Bison, Absent Since Early 1800S, On The Comeback Trail In Oregon

CHILOQUIN, Ore. - The surging population of the American bison is more than just a success story in the West, where the animal once was hunted to near-extinction.

It's giving Oregon herds of tourist attractions.

Drivers in the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge are awed by the sight of a herd of 500 American bison grazing, chewing and grunting on several thousand acres of lush, green meadow.

"It's nice to see them around," said Hugh Null, Klamath refuge manager.

"People pull off the road all the time to watch and take pictures."

The scene takes travelers back to a time when as many as 200 million bison roamed most of North America, including large herds in Eastern Oregon.

In Oregon, their return is confined to private herds.

Wild bison roam freely only in Yellowstone National Park, other limited federal sanctuaries and parts of northern Canada.

Tom Epler of Forest Grove, president of the Northwest Bison Association, estimated there are about 2,000 bison in Oregon.

The state's largest herd belongs to Bob and Nora Stangel of Enterprise, who run about 800 head on 5,500 acres along Oregon 3, on the north edge of the city.

"They have a natural ability to take care of themselves," Stangel said.

"All of their instincts are geared to survival. They did it for millions of years."

Bison were native to southeast and south-central Oregon and portions of the Wallowa and Powder river valleys, according to Oregon History Center records.

They mostly were gone by the time Lewis and Clark crossed the Rocky Mountains and found Nez Perce and other tribes trading eastward with plains tribes for bison meat and robes.

The decline of Oregon's bison appears to have been a combination of severe drought and the introduction of horses to the continent by Spaniards, allowing Native Americans to hunt bison more efficiently.

By 1823, bison were gone from the state.

The resurrection of North America's bison herd during the past few decades is primarily because of the marketability of the low-fat meat, robes, skulls and other bison products.

Demand for breeding stock is strong, and bison don't come cheap.

Breeding bulls run $2,500 to more than $5,000, Stangel said. Cows are worth about $3,500, or another $800 to $1,000 with a calf, the higher figure for heifer calves.

There has been little interest in reintroducing bison to Oregon's wild lands. For one thing, the large, nomadic animals show no respect for traditional livestock fences.

The subject came up, though, on a tour this spring of northeast Oregon by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.

One elder of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla said he would like to see free-ranging bison along the hills east of Pendleton but added that the tribes also "want to be good neighbors."

"Because of the spiritual connection between the bison and Native American people in general, there's always discussion of establishing a local herd," said Carl Scheeler, manager of the Umatilla's tribal wildlife program.

"But is the bison today a question of wildlife management or is it livestock management? We haven't even answered that yet."