Daniel.N. Gossett 10/31/23 Daniel.N. Gossett 10/31/23

Restoring Native Bison

Restoring the Native Bison-Daniel N. Gossett

After watching the Ken Burns two-part series on the American Buffalo (Bison bison), I felt that his film missed a large part of the recent history of the return of the bison. Some of this was discussed in the local Public Television-Colorado Experience segments on bison in Colorado.

As kids growing up on the Front Range of Colorado, we didn’t have much exposure to bison. We saw stuffed bison in the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History in Denver. We visited Buffalo Bill Cody’s grave and museum on Lookout Mountain in Golden. There was a herd of bison off I-70 near Genesee exit west of Denver. The University of Colorado in Boulder has had a “buffalo” mascot named Ralphie starting in the mid-late 1960’s.

When our family went to Yellowstone in 1965, we were more captivated by the bears, and the unwise humans that were posing their children with bears for photos. I am sure that we saw bison, but I don’t remember seeing them there, because of where we visited. It was all about bears, including the bear (grizzly?) that came through our campground on a rampage, when we all locked ourselves in the station wagon, while Dad was in the outhouse. I remember that bear swiping an axe out of a tourist’s hand, when the camper tried to confront the bear. This was the era that bears were being fed at garbage dumps in the Park, and by tourists alongside the roads. It was also the Yogi Bear cartoon period, that gave tourists a tame expectation of bears and other wildlife in the Park.

In 1978, my parents took me to Yellowstone in winter. We snowmobiled out of the Flagg Ranch into the Park and had a single bison block the road while we waited for him to cross. We took a Snow Cat into Old Faithful, and stayed in a small cabin, where we had to keep the water dripping to keep it from freezing in the 20-40 below zero weather. We cross-country skied and I photographed bison and Elk foraging near the Firehole river. My Mamiya-Sekor 500DTL SLR camera broke the shutter spring while photographing a group of Bighorn sheep on a hillside south of Jackson. We found a camera repair shop in Jackson, but the repairman told me it wasn’t worth fixing. My dad lent me his Canon FTb, which was a steep learning curve while photographing Yellowstone wildlife in the snowscape. Most of my photographs from that trip are overexposed. It was amazing to watch bison plow snow out of the way to forage, using their head and the muscles in their hump. This was pre-wolf restoration in Yellowstone, so elk and bison were mostly not under pressure from predators other than humans.

Bison near the Firehole river, Yellowstone National Park-1978

Bison foraging, Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park-1978

Most of Wyoming elk and bison were infected with Brucellosis, a bacterial disease that causes abortion, its historical origins from domestic livestock. In the modern west, most states are certified Brucella-free for their cattle herds, including Montana. Every year efforts to keep bison from wandering out of Yellowstone Park and contaminating domestic cattle meant that bison were shot when they left the Park. From 1985 to 2000, 3100 bison were killed when they left Yellowstone National Park, despite no evidence of Brucella transmission from bison to domestic cattle.

I worked as a seasonal Park Ranger at Rifle Gap Reservoir State Park in 1983 and 1984. Rifle Gap had a small bison Herd, that often broke out of the fences along Rifle Creek and had to be rounded up. One of the cows had Pinkeye, and the Park Manager Boyd Cornell wanted to treat it before it spread to other bison in the herd. I had just completed my first year at Colorado Mountain College in the Veterinary Technician program, and my professor, Dr. Randy Vanderhurst, offered me the use of their Captur dart pistol to immobilize and treat the sick bison. He gave me the pistol and darts and told me that one-half cc of Rompun (100mg/ml xylazine) should work adequately to knock down and treat the cow.

We had pickup trucks and work-release inmates from the Rifle Correctional Facility adjacent to the Park headquarters, to help wrangle the bison. I had loaded up several darts and practiced my darting technique shooting at a bison drawn on a 4x 8 piece of plywood.

Understanding that bison are protective of the rest of the herd and will gather around a fallen herd member to protect it, we used inmates and pickup trucks in the pasture to block the others once the darting began.

The first dart missed, it went right over the target animal and struck the one behind it. The darted cow acted like little, or nothing had happened, only urinating to show some drug effect. I added more Rompun to the darts and after hitting the target cow with several more darts, for a total of 8cc of xylazine, she lay down. Barely sedated, I drew blood and treated her pink eye with an injection, before she got up, staggered to the creek bed, and fell down again. She staggered upright again and stayed up. It was a success.

I went back to Dr. Vanderhurst, who told me that wild bovids might need a higher dose, and he laughed about it, and called me Buffalo Bill Gossett in class. At least no one was hurt!

Years later I became certified in immobilization and euthanasia when I worked at Wildlife Services. Twelve years’ experience of darting animals and knowing effective drugs to use, would have been handy thirty years before.

The following year, a couple of bison were doing poorly at Island Acres State Park near Grand Junction, and so we were going to euthanize them and do necropsies. They were shot, and again pickup trucks were used to separate the rest of the herd. We used a front-end loader to hang the carcasses for necropsy. I obtained a bunch of samples, the lungs and liver being the primary focus from what we could see that appeared diseased. They had Corynebacterium abscesses on the liver and the lungs appeared to have what is often called “fog fever”.

I worked for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes as a Wildlife Biologist from 2005 to 2008. When Yellowstone bison were killed leaving the Park because of the threat of Brucellosis, they would go to slaughterhouses, and the meat was often distributed to tribal nations. In 2008, the Wildlife and Parks Department (FWP) received a truckload of bison meat to distribute, and the Fisheries Biologist, and I, and other FWP employees, cut it up to hand it out to the tribal members. Most of the younger tribal members did not want a quarter of bison to cut up, they wanted it cut up for them. I am sure many of the elders had the skills, but we had a hard time trying to mete out bison to the younger generation. Jake and I had plenty of meat left for us to cook for ourselves.

I went to work for USDA APHIS Wildlife Services later in 2008 at the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC). I worked with a group of veterinarians with USDA Veterinary Services (VS), that were teamed with Colorado State University (CSU) for large ungulate disease work. I also was the NWRC representative for the APHIS Native American Working Group (ANAWG). Part of my responsibilities was covering events relating to that work. In 2015, VS and CSU, working through Jennifer Barfield’s reproductive laboratory, produced a herd of genetically pure Yellowstone bison. Those bison were produced by cleansing bison semen and ova from killed Brucella infected animals, and using embryo transfer techniques, implanted them in surrogate bison cows.

Jennifer Barfield receiving the gift of a blanket from the Native American Tribes at the event, November 1, 2015.

Bison release dedication event at NWRC-November 1, 2015.

The resulting herd of fifteen animals was released into the Laramie Foothills, Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, and Red Mountain Open Space, between Fort Collins and Wyoming.

Bison at the National Wildlife Research Center, bison release event-Soapstone Prairie-November 1, 2015.

In subsequent years, more bison were released, now totaling about 80 animals, and these genetically pure Yellowstone bison began being transferred to Native American tribes, such as the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana.

There are several other bison herds in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal

National Wildlife Refuge, starting in 2007, now has around 180 bison (2020) on 6300 acres, on this 15,000-acre refuge. Daniel’s Park near Sedalia with 1001 acres, and Genessee Park west of Denver, have split Denver’s herd of approximately 85 bison. The Southern Ute Tribe in Ignacio Colorado, in 1995 started with 31 animals, and now maintains around 40 as a sustainable population, on top of harvesting some of them for tribal cultural events. They are part of the Intertribal Buffalo Council, with 69 tribes in 19 states, maintaining 2000 head of bison. Another ten bison are maintained at the Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve in Las Animas County, by Colorado State University, the Southern Plains Land Trust, and Defenders of Wildlife. Near the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley, on the Medano Ranch, the Nature Conservancy has 1600 bison free ranging on 44,000 acres.

Many bison have been transferred to native tribes since 2015. The National Park Service (NPS) has transferred 294 bison to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in northeastern Montana. Another 170 have been sent to other tribes by the NPS. These numbers are steadily increasing, as more bison are bred, transferred, and released as part of these programs.

The future of bison restoration appears good. Current population estimates nationwide are around 440,000-500,000 animals. Original North American population estimates were 30-70 million during the Lewis and Clark expedition. Restoration efforts by private organizations, the Department of Interior (DOI), and tribes are ensuring that the near extirpation of the late 1800’s will not happen again if grassland ranges are maintained. That genetically pure (Yellowstone) bison are being bred cleansed of Brucella, has been one of the more important developments in this effort. The return of bison to Native American tribes after both of their near extirpation, is a positive step in conservation and humanity, essential to righting some of the wrong of United States 19th century history during westward expansion.

Daniel.N. Gossett 6/11/23 Daniel.N. Gossett 6/11/23

Alligator Log

I am the alligator log that lives in City Park lake, I don’t know how long I have been here, but I have enjoyed the company of many friends over the years. I don’t know who named me first, but I think it was an artist named Stephanie, who drew me meaner than I really am, with my friend the Great Blue Heron in 2014. I don’t really mind the reputation, since my friends know my true nature. I have also been accused of being a drifter, but that is not such a bad thing either.

This is how Stephanie drew me, as if I was waiting for the right moment to swallow my friend.

When I’m not sleeping, you know that is so easy, just floating half submerged on the surface. I do keep an eye on the shore, at the people. People who are fishing I keep a close eye on, because they could put a knot hole out with a fish hook, then I couldn’t keep an eye on anything. Joggers and walkers go by, I just watch mostly for the dogs with them, because they don’t pay much attention to me.

My friends the Double-Crested Cormorants love to sun themselves and use me as a diving platform. The American White Pelicans like to use me to preen and hang out with each other.

It is hard to be a submersed log with reptilian features, that is why I work hard floating around to find friends. I mostly hang out near the southeast corner of the lake, but will move closer to the center to bring in my more timid friends like Mr. Heron.

In the winter, I am a place to perch off of the ice, and I watch Bald Eagles swoop over the ice looking for something to eat. I have fewer friends in the winter, but my fair-weather friends always come back when the weather warms up.

My friends the turtles like to bask in the sun.

I know that in my former life I was a grand tree somewhere with lots of friends flying in and crawling about, and living in my branches and bark, but those memories have faded. Soaking up water and lying in the sun have made my memories a bit soggy, so I just try to keep up with my more recent buddies.

Some of my above-water friends include: Great Blue Herons, American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, Red-eared Slider Turtles, and Bald Eagles that fly over. I also have lots of submerged friends, invertebrates and fishes, but sometimes they see me as just a hunting perch for those that like to eat them.

My friend Dan has been driving by daily for almost twelve years, keeping an eye on me and my friends. He takes pictures and wrote this story. He just retired, so I won’t be seeing him as often. His wife Stephanie often draws from his photos, adding her perspective to my personality.

Other pictures of the Alligator Log and Friends:

Double-Crested Cormorants and American White Pelicans (2014)

Sometimes they try to balance me out on both ends (March 2020).

Daniel N. Gossett April 2020

Daniel.N. Gossett 5/7/23 Daniel.N. Gossett 5/7/23

The North Saint Vrain CCC Bridge: Bridging Generations of Family Hiking History

“Lover’s Leap” falls above the North Saint Vrain CCC bridge in Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park

North St. Vrain CCC Bridge: Bridging Generations of Family Hiking History

By Daniel N. Gossett

This fall, when I heard that the North Saint Vrain CCC Bridge in Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, was being replaced, I had a few thoughts. One was reflecting about all the family history we had built with the bridge over the years. My other thought was of the history of this bridge being built by the depression-era men that joined the Civilian Conservation Corps.

These men came to the Park to have meaningful work, cutting trees, building trails and infrastructure, including this beautiful bridge, between 1933 and 1942. Records from the Park Service Superintendent Reports show that it was likely built in the summer of 1935 while the first two miles of the Wild Basin trail was reconstructed. Part of the character of this bridge was the historical “Naturalistic Landscape Design” rockwork, built at the bridge ends. This style of work is also seen subtlety along many trails throughout Wild Basin, as well as on many other structures and trails throughout the Park.

06.22.2016: “Lover’s Leap” Falls above the North Saint Vrain CCC Bridge

06.22.2016 Looking down trail across the North St. Vrain CCC bridge.

In this case, the rockwork incorporated the ends of the rails, adding a feeling of permanence to the structure. From my perspective, the bridge never appeared to change in all the years my family and I hiked over it.

My father worked in Allenspark in 1949, and Wild Basin was his local recreation. As a child in the 1960’s, I remember hiking to Calypso Cascades up this trail with my grandparents. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s we were joined by our cousins on this trail. Working on the Southern Trail Crew, I spent most of seven summers up and down this trail in the 1970’s. The bridge was always a break spot, providing a cool breeze, before heading up the steep section of trail, or going the other way up the “fisherman’s trail” to the other North Saint Vrain (NSV) bridge, on the trail above Ouzel Falls. One brother and my Dad and I skied into Thunder Lake one year in the late 1970’s, and my Dad and I hiked into Thunder Lake in 1978 on another trip.

In 1982, my wife and our four kids hiked to Thunder Lake, taking a break at this bridge on the way. With the extra mile added for hiking from the “Winter parking lot” on the Wild Basin Road, the distance was perfect for a cool water stop.

In 2008, we took five grandkids up the trail. We stopped at the bridge. While grandson Falon fished, we had to make sure he did not catch the American Dipper, which was foraging underwater below the bridge. Everyone posed for a photo against the upper bridge railing. “Lover’s Leap” falls (Susan Joy Paul) is seen upstream off this bridge.

Five Grandkids and Stephanie on North Saint Vrain Bridge.

07.19.2014: The downtrail approach to the bridge.

07.19.2014: Granddaughter Stephanie on CCC Bridge, “Lover’s Leap” falls is the in background.

In 2014, my granddaughter and I hiked to Bluebird Lake for a chapter in my book. We stopped by this bridge before cutting up the fisherman’s trail, since we had to backtrack down the trail because the Ouzel Falls bridge was washed out due to the 2013 floods.

In 2016, my grandson, Tyson and I hiked to Thunder Lake and rested at this bridge. We came back down via Ouzel Falls so he could see the falls and the new bridge near the falls. That was the same day my article on the new Ouzel bridge was published in the Greeley Tribune.

07.27.2016: Grandson Tyson at North St. Vrain Bridge

07.27.2016: The bridge during our hike to Thunder Lake.

The new NSV bridge was built in the NPS Trails Shop and transported to the site by pack animals. The old bridge was stripped down to the steel I-beam, and new decking, posts, mid-rails, and handrails were installed during the third full week of September 2022. While the new rails were not incorporated into the rock landscaping, the rockwork was retained to keep its character. The handrails were cut from trees in the vicinity of the bridge.

03.12.2023: The new North St. Vrain bridge.

03.12.2023: Naturalistic Landscaped Rocks at Bridge Ends.

03.12.2023: The waterscape below the new bridge.

03.12.2023: The rail looks low due to the packed snow deck, Falon on the new bridge.

Winter is an enjoyable time to travel in the backcountry without the crowds. On the morning of the daylight time change, March 12th, my now 29-year-old grandson Falon and I hiked from the winter parking lot to the new bridge, ate lunch and then hiked up to Calypso Cascades. Our total trek was 5.6 miles roundtrip. The wind was brisk, and a few snow flurries flew. Although we carried snowshoes, the trail was hard-packed snow. The waterfalls were buried under sculpted snow, beautiful, but almost colorless with the overcast for photography. With five cars in the parking lot at our start, and 5-6 people on the trail early in the day, we found the anticipated spring break crowds coming up trail late, on our way out. We counted twenty-five parked cars when we left. The hike was spectacular with the company, and the new bridge looked great.

In the future, I look forward to our first hike to the new bridge with our two great-grandsons, now six, and 20 months old.

03.12.2023: Calypso Cascades (Cony Creek) in winter landscape.

Dan Gossett is a longtime hiker and former trail crew employee of Rocky Mountain National Park. He is a natural resources writer and photographer who lives in Eaton, Colorado. He is the author of Precious Water in Rocky Mountain National Park, published in 2022. He may be contacted at Daniel.N.Gossett@gmail.com.