Victims of domestication, habitat loss and needless slaughter, buffalo remain only in remote pockets of our country's prairie grasslands. If we are to truly restore America's grasslands, both ecologically and culturally, then wild, free roaming buffalo must be brought back to public and tribal lands across the Great Plains.

A seven-point plan, presented by the National Wildlife Federation and the InterTribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC), offers a commonsense solution to effectively protect against the remote threats of brucellosis while also ensuring their long term viability of the nation's last remainging wild buffalo herd. It serves as a sensible alternative to the flawed management plan proposed by the National Park Service. The plan would:

1. Establish a buffalo health certification center.
   Yellowstone buffalo that wander onto private lands surrounding the Park could be captured and quarantined. Negative-testing animals should then be made available for reintroduction to tribal lands.
2. Scientifically manage the Yellowstone area's buffalo.
   The agencies involved should set a population goal for the Yellowstone herd, taking into account wintering populations outside the Park. If the herd grows beyond the goal, strategic methods of herd management should be implemented outside Yellowstone.
3. Acquire additional winter ranges and key migration routes.
   To allow buffalo to migrate safely beyond Park boundaries, public/private partnership easement purchases should be made, creating a buffalo migration corridor.
4. Adjust cattle grazing patterns on public lands.
   Cattle grazing on public lands should be postponed until buffalo have calved or returned to Yellowstone or after buffalo have migrated to areas where cattle grazing is prohibited.
5. Vaccinate cattle consistently and routinely.
   A mandatory cattle vaccination program should be implemented within a "Brucellosis Management Area surrounding Yellowstone, thus greatly reducing the already negligible threat to livestock.
6. Develop a vaccination program inside Yellowstone.
   Using a vaccine delivery system that minimizes disturbance to wildlife, a brucellosis vaccination program for buffalo inside the Park should be implemented once a vaccine that is proven safe and effective for wildlife is developed.
7. Evaluate winter management of Yellowstone's roads.
   It should be determined whether Yellowstone winter road management practice encourage and assist buffalo migration. If so, viable alternatives to the current policy of plowing or packing snow-covered roads should be put into effect.

To learn more about NWF's work to protect this American icon, go to www.nwf.org/buffalo.