II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2464 

To adopt the bison as the national mammal of the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2014 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. BENNET, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

JOHANNS, Mr. MORAN, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To adopt the bison as the national mammal of the United 

States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Bison Legacy 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) bison are considered a historical symbol of 

9 the United States; 


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1 (2) bison were integrally linked with the eco2 nomic and spiritual lives of many Indian tribes 

3 through trade and sacred ceremonies; 

4 (3) there are more than 60 Indian tribes par5 ticipating in the Intertribal Buffalo Council; 

6 (4) numerous members of Indian tribes are in7 volved in bison restoration on tribal land; 

8 (5) members of Indian tribes have a combined 

9 herd on more than 1,000,000 acres of tribal land; 

10 (6) the Intertribal Buffalo Council is a tribal 

11 organization incorporated pursuant to section 17 of 

12 the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the 

13 ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’) (25 U.S.C. 477); 

14 (7) bison can play an important role in improv15 ing the types of grasses found in landscapes to the 

16 benefit of grasslands; 

17 (8) a small group of ranchers helped save bison 

18 from extinction in the late 1800s by gathering the 

19 remnants of the decimated herds; 

20 (9) bison hold significant economic value for 

21 private producers and rural communities; 

22 (10) according to the 2012 Census of Agri23 culture of the Department of Agriculture, as of 

24 2012, 162,110 head of bison were under the stew25 ardship of private producers, creating jobs and proVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:00 Jun 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2464.IS S2464

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1 viding a sustainable and healthy meat source con2 tributing to the food security of the United States; 

3 (11) a bison is portrayed on 2 State flags; 

4 (12) the bison has been adopted by 3 States as 

5 the official mammal or animal of those States; 

6 (13) a bison has been depicted on the official 

7 seal of the Department of the Interior since 1912; 

8 (14) the buffalo nickel played an important role 

9 in modernizing the currency of the United States; 

10 (15) several sports teams have the bison as a 

11 mascot, which highlights the iconic significance of 

12 bison in the United States; 

13 (16) on December 8, 1905, William Hornaday, 

14 Theodore Roosevelt, and others formed the Amer15 ican Bison Society in response to the near extinction 

16 of bison in the United States; 

17 (17) on October 11, 1907, the American Bison 

18 Society sent 15 captive-bred bison from the New 

19 York Zoological Park, now known as the ‘‘Bronx 

20 Zoo’’, to the first wildlife refuge in the United 

21 States, which was known as the ‘‘Wichita Mountains 

22 Wildlife Refuge’’, resulting in the first successful re23 introduction of a mammal species on the brink of ex24 tinction back into the natural habitat of the species; 


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1 (18) in 2005, the American Bison Society was 

2 reestablished, bringing together bison ranchers, 

3 managers from Indian tribes, Federal and State 

4 agencies, conservation organizations, and natural 

5 and social scientists from the United States, Can6 ada, and Mexico to create a vision for the North 

7 American bison in the 21st century; 

8 (19) there are bison herds in National Wildlife 

9 Refuges and National Parks; 

10 (20) there are bison in State-managed herds 

11 across 11 States; 

12 (21) there is a growing effort to celebrate and 

13 officially recognize the historical, cultural, and eco14 nomic significance of the North American bison to 

15 the heritage of the United States; 

16 (22) in the 1st session of the 113th Congress, 

17 25 Senators led a successful effort to enact a resolu18 tion to designate November 2, 2013, as the second 

19 annual National Bison Day; and 

20 (23) members of Indian tribes, bison producers, 

21 conservationists, sportsmen, educators, and other 

22 public and private partners have participated in the 

23 annual National Bison Day celebration at several 

24 events across the United States and are committed 


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1 to continuing this tradition annually on the first 

2 Saturday of November. 

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADOPTION OF THE NORTH 

4 AMERICAN BISON AS THE NATIONAL MAM5 MAL. 

6 The mammal commonly known as the ‘‘North Amer7 ican bison’’ is adopted as the national mammal of the 

8 United States. 

Æ 


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