Yellowstone Bison | Summer Speaker Series 2025

Join us for our next Summer Speaker Series presentation on Yellowstone Bison with Rick Wallen, former Team Leader of Yellowstone's Bison Ecology and Management program! All Speaker Series events take place at Yellowstone Forever headquarters across from the Roosevelt Arch.

Description:
Yellowstone Bison have long been a species managers have found to be challenging to preserve. Bison are native to much of North America. Wild bison here in the Yellowstone headwaters region have a history of abundance and utilization by indigenous people, followed by a period of exploitation, and then a subsequent 100-year effort to restore their ability to fulfill an ecological role they likely held in prehistoric times. So why is it so difficult to preserve a bison population in and around Yellowstone National Park? Learn more about this complex conservation program and the park’s efforts to further wild bison conservation for the future.

Bio:
Rick recently retired after working for 33 years in the National Park Service, the last 17 being at Yellowstone National Park where he was the Team Leader for the Bison Ecology and Management program. Rick was recognized by the Rocky Mountain Regional Director in 2015 for Professional Excellence in Natural Resource Stewardship for his work to evaluate the feasibility of implementing vaccination of wild bison and for his efforts to advance the quarantine and transfer of brucellosis free Yellowstone bison. Rick has long advocated for resolving conflicts that would allow wild bison to occupy public lands outside of the national park.