Bison - Sounds Wild
Farewell Bison

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Farewell Bison

When wildlife biologist Roger Seavoy flew an hour south of McGrath in the spring of 2014 to survey bison, he found more than he'd seen in years - more than 400 animals. That's good news for a herd that declined considerably a decade ago.

The Farewell herd is one of four herds of plains bison in Alaska. The herd inhabits the Farewell area of the drainages flowing into the Kuskokwim River, about 200 miles west of Anchorage. Plains bison are an exotic species - they were introduced to Alaska in 1928 - and herds exist near Delta Junction, and near the Copper and Chitina rivers. in the mid-1960s, 38 bison from the thriving Delta herd were released to establish the Farewell herd.

By the late 1990s the Farewell herd numbered about 350 animals. Then around 2000, bison numbers started dropping. Hunter harvest and especially decline in habitat quality were big factors. Hunting was curtailed and numbers started increasing, but the biggest help was a fire.

A wildland fire in the spring of 2010 spread out into the bison range and burned several thousand acres, revitalizing the plant community. Bison, and moose, thrive on the forage that grows abundantly after a fire. With nutritious forage available, bison numbers increased quickly.

Seavoy has about 30 bison equipped with radiocollars, which helps him locate the members of the Farewell herd. In his last spring survey he counted 319 adults and 85 calves.