National Bison Association Launches Innovative Conservation Management Plan
Plan Allows Bison Producers to Document and Improve Conservation Practices
Westminster, CO (July 1, 2020) – The National Bison Association (NBA) officially launched its new Conservation Management Plan (CMP) during its Virtual Bison Learning Webinar Series last week. The CMP will provide bison farmers and ranchers the ability to monitor and document their conservation practices to both improve upon and exhibit how their work positively impacts the bison, the land they’re on, and the people around them.
Kansas bison rancher, NBA board member and NBA Conservation Committee chair, Ken Klemm, “We believe that good conservation practices provide great benefits to all involved – the bison, the land, and the people. Furthermore, we believe that good conservation practices don’t cost – they pay. This program will help managers of all experience levels increase their conservation effectiveness and help them engage with a wide variety of like-minded managers and thereby take their operations to even higher levels of conservation success.”
The philosophy behind this program is neatly summed up in the following three statements:
For millennia, bison and people have relied on the land for sustenance. Even so, these lands thrived, blossomed and sustained massive herds of bison, which in turn supported many people. We believe that through wise stewardship, many people can yet still enjoy great herds of bison living on healthy, vibrant lands. We also believe that informed and caring people are the key to this vision.
- The purpose of this Bison Conservation Management Plan (CMP) is:
-To ensure that Conservation Partners do no harm to bison, land or people.
-To foster innovation and creativity to benefit and sustain healthy bison, lands and people.
-This program is not intended to inhibit or limit citizens’ freedoms or liberties but will operate only with voluntary participation and a deep respect for personal property rights and individual choice.
The CMP is exclusively available to National Bison Association members in good standing as a web-based desktop program in collaboration with HerdDogg which can be accessed at https://bison.herddogg.com/login where members can register at no charge by entering the pilot code when prompted. NBA membership is confirmed when the user emails jim@bisoncentral.com to obtain the pilot code required to initiate the app and program.
Not a NBA member? Join the NBA here. The CMP is also included on the NBA’s newly released Bison App, which is a powerful bison field management app and is free to download to Android and Apple devices through 2020. The CMP has an initial, one-time application fee of $250 with annual renewals at $100. Please direct any questions to jim@bisoncentral.com, or by calling the National Bison Association at (303) 292-2833.