%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Bison Reintroduction http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison-reintroduction <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison Reintroduction</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3836--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3836.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/bison-rocky-mountain-arsenal"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Bison_RockyMtnArsenal_2016_0.jpg?itok=FkND1hVh" width="1090" height="784" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/bison-rocky-mountain-arsenal" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison at Rocky Mountain Arsenal</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Colorado has been at the center of <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a> recovery efforts since the early 1900s. In 2007 a conservation herd of sixteen bison was moved from the National Bison Range in Montana to the <strong>Rocky Mountain Arsenal</strong> Wildlife Refuge in <a href="/article/adams-county"><strong>Adams County</strong></a>, Colorado. The herd has since expanded to a population of more than 180 in 2020.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3837--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3837.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/bison-reduction-nineteenth-century"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/dwindling-bison-herds_0.jpg?itok=IbARkubH" width="995" height="1199" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/bison-reduction-nineteenth-century" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison Reduction in Nineteenth Century</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3834--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3834.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/bison-genesee-park"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Bison_herd_at_Genesee_Park-2012_03_10_0603_0.jpg?itok=jJjdNsxE" width="1090" height="726" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/bison-genesee-park" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison at Genesee Park</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Brought back from the brink of extinction, Colorado is now home to several <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a> herds that are re-establishing the keystone species in their native shortgrass prairie habitat. These bison were photographed at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Park</strong></a> near <a href="/article/interstate-70"><strong>I-70</strong></a> in 2012.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/nick-johnson" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Nick Johnson</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2022-11-20T08:10:20-07:00" title="Sunday, November 20, 2022 - 08:10" class="datetime">Sun, 11/20/2022 - 08:10</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison-reintroduction" data-a2a-title="Bison Reintroduction"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fbison-reintroduction&amp;title=Bison%20Reintroduction"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Conservation efforts and reintroduction of the <strong><a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison">American bison</a></strong> (<em>Bison bison</em>) in Colorado began in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> during the early twentieth century. By that time, the bison population had declined precipitously since the mid-nineteenth century because of overhunting and the development of cities, <strong>railroads</strong>, and farms. Efforts to protect bison were rooted in the decline of Indigenous populations, the end of Colorado’s status as a “frontier” state, and a growing conservation movement that lamented the costs of urbanization and industrialization.</p> <p>Since the early 1900s, tribal, state, county, and university efforts to help bison populations recover in Colorado have been largely successful. Today there are more than 100 bison across multiple managed herds in the state, and the bison population across the West numbers around 25,000. As Colorado’s conservation herds continue to grow, management processes have become more precise, and the herds are readily available for research, engagement, or viewing across the state. In 2016 President Barack Obama declared the bison the official mammal of the United States.</p> <h2>Origins</h2> <p>Bison are the largest mammal in North America and a keystone species of the <strong>shortgrass prairie ecosystem</strong>. In 1800 there were more than 30 million bison across the American West. They roamed the Colorado plains in thick herds, sustaining the prairies and the <strong>Lakota</strong>, <strong>Cheyenne</strong>, <strong>Pawnee</strong>, and other Indigenous nations.</p> <p>The <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>fur trade</strong></a> era dealt the first blow to the bison. In the 1830s, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/nineteenth-century-trading-posts"><strong>trading posts</strong></a> such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bents-forts"><strong>Bent’s Fort</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-vasquez"><strong>Fort Vasquez</strong></a>, and others became centers of the bison robe trade, which offered Indigenous nations access to American and European cookware, weaponry, and tools. At a time when many Indigenous nations were struggling or came into conflict because of the United States’ aggressive expansion, access to these goods gave nations such as the Cheyenne and Arapaho an advantage over others. Native Americans killed many more bison than they needed for survival to maintain this advantage.</p> <p>The robe trade did not last long, but things did not improve for bison. The Comanche, arguably the most powerful nation on the plains at the time, not only overhunted the animals to sustain a large raiding-and-trading empire but also built up massive horse herds that competed with the bison for grazing territory. A drought beginning in the 1840s starved many bison, and white colonists added to the pressure as they crossed the plains on wagon trails, killing thousands of the animals for food and other needs.</p> <p>Steeped in the mythology of <strong>Manifest Destiny</strong>, US soldiers, miners, boosters, and politicians also came to understand that killing the bison would weaken Indigenous nations. In 1868 General William T. Sherman suggested that the federal government organize a “grand buffalo hunt” on the plains to cause harm to Indigenous nations and make way for mines, railroads, and cities. While it was never an explicit government policy, eliminating the bison proved effective. Food scarcity contributed to the forced removal of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Plains peoples from Colorado in the late 1860s.</p> <p>Market forces also continued to run roughshod over the bison. In the 1870s, tanners developed a more efficient method for creating bison leather, and railroad expansion allowed for easier transportation of the heavy hides. By 1873 white hunters, sometimes with ammunition from the military, were killing nearly fifty bison a day. By the time Colorado became a state in 1876, hunting and habitat destruction from farms, cities, and railroads left only a few hundred bison south of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>Platte River</strong></a>. The northern herd suffered a similar fate in the early 1880s.</p> <h3><strong>Conservation</strong></h3> <p>American observers began to see the significance of the bison’s decline as early as 1875, when a bill to ban bison hunting made it to President Ulysses Grant’s desk. Grant vetoed it, however, as the US Army was still fighting Indigenous nations (including those who had already been forced out of Colorado). As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the US army <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre"><strong>massacred</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/meeker-incident"><strong>force-marched</strong></a>, and starved Native Americans off their lands, and Congress <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/dawes-act-general-allotment-act"><strong>privatized reservation lands</strong></a>, much of which were sold off to non–Indigenous people.</p> <p>With Indigenous nations severely depopulated and no longer perceived as a threat, white immigrants now lamented the loss of bison, especially as the animals became an important part of the frontier mythology portrayed by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-f-%E2%80%9Cbuffalo-bill%E2%80%9D-cody"><strong>William “Buffalo Bill” Cody</strong></a>. While Cody’s popular Wild West Shows made the bison a symbol of a romanticized American West, <span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase="sportsmen" data-grammar-rule="W_STYLE_INCLUSIVE" data-wsc-id="lia8b8dmas3encgdq" data-wsc-lang="en_US">sportsmen</span> grew concerned that there would soon be no more trophies to hunt. Sentiment turned against wanton bison killing. In 1886, for example, the<em> Denver Tribune-Republican</em> admonished a group of bison hunters in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/park-county"><strong>South Park</strong></a>, calling for the state “to enact a law prohibiting the killing of buffaloes at any season of the year.”</p> <p>Theodore Roosevelt can be counted as one of the many Americans, and perhaps the most influential, who did an about-face on bison. In the 1880s, he advocated for the bison’s disappearance to make way for American homesteading and ranching. But by his presidency in the early 1900s, he had changed his mind. He became one of the founding members of the American Bison Society, which sought to reestablish North America’s bison population. At a 1907 meeting in New York, the society reported some 2,250 bison left on the continent, with 1,400 in the United States. Later that year, the society completed the first animal reintroduction in the United States, when it moved fifteen bison from the Bronx Zoo to a wildlife refuge in Oklahoma. One year later, the group successfully persuaded Congress to create the National Bison Range on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt’s establishment of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/us-forest-service-colorado"><strong>National Forests</strong></a> across the country reflected this growing interest in conservation, as the environmental costs of industrialization became clearer and <span class="wsc-grammar-problem" data-grammar-phrase="sportsmen" data-grammar-rule="W_STYLE_INCLUSIVE" data-wsc-id="lia8b8sryb5s4dv7j" data-wsc-lang="en_US">sportsmen</span> wanted to preserve disappearing trophy species.</p> <h3><strong>Efforts in Colorado</strong></h3> <p>In 1908 eighteen bison at the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-zoo"><strong>Denver Zoo</strong></a> were all that remained of the animal in the state. In 1914 the city acquired more bison from Yellowstone National Park and moved the growing herd to a 165-acre natural enclosure at <a href="/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Park</strong></a>. In 1938 the Denver herd had again outgrown its environs, so twenty bison were moved to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/daniels-park"><strong>Daniels Park</strong></a> in <a href="/article/douglas-county"><strong>Douglas County</strong></a>. These two <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-mountain-parks"><strong>Denver Mountain Park</strong></a> herds have continued to expand and still roam across hundreds of acres on the outskirts of the metro area.</p> <p>Elsewhere in Colorado, small herds of bison have been reintroduced or preserved on ranches and public spaces. At <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/keyword/rocky-mountain-arsenal"><strong>Rocky Mountain Arsenal</strong></a> National Wildlife Refuge in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/adams-county"><strong>Adams County</strong></a>, a conservation herd of sixteen bison was reintroduced in 2007 from the National Bison Range in Montana. It has since expanded to a population of more than 180 in 2020.</p> <p>&nbsp;The 2015 reintroduction of ten bison to Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/larimer-county"><strong>Larimer County</strong></a> has proven successful. Facilitated by the US Department of Agriculture, Colorado State University, Larimer County, and the City of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-collins"><strong>Fort Collins</strong></a>, this bison herd shares genetic links to the last-surviving wild bison in Yellowstone National Park. The result of diverse scientific and agricultural research endeavors, the Laramie Foothills Herd now numbers close to eighty animals and has provided seed stock for other herds in Colorado.</p> <h2>Brucellosis</h2> <p>The principal obstacle to the healthy reintroduction of bison to Colorado is brucellosis, the disease caused by the bacterium <em>Brucellosis abortus</em>. This bacterium causes the sudden death of the bison fetus in utero, threatening the viability of reintroduction efforts and the growth of wild herds. The disease, which affects a variety of domesticated and wild mammals, has nearly been eradicated, save for remnant populations of the bacterium in the Yellowstone bison and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a> herds. Any bison reintroduction effort requires careful stewardship to avoid introducing the disease to new herds.</p> <p>&nbsp;Identifying and eradicating the bacterium are together a significant part of the efforts at the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd in Larimer County. Using assisted reproductive technologies like artificial insemination, in-vitro embryo production, embryo transfers, and the careful washing of sperm and embryos, researchers ensure that the Laramie Foothills Conservation Herd is expanding safely and curtailing the spread of the disease.</p> <p>Research on the Laramie Foothills herd has informed other bison preservation efforts throughout the state. In <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county"><strong>Las Animas County</strong></a>, a herd of ten bison was introduced with the help of Colorado State University, the Southern Plains Land Trust, and the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife. This herd, located at the Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve, is doing well on the plains in southern Colorado.</p> <h2>Indigenous Conservation Efforts</h2> <p>In <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/la-plata-county"><strong>La Plata County</strong></a>, the Southern Ute Tribe has been carefully tending a bison herd reintroduced in the 1980s. The Southern Ute Cultural Department leads the initiative to distribute bison meat for tribal members, powwows, and tribal functions. The Cultural Department also provides opportunities for education about the bison’s central role in Southern Ute culture.</p> <p>The Southern Ute Tribe is one of the sixty-nine tribes operating collectively as the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC). This intertribal coalition works to preserve bison herds across nineteen US states, including Colorado. The ITBC’s efforts have been successful, as it now represents more than 2,000 heads of bison nationwide.</p> <p>In 2021 the city and county of Denver gifted more than a dozen bison to the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma. The tribes’ bison program serves similar functions like the one on the Southern Ute Reservation, coordinating access to bison meat as well as research and management of the herd.</p> <h2>Viewing Opportunities</h2> <p>Just ten minutes from downtown Denver, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge hosts more than 300 species of prairie life, including a bison herd. West of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/golden"><strong>Golden</strong></a>, the Genesee Park herd can often be seen from the roadside overlook off exit 254 on <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a>. Halfway between the south Denver suburbs and Castle Rock, Daniels Park also features bison observation areas. In Larimer County, the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd can be seen from elevated viewing areas at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area or Red Mountain Open Space.</p> <p>Opportunities to observe, research, and rely upon the American bison were nearly lost in the late nineteenth century, but preservation and reintroduction efforts have turned small remnant populations into thriving herds. As Colorado’s herds benefit from research and diverse management solutions, the population will continue to grow, creating more seed herds and solidifying the bison’s resurgence in its ancestral prairie home.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/sean-mccollum" hreflang="und">Sean McCollum</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison" hreflang="en">bison</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-history" hreflang="en">bison history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-reintroduction" hreflang="en">bison reintroduction</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-extinct" hreflang="en">bison extinct</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/buffalo-herds-colorado-0" hreflang="en">buffalo herds colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-herds-colorado" hreflang="en">bison herds colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/theodore-roosevelt" hreflang="en">theodore roosevelt</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/san-luis-valley" hreflang="en">San Luis Valley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/eastern-plains" hreflang="en">eastern plains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cheyenne" hreflang="en">cheyenne</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapaho" hreflang="en">arapaho</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/southern-ute-tribe" hreflang="en">Southern Ute tribe</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/southern-ute-bison" hreflang="en">southern ute bison</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-ranch" hreflang="en">bison ranch</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/genesee-park" hreflang="en">genesee park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-bison-herd" hreflang="en">colorado bison herd</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/la-plata-county" hreflang="en">la plata county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county" hreflang="en">jefferson county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-zoo" hreflang="en">Denver Zoo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-history" hreflang="en">indigenous history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-genocide" hreflang="en">indigenous genocide</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/removal-indigenous-people-colorado" hreflang="en">removal of indigenous people colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indian-removal-coloardo" hreflang="en">indian removal coloardo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/plains-indians" hreflang="en">Plains Indians</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, “<a href="https://www.cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov/project/buffalo-program">Buffalo Program</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>City of Denver, “<a href="https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Parks-Recreation/Parks/Mountain-Parks/Bison-Conservation#:~:text=Denver%20Parks%20and%20Recreation%20maintains,and%20the%20City%20of%20Denver.">Bison Conservation</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2019/06/22/colorado-bison-herd-growth/#:~:text=The%20herd%20at%20a%20natural,calves%20born%20just%20this%20year.">Colorado Bison Herd Growing Much Faster Than Expected</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, June 22, 1019.</p> <p>Colorado Prairie Initiative, “<a href="https://www.grasslandsunlimited.org/our-work/bison-reintroduction/">Bison Reintroduction</a>,<a href="file:///C:/Users/Nick%20Johnson/Desktop/CO%20Encyclopedia/Articles%20Edited%20for%20WW/Need%20Editing/%22Bison%20Reintroduction,%22">”</a> n.d.</p> <p>Defenders of Wildlife, “<a href="https://defenders.org/newsroom/10-bison-arrive-southeastern-colorado-marking-start-of-new-conservation-herd#:~:text=Last%20Friday%2C%20Southern%20Plains%20Land,Nature%20Preserve%20in%20southeastern%20Colorado.">10 Bison Arrive in Southeastern Colorado, Marking Start of New Conservation Herd</a>,” December 14, 2020.</p> <p>Pekka Hämäläinen, <em>The Comanche Empire </em>(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008).</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=MEH18861030-01.2.13&amp;srpos=60&amp;e=-------en-20--41-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-bison+herd-------0------">In Commenting on the Exploits of Two Denver Hunters</a>,” <em>Meeker Herald</em>, October 30, 1886.</p> <p>Andrew C. Isenberg, “The Returns of the Bison: Nostalgia, Profit, and Preservation,” <em>Environmental History </em>2, no. 2 (April 1997).</p> <p>Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, “<a href="https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/pdf/bison-management-plan2018.pdf?1646423767">Management Plan 2018</a><u>,</u>” City of Fort Collins, July 31, 2018.</p> <p>Shanna Lewis, “<a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/12/17/wild-bison-return-to-colorados-great-plains/">Wild Bison Return to Colorado’s Great Plains</a>,” <em>CPR</em>, December 17, 2020.</p> <p>The Nature Conservancy, “<a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/colorado/stories-in-colorado/zapata-ranch-bison/">Bringing Bison Back to the San Luis Valley</a>,” January 11, 2021.</p> <p>The Nature Conservatory, “<a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/zapata-ranch/">Zapata Ranch, Colorado</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>J. Weston Phippen, “‘<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buffalo-killers/482349/">Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone,</a>’” <em>Atlantic,</em> May 13, 2016.</p> <p>Southern Ute Indian Tribe, “<a href="https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/natural-resources/wildlife-resource-management/bison-program/">Bison Program</a>,” n.d.</p> <p><a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=ADT18861023.2.9&amp;srpos=59&amp;e=-------en-20--41-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-bison+herd-------0------">Talk From the Democrat-Press</a>,” <em>Aspen Daily Times</em>, October 23, 1886.</p> <p>Ted Steinberg, <em>Down to Earth: Nature’s Role in American History</em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).</p> <p><a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=ADT19071025.2.34&amp;srpos=38&amp;e=-------en-20--21-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-bison+herd----1907---0------">To Save Buffaloes: Herd Shipped From New York to Oklahoma Reserve</a>,” <em>Aspen Daily Times</em>, October 25, 1907.</p> <p>Uncover Colorado, “<u><a href="https://www.uncovercolorado.com/wildlife/buffalo-herd-nature-preserve/">Buffalo Herd Nature Preserve,</a></u>” n.d.</p> <p>US Fish and Wildlife, “<a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky-mountain-arsenal">Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=CTR19070124.2.76&amp;srpos=4&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-bison+herd----1907---0------">Would Increase Buffalo Herd</a>,” <em>Colorado Transcript</em>, January 24, 1907.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Andrew C. Isenberg, <em>The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750–1920 </em>(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000).</p> <p>Dale F. Lott, <em>American Bison: A Natural History </em>(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).</p> <p>Louis S. Warren, <em>Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody and the Wild West Show</em> (New York: Vintage Books, 2006).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Sun, 20 Nov 2022 15:10:20 +0000 Nick Johnson 3838 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Bison http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3833--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3833.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/north-american-bison"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/2951113978_a2610f9dbd_k_0.jpg?itok=rrdBMyyp" width="1090" height="730" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/north-american-bison" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">North American Bison</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Once numbering in the millions, the North American <a href="/article/bison"><strong>Bison</strong></a> thrived on Colorado's <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> for centuries until overhunting and other environmental pressures brought them to the brink of extinction in the nineteenth century. Thanks to <strong>reintroduction efforts</strong> in the twentieth century, several bison herds now roam Colorado, and ranchers even raise them for meat.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3834--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3834.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/bison-genesee-park"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Bison_herd_at_Genesee_Park-2012_03_10_0603_0.jpg?itok=jJjdNsxE" width="1090" height="726" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/bison-genesee-park" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bison at Genesee Park</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Brought back from the brink of extinction, Colorado is now home to several <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a> herds that are re-establishing the keystone species in their native shortgrass prairie habitat. These bison were photographed at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Park</strong></a> near <a href="/article/interstate-70"><strong>I-70</strong></a> in 2012.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/nick-johnson" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Nick Johnson</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2022-11-19T09:57:21-07:00" title="Saturday, November 19, 2022 - 09:57" class="datetime">Sat, 11/19/2022 - 09:57</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison" data-a2a-title="Bison"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fbison&amp;title=Bison"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The American Plains Bison (<em>Bison bison</em>) are large mammals in the Bovidae family, recognizable for their large head, shaggy coats, pronounced hump,&nbsp;and close association with the American West. Bison are commonly and incorrectly referred to as "buffalo," which are Asian and African animals. North American bison have long grazed in Colorado and are a central part of the spiritual and physical world of Colorado’s Indigenous people.</p> <p>For millennia, vast herds of bison roamed the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a>, until their numbers declined almost to extinction in the nineteenth century due to overhunting. Since then, however, their significance in American culture and their importance as a keystone species for the natural environment of the plains have prompted conservation efforts and a modest population resurgence. Today, those efforts have resulted in several <a href="/article/bison-reintroduction"><strong>managed bison herds</strong></a>&nbsp;across Colorado. In 2016 President Barack Obama named the bison the National Mammal of the United States.</p> <h2>Biology</h2> <p>Bison are diurnal animals, meaning they are active during the day. Historically, bison had distinct seasonal behaviors. In the winter, the gregarious mammals moved in small groups to seek forage and shelter, and in the summer months, they consolidated into massive herds for breeding and to protect the young. A much smaller population of free-ranging bison today continues these seasonal movements.</p> <p>Female bison, called cows, reach sexual maturity at about two to four years and typically give birth to only one calf at a time. The bison’s relatively slow reproduction rate compounded their decline when they were overhunted during the late nineteenth century. Calves are weaned off their mother’s milk after about one year. Male bison, called bulls, reach peak mass at about five to six years of age. Most bison do not live past twenty years.</p> <h2>Bison-Shortgrass Relationship</h2> <p>The Great Plains is the largest biome in North America. The High Plains, a part of that biome that extends across northeast Colorado to the foot of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a>, is an ideal environment for bison, the area’s keystone species. Bison have shaped the area to fit their needs. The shortgrass ecology of the High Plains consists of two primary types of grass, blue grama (<em>Bouteloua gracilis</em>) and buffalo grass (<em>Buchloë dactyloides</em>), both of which have shallow root systems and grow unimpeded by the aridity that characterizes the region. Bison themselves are selected for these dominant varieties based on the nutrition they provide and their tolerance to cyclical patterns of wet and dry years. The shortgrass provides bison with a crucial nutritional balance of protein and carbohydrates; as much as 90 percent of a bison’s diet consists of grasses and sedges.</p> <p>Further, the grazing of bison herds induces new growth for both blue grama and buffalo grass, while their droppings return critical fertilizer to the prairie soil. Their grazing patterns are more intentional than one would think, with herds returning to graze the same carefully selected areas. This symbiotic relationship is why bison have existed for many millennia on the High Plains and have long been a central resource for the people living there.</p> <h2>Bison and Indigenous Nations</h2> <p>Archaeological evidence from across Colorado confirms that bison were a staple food resource for people living in the region as far back as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian period</strong></a> (more than 9,000 years ago). At the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jones-miller-bison-kill-site"><strong>Jones-Miller</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/olsen-chubbuck-bison-kill-site"><strong>Olsen-Chubbuck</strong></a> Bison Kill Sites, which date to about 8,000 BCE, Paleo-Indians herded bison into gulches, killed them, and butchered the bodies. At these and other sites, pot sherds, projectile <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fluted-points-0"><strong>points</strong></a>, and bone debris indicate that the people who populated the High Plains hunted bison in cooperative groups and used their quarry for food, clothing, tools, and other materials. At the Massey Draw site near <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, the large number of bones and the existence of modified organic materials for use as tools suggest that the site was a bison-processing encampment in the Middle <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/archaic-period-colorado"><strong>Archaic Period</strong></a> (~3,000-1,000 BCE). Similar killing and butchering techniques continued on the plains for thousands of years.</p> <p>In addition to its functional role as a food source, the bison is spiritually vital to many Western Great Plains Indigenous people. The nations most commonly associated with Colorado—including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Nuche (<a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a>) people—all depended on the bison as a food source. They held, and still hold, the animals as an essential part of their physical and spiritual connection to the land. To the Arapaho, who call the bison <em>heneecee</em>, the animal provided food and shelter and was a key component of trade and commerce. The Cheyenne, who call the bison <em>hotoa’e</em> and hunted them in extended family units, traded meat and pemmican to the horticultural nations on the eastern Great Plains in exchange for corn and wild foods. In addition, the Nuche, who call the bison <em>coch</em> or <em>kucu</em>, left their mountain encampments each summer to hunt bison herds on the Great Plains. They hunted bison for their own needs as well as to establish trade with Spanish colonists, known as Ciboleros, who specialized in the trade of bison flesh at markets in New Mexico.</p> <p>Bison were the foundation of transactions among Indigenous groups and between Indigenous nations and Euro-American nations. In this way, the mammals’ abundance undergirded the more extensive networks of imperial commerce on the nineteenth-century plains, such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/santa-f%C3%A9-trail-0"><strong>Santa Fé Trail</strong></a>. Bison meat, hides, and tallow (fat) were principal commodities on the Great Plains. The market forces that came to bear on the region eventually spelled disaster for the bison in Colorado.</p> <h2>The Market for Bison</h2> <p>A variety of market factors drove the exploitation of the bison, including flesh for consumption or storage and bone ash for making fertilizer or to neutralize acids and clarify sugar, wine, and vinegar. However, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, demand for bison pelts surpassed these other uses as the main driver of the animal’s decline. Stemming directly from the already-established <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a> pelt trade, the bison robe market became dominant as beaver became rarer in the mountains and High Plains.</p> <p>The earliest American engagement with the bison robe market occurred in the early nineteenth century at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/nineteenth-century-trading-posts"><strong>trading posts</strong></a> along overland trails. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bents-forts"><strong>Bent’s Fort</strong></a>, on the Arkansas River in what is now <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/otero-county"><strong>Otero County</strong></a>, was a well-known fur-trading post and commercial hub. There, white traders exchanged flour, firearms, textiles, and liquor for bison robes prepared by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Indigenous peoples. In tandem with intensifying resource competition between bison and the growing herds of horses used to hunt them, the massive demand for robes contributed to a decline in bison, as Indigenous people were incentivized to overhunt the animal. By the 1850s, the decline in the robe market shuttered many of the fur-trading forts in Colorado, and Indigenous people who relied upon the once-innumerable resource began to starve and relocate as herds diminished.</p> <p>Several forces combined to keep bison numbers on a downward trajectory throughout the mid-nineteenth century. Increasing numbers of American colonists crossing the plains on overland trails used bison as a food source. The Comanche overhunted bison to sustain their raiding-and-trading empire and built huge horse herds that competed with the bison for grazing territory.</p> <p>As railroad tracks were laid across eastern Colorado during the 1870s, bison migration patterns were affected, and train strikes began killing bison who wandered across tracks. An increasing number of cattle and other ranch animals and the increasing amount of acreage put under cultivation reduced bison’s access to vital shortgrass prairie, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigation</strong></a> ditches bisected their grazing spaces. Droughts, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wildfire-colorado"><strong>wildfire</strong></a><strong>s</strong>, blizzards, and disease contributed significantly to the diminishing number of bison in Colorado and the broader Great Plains, as did the forced removal of Indigenous people who had previously managed the herds and held bison in higher regard than newly arriving colonists. On top of all that, tanners developed a new method for creating bison leather in the early 1870s, creating an insatiable demand for hides. By the 1880s, bison had been nearly hunted out of existence on the High Plains.</p> <h2>Saving a Species: Bison in the Twentieth Century</h2> <p>At the turn of the twentieth century, the bison underwent a transformation in the minds of many non-Indigenous Americans. For decades, hunting of the animals had been encouraged to weaken Indigenous nations and make way for the so-called progress of railroads, farming, and ranching in the West. With the conquest of the region complete, however, many Americans began to see both the bison and Indigenous people as symbols of a disappearing mythical frontier, and they became nostalgic about these symbols.</p> <p>Perhaps the best example of this change in sentiment is that of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-f-%E2%80%9Cbuffalo-bill%E2%80%9D-cody"><strong>William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody</strong></a>, an army veteran who hunted bison for the Kansas-Pacific Railroad and the US Army only to make the animals an important part of his subsequent “Wild West” shows that celebrated the American frontier. Cody’s shows were immensely popular and gave bison staying power as symbols of a romanticized American West. Cody, who first helped kill the bison and then helped spur a national lamentation of their loss, is now buried on Lookout Mountain, near Golden, not far from where a reintroduced bison herd roams.</p> <p>Later, in 1934, the <strong>University of Colorado</strong> (CU) adopted the name “Buffaloes” to represent its sports programs and campus community, further tying the bison to the lives of contemporary Coloradans. The mascot was chosen due to a national naming contest by CU’s student newspaper, <em>Silver &amp; Gold</em>. Boulder resident A. J. Dickson was the first to submit the name “buffaloes.” For the first football game of the 1934 season, CU students paid twenty-five dollars to have a bison calf on the sidelines (it is not known where the calf was taken from, though it likely came from Genesee Park). Since 1967 CU has had a live female bison, nicknamed “Ralphie,” lead the football team onto the field at home games.</p> <p>In Colorado, conservation of the keystone species has been in progress since the early twentieth century. Beginning in 1908, the city of Denver rounded up a herd of eighteen bison for conservation. The Denver herd lived on the prairie of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/city-park"><strong>City Park</strong></a> and the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-zoo"><strong>Denver Zoo</strong></a>, but as the herd grew, its home moved to a larger site at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Park</strong></a> in 1914 and expanded to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/daniels-park"><strong>Daniels Park</strong></a> in 1938. The city of Denver and the Denver Zoo continue to manage the bison herd, occasionally gifting bison to the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute, and other Indigenous nations with strong cultural ties to the animals. Collectively, these efforts protect the region’s biodiversity, support the recovery of the species, acknowledge Indigenous nations as equal partners in their protection, and provide the people of Colorado the opportunity to engage with one of their region’s most important species.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Bison reintroduction programs continue in Colorado, and the state herds have increased significantly in number and physical health. A short distance from Denver, Coloradans can view the bison herd at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/image/rocky-mountain-arsenal"><strong>Rocky Mountain Arsenal</strong></a>. In <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/golden"><strong>Golden,</strong></a> the overlook at exit 254 off <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a> allows observation of the Genesee Park herd. In <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/larimer-county"><strong>Larimer County</strong></a>, bison viewing areas at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space enable visitors to see a herd with genetic links to some of the last remaining wild bison in the Yellowstone region. The state of Colorado, the federal government, and many Indigenous nations continue to prioritize the reintroduction, study, and management of the prairie’s keystone species and the country’s national mammal.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/sean-mccollum" hreflang="und">Sean McCollum</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison" hreflang="en">bison</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/buffalo" hreflang="en">buffalo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-hunting" hreflang="en">bison hunting</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-extinct" hreflang="en">bison extinct</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-colorado" hreflang="en">bison in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/high-plains" hreflang="en">high plains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/great-plains" hreflang="en">Great Plains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/plains-ecosystem" hreflang="en">plains ecosystem</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/national-mammal" hreflang="en">national mammal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/barack-obama" hreflang="en">barack obama</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/theodore-roosevelt" hreflang="en">theodore roosevelt</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-herds-colorado" hreflang="en">bison herds colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/see-bison-colorado" hreflang="en">see bison in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/genesee-park" hreflang="en">genesee park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/are-there-bison-colorado" hreflang="en">are there bison in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/are-there-bison-left" hreflang="en">are there bison left</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/daniels-park" hreflang="en">daniels park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-zoo" hreflang="en">Denver Zoo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/university-colorado" hreflang="en">university of colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cheyenne" hreflang="en">cheyenne</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapho" hreflang="en">arapho</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/nuche" hreflang="en">nuche</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-history" hreflang="en">indigenous history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-genocide" hreflang="en">indigenous genocide</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/red-mountain-open-space" hreflang="en">red mountain open space</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/soapstone-prairie-bison" hreflang="en">soapstone prairie bison</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/soapstone-prairie-natural-area" hreflang="en">soapstone prairie natural area</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/larimer-county" hreflang="en">larimer county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-county" hreflang="en">denver county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county" hreflang="en">jefferson county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/grama-grass" hreflang="en">grama grass</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/buffalo-grass" hreflang="en">buffalo grass</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/shortgrass-prairie" hreflang="en">shortgrass prairie</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/shortgrass-prairie-ecology" hreflang="en">shortgrass prairie ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/high-plains-ecology" hreflang="en">high plains ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/south-platte-river" hreflang="en">south platte river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/buffalo-bill-cody" hreflang="en">buffalo bill cody</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fur-trade" hreflang="en">fur trade</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/bison-robe-trade" hreflang="en">bison robe trade</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-f-cody" hreflang="en">william f cody</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“<a href="https://www3.uwsp.edu/biology/VertebrateCollection/Pages/Vertebrates/Mammals%20of%20Wisconsin/Bison%20bison/Bison%20bison.aspx#:~:text=Length%20of%20bison%20ranges%20from,shoulder%20and%20the%20thoracic%20girdle.">Bison bison—American Bison</a>,” Biology Department, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, updated 2004.</p> <p>Kathleen A. Brosnan, <em>Uniting Mountain and Plain: Cities, Law, and Environmental Change Along the Front Range</em> (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002).<br /> <br /> Cheyennelanguage.org, “<a href="http://www.cheyennelanguage.org/words/animals/animals.htm">Animals</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Coleman Cornelius, “<a href="https://source.colostate.edu/northern-colorado-bison-project-uses-high-tech-breeding-to-halt-disease-and-conserve-an-icon/">Northern Colorado Bison Project Uses High-Tech Breeding to Halt Disease and Conserve an Icon</a>,” <em>Source </em>(Colorado State University), March 10, 2015.</p> <p>City of Denver, “Bison Conservation,”&nbsp; n.d.</p> <p>City of Fort Collins, “<a href="https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/bison">Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd</a>,”&nbsp; n.d.</p> <p>Andrew Cowell and Alonzo Moss, Sr., Williams C’Hair, Wayne C’Hair, et al., “<a href="https://homewitharapaho.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/arapaho-dictionary1.pdf">Dictionary of the Arapaho Language</a>,” 2012.</p> <p>Catherine S. Fowler, “<a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/465789">Some Lexical Clues to Uto-Aztecan Prehistory</a>,” International Journal of American Linguistics 49, no. 3 (July 1983).</p> <p>Andrew C. Isenberg, <em>The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750–1920</em> (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).<br /> <br /> Shanna Lewis, “<a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/12/17/wild-bison-return-to-colorados-great-plains/">Wild Bison Return to Colorado’s Great Plains</a>,” CPR, December 17, 2020.</p> <p>Mountain Scholar, University Historic Photograph Collection, “Bison Image—1,”&nbsp; July 1930.</p> <p>Sarah M. Nelson, <em>Denver: An Archaeological History</em> (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001).<br /> <br /> San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library, “<a href="https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/americanbison/summary">American Bison <em>(Bison bison)</em></a>,”&nbsp; updated March 9, 2021.</p> <p>University of Colorado, “<a href="https://cubuffs.com/sports/2016/6/28/ralphie-history">Ralphie History</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/10/21/usda-helps-bring-bison-back-colorados-prairies">USDA Helps Bring Bison Back to Colorado's Prairies</a>,”&nbsp; February 21, 2017.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Dale F. Lott, <em>American Bison: A Natural History</em> (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).<br /> <br /> Louis S. Warren, <em>Buffalo Bill’s America: William Cody and the Wild West Show</em> (New York: Vintage Books, 2006).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Sat, 19 Nov 2022 16:57:21 +0000 Nick Johnson 3831 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Ski Industry http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ski-industry <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Ski Industry</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--1932--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--1932.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/vail-ski-resort"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/vail_ski_resort_1.jpg?itok=YQeePcmO" width="960" height="720" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/vail-ski-resort" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Vail Ski Resort</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Vail ski resort has been ranked as the best ski resort in north American by many magazines and web sites. It is famous for its family-friendly atmosphere, unrivaled convenience, accessibility, and affluent, exclusive culture that attracted an elite crop of visitors and residents as well as middle-class ski bums.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3018--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3018.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/steamboat-ski-resort"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Steamboat_20190119_0001_0.jpg?itok=P2vSSXEY" width="1090" height="818" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/steamboat-ski-resort" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Steamboat Ski Resort </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Steamboat-Ski Town encompasses 165 trails, 3,668 vertical feet and nearly 3,000 skiable acres with six peaks</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-09-13T14:40:46-06:00" title="Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - 14:40" class="datetime">Wed, 09/13/2017 - 14:40</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ski-industry" data-a2a-title="Ski Industry"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fski-industry&amp;title=Ski%20Industry"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Colorado’s ski industry anchors the state’s thriving tourist economy. Built primarily on national forest lands, the state’s numerous ski resorts attract upwards of 12 million visitors annually, generating billions in revenue. Introduced to the state in the late nineteenth century, downhill skiing’s popularity drove the rapid development of Colorado’s mountain communities following <strong>World War II</strong>. Such growth, combined with concerns over wildlife and air and water quality, placed the ski industry at the center of ongoing debates over development in mountain environments. Today, skiing continues to define Colorado’s high country.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early History</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Gold prospectors first brought skiing to the Colorado Rockies beginning in the 1860s. Using skis, mail carriers such as “Father” John Dyer dared the high mountain passes and heavy winter <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/snow"><strong>snows</strong></a>, traveling between the region’s isolated mining communities. By the end of the century, skiing was an integral part of the culture in mountain towns such as <a href="/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> and <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong>. Skiing continued to grow in popularity in the opening decades of the twentieth century, with winter carnivals such as the one held in <strong>Hot Sulphur Springs</strong> in 1911 that drew thousands. In 1921 the newly formed <strong>Denver Ski Club</strong> hosted the National Ski Tournament of America Championship at <a href="/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Mountain</strong></a> outside of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. Thousands soon took up the sport, leading to the construction of dozens of small rope-tow ski hills throughout the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Federal Support</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The <a href="/article/us-forest-service-colorado"><strong>US Forest Service</strong></a> became intricately involved in the development of ski areas with the opening of <strong>Berthoud Pass</strong> in the 1930s. The pass first drew the attention of skiers when the Colorado Department of Highways began plowing US Highway 40 in 1931. Skiers soon took advantage of the easy access to snow-covered slopes on either side of the highway as it crested the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/great-divide"><strong>Continental Divide</strong></a>. But a lack of facilities, including adequate shelter, led to a demand for greater development. The US Forest Service responded by placing an aging military barracks on Berthoud’s summit to act as a ski lodge. Six years later, The May Company, a Denver department store, financed the installation of the state’s first rope tow at Berthoud. This collaboration between federal and private interests set the precedent for the future development of the ski industry throughout the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Berthoud Pass was not the only ski area to open in Colorado during the 1930s. Aspen locals cut the Roche Run on the side of Ajax Mountain outside the mining town in 1938. The following year the first ski lift in the state was built at the small ski hill, Cement Creek, near <strong>Gunnison</strong>. But it was Denver’s opening of <strong>Winter Park</strong> at the western portal of the <strong>Moffat Tunnel</strong> in 1940 that linked the future of skiing to Colorado’s growing urban population along the <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The United States’ entry into World War II slowed the development of new ski areas in the state. Yet, the stationing of the US Army’s newly formed <a href="/article/tenth-mountain-division"><strong>Tenth</strong> <strong>Mountain Division</strong></a> at <a href="/article/camp-hale"><strong>Camp Hale</strong></a> near <a href="/article/leadville"><strong>Leadville</strong></a> in 1942 proved instrumental in the industry’s postwar growth. Veterans of the famed division played a significant role in developing the Colorado ski industry, founding such resorts as <strong>Vail</strong> and <strong>Snowmass</strong>, operating dozens of ski schools, and opening countless other businesses integral to the sport’s popularity. Between 1945 and 1947 the number of skiers jumped 75 percent statewide, starting a twenty-year boom in the construction of new ski areas that pumped millions of dollars into the state and local economies.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Growth and Controversy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The opening of Vail in 1962 marked skiing’s emergence as a major player in Colorado’s economy. The combination of skiing and real estate proved a potent mixture. But as ski areas were transformed into ski resorts, complete with lodging, restaurants, and real estate, Colorado’s once isolated rural communities became a sprawling urban corridor along the newly constructed <a href="/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a>, further connecting Colorado’s mountains with a rapidly growing Front Range. While celebrated as an economic boon by state boosters, increasing numbers of Coloradans began to worry about the impacts of such rapid growth on their quality of life. Such concerns came to a head with the selection of Denver as the host of the <a href="/article/1976-winter-olympics"><strong>1976 Winter Olympics</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Olympic controversy focused attention on the US Forest Service and ski industry’s role in fostering rural growth. After three years of struggling to locate an adequate site for the events, the Denver Olympic Committee selected <a href="/article/beaver-creek-resort"><strong>Beaver Creek</strong></a>, immediately throwing the proposed ski resort into the center of the Olympic controversy. Beaver Creek and other resorts, including Lake Catamount and Marble Mountain, became targets of criticism for their potential impacts on the region’s environment and quality of life. Colorado voters rejected the Olympics in 1972, bringing an end to a nearly thirty-year boom in ski resort development within Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Corporate Consolidation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The ski industry faced changing economic and regulatory realities during the 1980s. Increased competition led to an arms race among the state’s ski resorts over which one could provide the most terrain, fastest chairlifts, and most extravagant amenities to attract larger market shares of skiers and snowboarders. Apollo Management’s purchase of Vail Associates in 1987 led to an intense period of consolidation. The newly formed Vail Resort’s merger with St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., owners of <strong>Breckenridge</strong>, <strong>Keystone</strong>, and <strong>Arapahoe Basin</strong> ski resorts, made the corporation the largest ski resort owner in Colorado, controlling nearly 40 percent of the state’s ski market. At the same time, Canadian resort giant Intrawest gained controlling interests in <strong>Copper Mountain</strong> and Winter Park, and the American Ski Company purchased <strong>Steamboat Ski Resort</strong>. Smaller ski areas struggled to compete with larger, amenity-driven resorts, leading to broader criticisms of the industry and the US Forest Service.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the industry’s consolidation as the backdrop, Vail’s decision to move forward with its planned Category III expansion drew national attention when members of the Earth Liberation Front set fire to the resort’s Two Elk Lodge, Ski Patrol Headquarters, and several other buildings in protest of the resort’s expansion into the habitat of the threatened Canada lynx. The arsons underlined the continued tensions over the ski industry’s economic and environmental impacts. In response to such criticisms, many Colorado resorts joined the National Ski Area Association’s Sustainable Slopes Program in creating a framework of environmental principles, including sustainable planning, optimal water use, and reduction of greenhouse gases.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Throughout the opening decade of the twenty-first century, Colorado remained the most popular destination for skiing in North America, attracting more skiers and snowboarders than any other state. Concerns over growth and wildlife habitat remain, but skiing will undoubtedly play an integral role in the future of Colorado’s mountain regions.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/michael-childers" hreflang="und">Michael Childers</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/history-skiing-colorado-0" hreflang="en">history of skiing in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-ski-resorts" hreflang="en">colorado ski resorts</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapahoe-basin" hreflang="en">Arapahoe Basin</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/beaver-creek" hreflang="en">beaver creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/copper-mountain" hreflang="en">copper mountain</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/telluride" hreflang="en">Telluride</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/snowmass" hreflang="en">snowmass</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/aspen" hreflang="en">Aspen</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/1976-winter-olympics" hreflang="en">1976 winter olympics</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/winter-olympics-colorado" hreflang="en">winter olympics colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/camp-hale" hreflang="en">Camp Hale</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/10th-mountain-division" hreflang="en">10th Mountain Division</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tenth-mountain-division" hreflang="en">tenth mountain division</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/genesee-park" hreflang="en">genesee park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/vail" hreflang="en">Vail</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/breckenridge" hreflang="en">Breckenridge</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/steamboat-ski-resort" hreflang="en">steamboat ski resort</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/steamboat-springs" hreflang="en">Steamboat Springs</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ski-history" hreflang="en">ski history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/interstate-70" hreflang="en">interstate 70</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/us-forest-service-0" hreflang="en">US forest service</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rocky-mountains" hreflang="en">Rocky Mountains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/skiing-rocky-mountains" hreflang="en">skiing rocky mountains</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>John B. Allen, <em>From Skisport to Skiing: One Hundred Years of an American Sport, 1840-1940</em> (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Michael W. Childers, <em>Colorado Powder Keg: Ski Resorts and the Environmental Movement</em> (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Annie Gilbert Coleman, <em>Ski Style: Sport and Culture in the Rockies</em> (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Abbot Fay, <em>A History of Skiing in Colorado</em> (Lake City, CO: Western Reflections Publishing, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Fry, <em>The Story of Modern Skiing </em>(University Press of New England, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Philpott, <em>Vacationland: Tourism and Environment in the Colorado High Country</em> (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Hal K. Rothman,<em> Devil’s Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth Century American West</em> (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mary Supplee Smith,<em> American Ski Resort: Architecture, Style, Experience </em>(University of Oklahoma Press, 2013).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Riebsame Travis, <em>New Geographies of the American West: Land Use and the Changing Patterns of Place</em> (Island Press, 2007).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://www.snowsportsmuseum.org/">Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.coloradoski.com/">Colorado Ski Country</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://coloradoskihistory.com/areahistory/index.html">Colorado Ski History</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/tmd/">Tenth Mountain Division and Military Records, Denver Public Library</a></p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:40:46 +0000 yongli 2738 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org