In 2016, President Barack Obama signed a federal bill into law making American bison the national mammal of the United States. Earlier this week at Genesee Park in Golden, Governor Jared Polis signed state Senate Bill 25-053 into law, classifying bison as big game wildlife in Colorado.
While may sound like a minor technicality, the new law further protects wild bison that may wander across state borders into Colorado, making it illegal to hunt them.
"The new law will protect wild bison, which is a priority for the Native community as well as wildlife conservationists... It's our responsibility to protect these animals that play a key role in our state's culture, history and environment," State Senator Jessie Danielson, the bill's sponsor, says in a statement.
It's important to clarify that bison are not buffalo. As much as Americana legend may have imprinted that on your psyche, the two animals differ slightly, belonging to different genera. Bison have a massive hump and larger head than the University of Colorado mascot that is also supposedly depicted on the back of your buffalo nickel (though the animal depicted on the coins, minted 1913-1938, certainly looks a little bison-y in those regards). However, most Americans still confuse the two as the same animal, thanks in part to Buffalo Bill Cody, a famous bison hunter who's buried in Denver.
According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), which backed the SB 053 along with environmental and wildlife allies like the Sierra Club and Colorado Wildlife Federation, there are "a handful" of wild bison from the Book Cliffs region of northeastern Utah that regularly wander into Colorado, where hunters have shot and killed the national mammal before.
Prior to the signing of this bill, Colorado had designated bison as livestock dating back to the 1800s, when tens of millions of the animals were indiscriminately slaughtered commercially.
The NWF touted Native Americans' connection to bison for cultural and spiritual values (and nutritional), and highlighted the bison's role in restoring grassland ecosystems. Drafters of the new law shared similar reasons.
"By the time Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, hunting and habitat destruction caused by the development of farms, cities, and railroads had reduced the bison population to only a few hundred south of the Platte river," part of SB 053 reads. "Colorado seeks to protect, serve, and honor the enduring bond between bison and American Indians and Tribal Nations by classifying certain bison as wildlife. ...This action represents a step toward making amends for the attempted genocide of American Indians through the eradication of their food source, the bison."
The new law that only addresses wild bison entering Colorado from another state. The Colorado Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, which supported the bill if it had certain amendments, notes that it has no provision for reintroducing wild bison herds to Colorado.