Landscape Ecology - Bison

Creating a framework for plains bison conservation

Our main interests is to assist with the conservation of plains bison in developing a framework for the creation of a community based conservation initiative that fosters bison conservation and promotes the social, biological and economic benefits from such conservation.  The population studied is the Sturgeon River plains bison (Bison bison) population, located in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan has been growing at a rate of 10-14% annually.  Consequently, the herd’s range has been expanding, with numerous incidences of bison roaming outside of the park onto private lands.  These incidents often result in negative impacts, primarily financial from damage to fences and crops.  Due to the nature of these damages landowners are not entitled to compensation and thus sometimes take drastic measures in order to prevent such damages from occurring, such as killing nuisance individuals. This research is a step in understanding the process of promoting a collaborative approach, self-organization and learning in communities about conservation issues.  Without effective partnerships between stakeholders, conservation initiatives will be missing some of the most important factors that influence wildlife populations, specifically the concerns, attitudes and knowledge of stakeholders in defining issues and potential solutions.

On-going research associated with the project includes:

  • Communities for conservation:  Creating a framework for plains bison conservation in central Saskatchewan. J. Kelly and M. Manseau  (supervisor), University of Manitoba/Parks Canada.