Volunteers are requested by the National Park Service (NPS) to help with hunting hundreds of Bison roaming in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
With a joint collaboration between Arizona Game and Fish Department and NPS, they are opening applications for the public to volunteer to draw a tag to hunt one of these bison.
Along with the announcement of this opportunity outlining the work and qualifications, NPS wrote it was “”concerned about increased impacts on park resources such as water, vegetation, soils, archaeological sites and values such as visitor experience and wilderness character” given the “current distribution, abundance, density and the expected growth of the bison herd on the North Rim.”
“Reducing the herd size will protect the park ecosystem, resources and values,” the agency said.
There will be 25 applications selected from the pool of applicants and only 12 chosen on a random lottery system.
The agency also consulted with a traditionally associated tribe, the public, the state of Arizona and the U.S. Forest Service.
“In addition to removal, Grand Canyon National Park biologists began piloting live capture and relocation in 2019. Since the program began, 88 animals have been captured and relocated to five American Indian Tribes through an agreement with the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council,” it explained. “These animals will augment existing herds managed by these Tribes.”
As reported by the Associated Press, the NPS is looking to downsize the herd numbers from 600 to 200.
The herd management began in 2019 and has since relocated a total of 88 bison, reported by Big Country.
Hunt dates have also been released. The hunt will take place during weekends in the Fall (Sept. 20-24, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, Oct. 18-22 and Oct. 25-29). Future dates will potentially be released as well.
If you want more information, you can visit NPS’s FAQ page here.
