Draper Museum’s Free Lunchtime Expedition Talk Explores Buffalo Restoration with Jason Baldes

On Thursday, August 4^th, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West will hold a free lunchtime expedition talk from noon to 1 p.m. in the Coe Auditorium.  The lecture explores Land Rematriation and Buffalo Restoration.

This in-person event can also be attended virtually by registering and clicking here.

As the Center of the West explains, “for Native American people and Sovereign Tribes, ecological restoration and cultural revitalization are intricately intertwined.”

The next Draper Natural History Museum Lunchtime Expedition lecture from Jason Baldes is titled, “Land Rematriation with Buffalo Restoration is Reconciliation.” Mr. Baldes is the Tribal Buffalo Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation’s Tribal Partnerships Program. He will discuss tribal buffalo restoration and its implications for tribal communities.

Baldes examines the history of the near extermination of bison (often referred to as “buffalo” in tribal communities) and the imposed land use system that discouraged holistic land and natural resource management.

“Sovereignty and the self-determination of tribes has been undermined by state and local municipalities,” Baldes says, “and threats to remaining lands, waters, and wildlife continue.”

Baldes will also explore current efforts regarding tribal buffalo restoration, which includes the Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s buffalo herd – 70 animals strong and growing – which he manages.

Baldes received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Land Resources & Environmental Sciences from Montana State University, where he focused on Tribal Bison Restoration. In his capacity as Tribal Buffalo Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation’s Tribal Partnerships Program, he has established resolution-based agreements and has helped restore more than 100 conservation buffalo to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation since 2016.

Baldes sits on the board of directors for the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council, the board of trustees for the Conservation Lands Foundation, and the environmental commission of the Congress of Nations & States. He is the executive director of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, and adjunct professor at Central Wyoming College and Wind River Tribal College. A member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, Baldes also manages the tribe’s growing herd of more than 70 buffalo.

Support for the Draper Museum’s Lunchtime Expedition lecture series has been made possible by Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation. For additional information, folks can contact Corey Anco here.