Canada, Mexico, and the United States have agreed to collaborate on bison conservation/NPS file

Canada, Mexico, and the United States, noting that bison once roamed from Alaska to Mexico, earlier this year signed a letter of intent to continue to collaborate on bison conservation.

The nonbinding agreement (attached below) aims to "strengthen cooperation and coordination for the conservation of the American bison across its range in North America," a release sent November 1 from the U.S. Interior Department said. "[T]he countries will work to pursue bison conservation, restore ecological processes, and support traditional human use of natural resources with a particular focus on the unique historical connection between bison and Indigenous peoples."

The letter purportedly was signed on May 30, though the timestamp of the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks who signed the document carried a September 10 date.

The agreement was formalized during the Canada/Mexico/United States Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation and Management held in San Diego, California. The Trilateral Committee began in 1996 as a pioneering initiative among the three countries to align efforts safeguarding North America’s wildlife and ecosystems. The committee’s Species of Concern Working Table brings together state, federal and Tribal resource managers and non-governmental organizations to share their expertise and coordinate conservation of species that span the continent.   

“While the overall recovery of bison over the last 130 years is a conservation success story, significant work remains to ensure that bison will remain a viable species,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in the release. “Our collaborative efforts with Canada and Mexico are an important step forward as we work to restore this majestic species and facilitate the return of bison to Tribally owned and ancestral lands.”  

The Letter of Intent outlines the various ways that the three North American nations will work together, including by:  

• Improving collaboration on regional activities to promote policies, practices and effective methods in support of the ecocultural conservation of bison; 

• Promoting joint work plans within the Trilateral Committee’s Species of Common Conservation Concern working table; 

• Fostering transparency about the technical information that is developed jointly; and 

• Streamlining reporting on activities conducted under the Letter of Intent with the Executive Table of the Trilateral Committee for its review.  

These international efforts will continue to build on the Interior Department’s domestic bison restoration efforts, including the Grasslands Keystone Initiative. In 2023, Secretary Haaland issued a Secretary's Order and announced a $25 million investment to empower the department’s bureaus and partners to use the best available science and Indigenous Knowledge to help restore bison across the country.

The American bison once thrived across the largest original distribution of any native large herbivore in North America, ranging from desert grasslands in northern regions of Mexico to interior Alaska. After North America’s European settlement, bison populations were reduced from an estimated 60 to 80 million to a mere 1,000 animals. These surviving bison were saved from extinction and became the founders of several protected populations that put the species on a path of recovery and conservation.