ITBC has worked hard through the years to advocate that ITBC member Tribes receive the surplus bison from National Park Service (NPS) units. Currently, ITBC partners with 3 National Parks to ensure that Tribes receive the bison dispositioned from park units to ensure the parks’ bison herds do not grow too large. These parks are: Badlands and Wind Cave in South Dakota, and Theodore Roosevelt (both North and South Units) in North Dakota. ITBC also works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) so member Tribes can receive surplus bison from National Wildlife Refuges. These Refuges include Wichita Mountains (OK), Fort Niobrara (NE), and Neal Smith (IA).

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Every year, ITBC member Tribes request bison, and every year there are more bison requested than available from our NPS and USFWS partners. This fact led ITBC to seek sources of bison outside of its traditional U.S. Department of Interior partnership. ITBC has secured bison from The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (IL), The Wilds (OH), and others.