the Arizona Game and Fish Department or members of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, are not eligible to apply.

Future volunteer removal operations will be announced on a later date and will require a separate volunteer application. Please note, this is not an AZGFD permit hunt or draw application, and applying or being selected for this skilled volunteer opportunity will not affect bonus points, count toward lifetime species limits, or invalidate any big game tag or application an individual may have with AZGFD.

There will not be an opportunity to correct applications once submitted. Detailed information is available on the NPS FAQ page and will also be on the application page at www.azbisonstewards.com once the application period opens. Any questions should be emailed to [email protected].

This effort to reduce bison to a more manageable herd size is supported via consultation with the public and traditionally associated Tribes as well as in the 2017 Environmental Assessment conducted by NPS, the State of Arizona and the US Forest Service.

In addition to removal, Grand Canyon National Park biologists began piloting live capture and relocation in 2019. Since the program began, 88 animals have been captured and relocated to five American Indian Tribes through an agreement with the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council. These animals will augment existing herds managed by these Tribes. In addition, NPS and USGS biologists have placed GPS collars on 25 animals to help with population estimates, migration patterns and temporal locations. Grand Canyon will continue live capture and relocation operations in the fall of 2021.

For more information regarding bison impacts and monitoring, please visit: https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-impacts-and-monitoring.htm.



-NPS-

Thanks for posting it.

Thanks, G

But I’m holding out for the Orca cull hunt that should open up soon.

🦫

That’s gonna be an impressive group of 12 😎

Whoa. Wheels are turning.

I suspect drawing a Desert sheep tag will have better odds than getting picked for this...

Can some Facebook SuperFriends send Safariman a message?

CCCC, youre on the Zuckerberg nipple, fire an IM over to the guy with the big guns. 🤣

Packing out a bison on foot sounds sporty.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/bison-reduction-faqs.htm

Fuuucccckkkk that.

from the article:

Provide a pictured proof of identity (driver’s license, passport)

Racist!
I’m out !🤷🏻‍♂️

So they carp about pioneers murdering off the huge Bison herds in the 19th century and now they're going to revisit it again in order to keep the park tidy for visitors and hikers? Why not just allow hunting for all species?

Having lived through stupendous levels of government BS and redtape that killed thousands along side them.

I can self - certify a low level of physical fitness.

I smell a peta protest...
Maybe we should let the peta people swim with the Orcas...

They could run with the Bison like in Pamplona!

Jerry

Yep.

And I may just put in for a sheep tag this year, as I have a bunch of points saved up.

Are the odds for Rocky Mountains any better than for Desert. I haven't been following as I haven't been interested in a hunt recently.

Did you read anything on that notice?

It has little or nothing whatsoever to do with visitors or hikers. It's in an area of the North Rim that gets very little visitation. Sure, they mentioned "visitor experience", but if you have knowledge of the area, you know there are very few folks going to that part of the park. They don't run tour buses of folks from Las Vegas to that part of the Park. There are no amenities there, it's basically "wilderness:" such as it exists in the US nowadays. Folks that get picked are going to have to carry that bison meat out on foot.

The herd there has moved from an area where hunting is allowed, and they stayed because conditions are likely better there than where they were introduced. This hunt has more to do with protecting habitat for other critters in the park and protecting other resources.

Hunting of other species in that Park? Ha, not going to happen any time soon, no matter how much sense it might make to us hunters.

I commend the Park for trying to come up with a method the PETA folks can't stop easily. It's not "hunting" for recreational purposes, it's not Gooberment hunters going in to slaughter animals, it's associated with some Tribal entities, and if it works it's helping the other critters in the Park and the general habitat.

If I was 45 and not of "Medicare" age with a bad back, two repaired shoulders, a replaced knee, and arthritis in a few other places, I've got a nice rifle that fits their criteria and I'd be putting in for this chance. Just in case I got lucky.

I'd never be able to pass the Marksmanship test if I thot I could I'd apply .

I just mention Peta because they have protested cull hunts at other national parks where herds were so large that the over population and lack of natural predators lead to an overall sickly herd.
The peta idiots didn't even spend enough time at the park to see or assess the condition of the animals...

I'm told by G&F that there are 12 animals to be culled, meat will be processed on site and the cullers will get some but the majority goes to the tribes as does the hides and skulls.

Kent

This is a cull not a hunt because of all the legal ramifications in the difference. That's the reason for the distribution of parts.

Kent

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Get out the file and sharpen up the front sight on ol' Betsy.

They could care less about the conditions of the rest of the animals or the habitat is my thinking.

If it involves killing critters they're likely going to protest anyway.

I was just saying their types won't have much of a leg to stand on in court, especially going against the Tribes, the Park Service, and the AZGFD. Seems to me this has been and issue for awhile now. Finally getting addressed. When those critters first started moving off Forest Service lands, where there's been a hunt for years and years, the agencies knew there was trouble brewing. Now they seem to have come up with a somewhat workable solution.

Seems to be what their websites say. Except they don't seem to specify the skulls/hides going to the tribes. Probably a way to get their cooperation?



Definitely not a hunt. Not only PETA, but that would draw the ire of HSUS, and every other anti hunting group, probably worldwide even.

Much harder to argue against a biological need.

Hides and skulls go to the tribes or it's a hunt... from G&F contact.

Kent

Interesting.

Likely some would consider them "trophies" otherwise.

I'd just like a hide for the truck to sleep under on those cold Dec late hunts!

Not that every time I'm told something from one G&F person has ended up 100% correct, but I believe this.

Kent

That shouldn't be hard from some sort of rest but not near as easy offhand. Found it on their site.

Can I use a bipod or other rifle rest during the qualification?
You may shoot in the field position that you are most comfortable and can use any type of rest or stabilizing equipment that you will pack into the field. Examples include bipods, shooting sticks, foam pads, backpacks, lightweight shooting bags, etc. This qualification is designed to mimic real-world conditions as much as possible so bring what you plan to actually use in the field.

Looks like the minimum rifle would be somewhere around a 308 in power. Minimum 2500 ft/lbs muzzle energy and 165 grain bullet. I have several rifles that meet that bill... and dang I love Bison meat... not that this is a hunt.

All of this to cull 12 Buffalo?

You’d think the Park Service would already have staff somewhere capable of getting that done. Must be factors involved we’re not aware of.

I pass if I can't keep the meat, which is well down my preference list. But then, I've only had it in restaurants, and you know how that goes. Probably better straight from the field. But I bet it isn't as good as musk-ox.....

Prohibitively expensive for a "I wanna kill a bison" feel good. At least for me.

3 of 5 in 4" at 100 from a "field position?? I'd only need one, and it WLL go into that 4" target area. Groups of one are like that.

But I guess the cert is good for minute of buffalo, eh? And they should specify cows only, if population control is the goal.

I would use my .338WM, probably with a premium bullet, tho my current stock of 250 gr. Hornady RN handholds at MOA would suffice, most likely. I do have 3 rounds of .5 MOA Sierra GK 250's left - they print 5 inches higher at 100 than the RN. Or if I got desperate for accuracy, I'd use the M98 in '06, all 11 lbs of it, definitely with a premium bullet. It shoots 3 of all factory buolets tried into an inch at 300 yards - haven't tried 5 shot group at 100 yet. Nor reloads. I'm sure it would be up to the task.

As below, when do the horse and burro hunts come up, destructive beasts that they are?

Odds are there would be major lawsuits, NEPA paperwork, etc etc etc if they went that route. Probably still had some work going this route, but with all the cooperators, it will be hard to say it's a bad thing.

Why they don't just reduce the herd by 1/3-1/2 I'll never know. Too much at one time?

Then again, I'd shoot horses (the "wild" ones) if allowed.

From a sitting position with a sling getting 3 out of 5 shots in a 4" circle at 100 yards is the easiest part of the qualifications.

Hauling out bison carcasses over rough terrain on foot is the challenging part.

An F-150 with the window rolled down?

They already 'moved' over 80 back east, probably some older ones not worth moving to be culled. It said there could be other culls in the future.

Just use a Bog death grip tripod for a rest.

Kent

I need to know how many miles am I gonna be packin' meat out to the nearest road?

The huntin' part and the accuracy part are definitely doable. The packin' out part is iffy.

Yes, the accuracy requirements seem laughable for a young marksman. I would have to go prone to make the shots today. But thirty years ago when I was shooting the Garand in DCM practice shoots, 12 out of 20 inside four MOA offhand at 100 yds would have gotten one laughed off the firing line.

And can a guy not use his saddle pony to retrieve the carcass?

If I intended to kill a bison, I would use the same rifle which has proven effective on bull elk at 400 yds. A Ruger #1 in 7mm STW with the 162 gr Hornady spbt at 3200 fps mv. It won't bounce off.

As to the practicality of the matter? Across the street, 100 yds from my house, is a pasture fence. Contained therein are 140 head of bison on 350 acres. For the price of the meat my old school mate who owns the herd has said I could shoot the critter of my choice, excepting his four herd bulls. If you timed it right, as he was replacing an old bull with a new one from different bloodlines, you could shoot the old bull.

Probably cheaper than the morass organized by GCNP. No lottery, 100% chance of success. You keep all the meat, and the skull, and the hide. Plus, no packing. They would lift the carcass right into the back of your pickup with a tractor and front end loader. Then give you directions to a USDA facility experienced in cutting and wrapping bison.

All this talk. I'm gonna apply. I don't care what chance I stand. Have coolers and a backpack and will travel.

I bet it can get sort of sporty moving a full grown Bison!


Jerry

The Bison removal will be conducted with non-lead ammunition. The FAQ reads as a thorough primer on the virtues of non-lead ammunition. I know lead-free ammunition is a contentious point with many pro-liberty people. I deeply wish that pro-liberty people would understand the virtue of non-lead ammunition and get ahead of our adversaries. Lead sucks. Big time. If you're not aware of this, you're ignorant. I fully support your liberty to cast, load, and use lead ammunition, but I am also totally convinced that lead-free ammunition is better in every way. If pro-liberty people don't get this, they're going to be backing the losing side and letting our adversaries take the winning side. The win-lose is clear and obvious and it's not going to change. We've already seen what happens when our adversaries pick the winning side to force us to default to the losing side even though it should have been obvious that it was a loser. If we allow our liberty-hating adversaries to adopt and promote the lead-free position, they will force us to adopt a lead-defending position that cannot win. If you already think that lead-free ammo is the product of freedom-hating lovers of tyranny, then you're the problem. Lead-free ammo is a good solution to a real problem. There are no excuses.

That's ^^^^^ not going to go over well here.

The cull would be a pretty cool experience. They have all kinds of moral requirements but only require 3 out of 5 shots into a 4” target at a hundred yards..

WesternJuniper, respectfully: you’re full of [bleep].

Spend much time in California?

I’ll throw my hat in the ringer - why not!

8mm Rem Mag with a 200gr TSX flying at 3,120FPS should meet their firearm requirements no problem.

Dang...you kill it...you clean it !!!


///

Much more destructive to the environment and carrying capacity than cattle (bison). Equines bite grass to the ground, cattle don't.