Where the buffalo roamed, and could once again

Across the American landscape, 30 million buffalo once pawed the prairie and thundered across it. Today in the wild there are 20,000 plains bison and 11,000 wood bison — plus more than 400,000 buffalo in commercial herds.

The Indian Buffalo Management Act won’t by itself recreate the thunder. But it is an important bill for the health of this species and the prairie. It can help heal the land and more.

Introduced by Senators Martin Heinrich (New Mexico) and Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma) in the Senate and Rep. Doug LaMalfa (California) in the House, the bill creates a permanent buffalo restoration and management program within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Once passed and up-and-running, the program will award buffalo restoration grants to tribes and provide technical assistance to them.

There are 56 million acres of reservation lands in the U.S., an area larger than the state of Minnesota. Passing this bill will provide a little more space for these massive , one-ton animals to roam.

It’s bipartisan. It’s pragmatic. It’s a good bill that Congress should pass.