A Message From The President

Dear Friends of American Prairie Reserve,

Our busiest visitation season to date is well under way on the Reserve with the very appreciated blessing of incredibly good weather, making our early summer tours and safaris as beautiful and pleasant as possible. In late May, we were honored to host a wonderfully engaged group of nature reserve managers from the China Protected Areas Leadership Alliance; we also bid a fond farewell to our very successful big bison bull “Tommy,” transported to become the newest member of the famous Sully’s Hill National Wildlife Refuge bison herd in Nebraska. Our bison herd reached the milestone marker of 100 with the addition of 15 calves so far this season. Thanks to each of you for your continued support. Please visit us soon on the prairie.

Sincerely,

Sean Gerrity
APF President

Photo by D. Hargreaves

Chinese Land Managers Visit Offers Mutual Education Opportunity

We had two perfect spring days on the prairie for the China Protected Areas Leadership Alliance tour of American Prairie Reserve on May 18 and 19. The 28 Chinese nature reserve managers, government officials and program coordinators came to the U.S. to study different models of conservation; they were an enthusiastic bunch and embraced the opportunity to spend the night in APF’s Yurt Camp. The group was treated to a few unexpected sights, including four bull elk in new velvet running into the breaks and new APF bison herd arrivals, some just days old. As part of the visit, we held a group dinner at The Stockman in Malta. We’d like to thank all those who attended, especially Micaela Tams, Taylor Sjostrom and Elizabeth Engebretson from the Malta High School Key Club who asked great questions of our Chinese visitors, and Byron Ereaux, Mayor of Malta, who presented the group with coins marking the town’s centennial. The group also toured the Philips County Museum, Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge. The visit provided a wonderful opportunity for us to learn from one another.

Photos by D. Lingohr

APF Bison Bull Moved to Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

Tommy, APF bull #12, came to American Prairie Reserve in October 2005 as a yearling in the first group of bison imported from Wind Cave National Park. He became our dominant bull and, as expected in a small conservation herd, sired enough calves that, through genetic testing, we determined he needed to be temporarily removed from the APF herd. Our bison herd’s genetics will be kept robust by this move, which will also allow other APF bulls to advance their genes. Working together in blizzard conditions on May 13th, staff from Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska, APF and WWF, got Tommy ready to head to his new breeding ground. He was sedated and his behemoth 1700- to 1800-pound body was gently moved into a horse trailer before the drug was reversed and he jumped back up. Tommy is now a member of the famous Sully’s Hill National Wildlife Refuge bison herd, which was recently relocated from North Dakota to Nebraska. This is possibly the only U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service herd thus far known to contain no cattle genes using today’s genetic tests. Thanks for your service, Tommy, and keep up the good work.

Photo by D. Hargreaves

Transboundary Education Group Visits APR

This month we hosted our first group of students from outside the U.S. Eight 10th graders from Canada spent two days in the area. APF and WWF staff members Shaun Radley, Bill Willcutt and Dennis Jorgensen shared information about the prairie and the Reserve on the first day. On the second day, the students went to Bowdoin Wildlife Refuge and the two museums in Malta. The goal for next year is to include Montana students in this event. A grant from WWF funded the students’ attendance. Thank you to Dollyann Willcutt for facilitating this wonderful event.

Photos by D. Hargreaves

What We’re Reading Now...

When the Meadowlark Sings
by Nedra Sterry

When the Meadowlark Sings, recommended to us by our friend and supporter Diane Hargreaves, is a multigenerational story of twentieth century life on the prairie of Montana. Born at the end of World War I, Nedra Sterry grew up the daughter of a teacher in oneroom schoolhouses across the Hi-Line and raised her own five children on her husband’s family’s wheat farm. A powerful storyteller, Sterry captivates her readers and stirs one’s emotions with both amusing stories of childhood mischief and heartfelt accounts of painful familial loss. Sterry weaves her personal history into the major events of the era – from the Great Depression to the arrival of the area’s first automobiles, highlighting both the struggles her family faced against debilitating sickness, extreme weather and poverty, and the joys of country life in strong and supportive communities.

APF Bison Herd Reaches 100 Animals

One hundred bison now call American Prairie Reserve home. This is a huge milestone in a journey that began on a rainy night in October of 2005 with the arrival of the first 16 bison imported from Wind Cave National Park. So far this season, we’ve had 15 calves born on the Reserve. In celebration of these new additions, we thought it’d be fun to share some facts about bison calves: Bison calves normally weigh 40-50 pounds at birth and are up and running with their mothers within hours of being born. Bison cows calve under normal conditions between mid-April and June. The gestation period is 9 1/2 months and cows typically have one calf per year -- twins are very rare. Cows typically live 20-25 years and can have a calf every year under the right conditions. When the cows wean their 6-8 month old calves, the females typically weigh about 350 pounds, and the males weigh around 425 pounds. As we reported earlier, APF’s bison now enjoy an expanded new range; a short video of our April bison release event is now on our website.

Photo by G. Myers