Bison at Badlands National Park are gaining an additional 22,000 acres to roam in the park/NPS file

Bison at Badlands National Park in South Dakota are gaining 22,000 acres to roam thanks to donors who came up with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to fence in that acreage.

There are between 800 and 1,000 bison roaming the western end of the park's North Unit. While a fence has blocked them from moving east, 43 miles of fence made possible by a $743,000 contribution from philanthropic partners will enable the park to take that blocking fence down so the bison can reach 22,000 more acres in the North Unit, said Blaine Kortemeyer, the park's chief of resources, on Friday.

Overall, the expansion of the range will bring to 80,193 acres the bison have to roam in Badlands.

"We won’t be driving anybody anywhere," Kortemeyer replied when asked if some of the park's bison would be pushed by cowboys into the new area. "As they find their way, realizing the fence is down, they'll just come on over.”

Wildlife biologists say the expanded range will contribute to the health and genetic integrity of the herd and continued health of the prairie.  "Visitors will also have more opportunities for viewing, photographing, and learning about bison in their native habitat on the badlands iconic and stunning landscape," a park release said.

Whether this new acreage will allow the park to increase the size of its bison herd remains to be seen, said Kortemeyer.

"We’re going to let the bison that we have spread out and see how they like it," he said.

On Friday, October 11, the new range will be celebrated with an event at the Pinnacles Overlook in the park. Participating will be representatives from the Park Service, World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Badlands National Park Conservancy.

At the celebration there will be a ceremonial fence cutting and a Grass Dance performed by students from American Horse Middle School student.

Badlands National Park partnered with the National Park Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, the Defenders of Wildlife, the Nature Conservancy, the Badlands National Park Conservancy and the Badlands Natural History Association to implement the Bison Resource Stewardship Plan and open new grazing areas to the existing herd.