Happy National Bison Day, Wyoming!

Wyoming: Where the Buffalo Roam.

Today is National Bison Day.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution recognizing National Bison Day for the historical, economic, ecological and cultural contributions the large mammal has made across America. Since then, it's been celebrated every first Saturday of November.

At a time when Congress seemed its most divided, Senators of both parties unanimously passed the National Bison Day Resolution in 2012.

Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi and South Dakota's Tim Johnson led a group of 25 co-sponsors, 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats, to push the resolution through.

Enzi and Johnson introduced the legislation in response to the Vote Bison Coalition, consisting of 47 diverse entities representing bison producers, Native Americans, conservationists, educational institutions, sportsmen, zoological institutions, health organizations and businesses.

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act, making the North American bison the national mammal of the United States.

Today there are roughly 500,000 bison across North America.

In the early 1900’s, there were nearly less than 1,000 bison left, this after ranging across North America in the tens of millions a century earlier according to the American Bison National Wildlife Federation. 

“The grassland environments of North America were all shaped by the hoof print of the American bison,” said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association. “As we introduce healthy bison meat to a new generation of Americans, we are also restoring a vital part of the ecological health to our grasslands. Just as the bison are a proud part of our past, they are a growing part of our future as well.”