I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3400 
To adopt the North American bison as the national mammal of the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 30, 2013 
Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. SERRANO, and Mrs. NOEM) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To adopt the North American bison as the national mammal 
of the United States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Bison Legacy 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) bison are considered to be a historical sym-
bol of the United States; 
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(2) bison were integrally linked with the eco-
nomic and spiritual lives of many Indian tribes 
through trade and sacred ceremonies; 
(3) there are more than 60 Indian tribes par-
ticipating in the Intertribal Buffalo Council; 
(4) numerous members of Indian tribes— 
(A) are involved in bison restoration on 
tribal land; and 
(B) have a combined herd on more than 
1,000,000 acres of tribal land; 
(5) the Intertribal Buffalo Council is a tribal 
organization incorporated pursuant to section 17 of 
the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as ‘‘In-
dian Reorganization Act’’) (25 U.S.C. 477); 
(6) bison play an ecologically important role in 
modifying and improving the types of grasses found 
in landscapes to the benefit of grassland ecosystems; 
(7) a small group of ranchers helped save bison 
from extinction in the late 1800s by gathering the 
remnants of the decimated herds; 
(8) bison hold significant economic value for 
private producers and rural communities; 
(9) as of 2007, 200,000 head of bison were 
under the stewardship of private producers, creating 
jobs and providing a sustainable and healthy meat 
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source contributing to the food security of the 
United States; 
(10) on December 8, 1905, William Hornaday, 
Theodore Roosevelt and others formed the American 
Bison Society in response to the near extinction of 
bison in the United States; 
(11) on October 11, 1907, the American Bison 
Society sent 15 captive-bred bison from the New 
York Zoological Park, now the Bronx Zoo, to the 
first wildlife refuge in the United States, which was 
known as the ‘‘Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge’’, 
resulting in the first successful reintroduction of a 
mammal species on the brink of extinction back into 
its natural habitat; 
(12) in 2005, the American Bison Society was 
reestablished, bringing together bison ranchers, 
managers from Indian tribes, Federal and State 
agencies conservation organizations, and natural and 
social scientists from the United States, Canada, 
and Mexico to create a vision for the North Amer-
ican bison in the 21st century; 
(13) the buffalo nickel played an important role 
in modernizing the currency of the United States; 
(14) a bison has been depicted on the official 
seal of the Department of the Interior almost con-
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