Bringing Bison Back to Banff

Banff, Alberta Bison

It wouldn’t be the first time that this proposal has been made but once again the idea of bringing bison back to Banff has been brought to the table.

Parks Canada had earlier in the year brought up the idea to bring the persecuted beasts back to their spiritual home. However, the province of Alberta voiced such strong opposition that they were forced to drop the idea. Once again though, the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation is talking with Parks Canada about the possibility of reintroducing bison into the park where they once historically roamed, either in a remote valley of the park or in the busy Bow Valley.

Peter Poole, a trustee with the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation, said reintroducing bison is a good fit for the group. “Banff is described as an impaired zone, and the reason it’s declared impaired is because the last big mammal that’s missing from our ecosystem is the bison, so if that’s the missing puzzle, let’s figure out how to bring it back.” An excellent point Mr. Poole!

It is still early days but this Park Ranger thinks it would be great to see bison back roaming the ranges. It was our ancestors fault that they were driven close to extinction, a quite prairie that they can call home is the least we can do.