National Bison Day
The first Saturday in November is National Bison Day, officially declared by the US Senate.
Dave Carter, Executive Director of the National Bison Association based in Westminster, was part of the successful effort to name Bison the national mammal.
Carter says it was during that effort that the National Bison Council, along with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council, decided to designate a day each year to honor the Bison’s historical, economic, and cultural impact.
CARTER: So we decided to select the first Saturday in November. And it has a couple of advantages. One; November is National Native American Month. They thought it would be appropriate from a tribal perspective to have Bison Day as part of that month. From our perspective, early November is when people begin to think about holiday meals or holiday entertaining at least in a normal year. We have nothing against turkey, but I’ll tell you a nice Bison prime rib sure makes a holiday meal pretty darn enjoyable. So it gives us an opportunity to spread that message just as we’re going into that holiday season.”
But between Covid and drought, it’s been a tough year for bison in Colorado and nationally. The association is waiting on a request that the USDA purchase 17 million dollars of bison surplus under section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act. That allows the USDA to make purchases of farm products to be used for distribution through the federal food and nutrition programs."
Twelve U.S. Senators, led by Colorado’s Michael Bennet and North Dakota’s John Hoeven sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue backing the request.
