Western icon returns to the book cliffs

Bison released Aug. 30

A bit of Western heritage returned to the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah recently. On Aug. 30, biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources released 14 bison onto DWR lands in Bogart Canyon. Roughly 30 more bison are planned for release later this year.

Bison at Hill Creek

Photo by Ron Stewart

The release was somewhat anticlimactic as biologists and a few family members watched the bison dash over the hill moments after Dave Olsen let them out of the trailers that transported them to the Book Cliffs. Olsen was given the honor after spending 30 years of his 33-year career working toward this day.

"It was a great day," Olsen said. "There were a few times I didn't think it would ever happen. Bison have been returned to one of the few big-open, wild places left in Utah, or anywhere else." Olsen said the journey to reintroduce bison to the Book Cliffs started 30 years ago when biologists looked around the state to find areas that might be suitable to reintroduce a bison herd to. The list of candidate areas was quite short.

"We identified the Book Cliffs as a possible site. But we knew it would take a lot of work to make it happen," Olsen said. "At the time, we had some concerns about the habitat in the area. And there were a few ranches and other interests in the area that wouldn't fit in well with a free-roaming bison herd."

Book Cliffs conservation initiative

"Everything changed when a couple of ranchers in the Book Cliffs approached us and the BLM as potential buyers for their ranches," Olsen said. "We recognized an enormous opportunity had just dropped into our laps. But we also knew we didn't have the resources to take advantage of it.

"We decided to invite representatives from numerous sportsman's and conservation groups to tour the area. Our excitement and vision was immediately shared by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. Before ending the tour, the Book Cliffs Conservation Initiative (BCCI) was formed. As word got out, other individuals and organizations also joined."

The BCCI worked only with willing sellers. Three of the four ranches in the northern Book Cliffs were for sale. The BCCI organizations were able to buy two of them. Later a third ranch, with properties in the roadless area and the south slope of the Book Cliffs, was also added.

"After acquiring the ranches, restoring habitat was our first concern," Olsen said. "Working with the two remaining ranchers, we (BCCI partnership) were able to shuffle cattle around and spread them out over a much larger area. Even though the Book Cliffs then suffered from the first of a series of devastating droughts, one of the ranchers reported that his cattle were actually growing at a faster rate.

"We also started working on a long series of habitat enhancements on thousands of acres of state, federal and private lands. We used a variety of techniques, including prescribed burns, plantings, aerial seeding, selective spraying, 'lop and scatter' (selective cutting of pinyon-juniper trees), guzzler construction, plus a few other techniques designed to improve the area's vegetation and water sources. We needed to make sure there was enough quality forage for both wildlife and livestock."

While Olsen didn't talk about another element of the reintroduction effort, the social and political aspect, that effort likely took more time than the hard work of restoring the habitat took.

"It's been a long road, but it all came together today," Olsen said, as he watched the first 14 bison make a mad dash for freedom. Bison, icons symbolizing the Wild West, have been returned to public lands in the Book Cliffs.