Virtual Fencing Bison Trial for Enhanced Ecological Restoration

Commodities

• Agronomic: other
• Fruits: other
• Nuts: other
• Vegetables: other
• Additional Plants: other
• Animals: other
• Animal Products: meat, other
• Miscellaneous: other

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management, grazing - rotational, range improvement
• Crop Production: drought tolerance, pollinator habitat
• Education and Training: networking, on-farm/ranch research, youth education
• Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, habitat enhancement
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil microbiology
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, partnerships, urban/rural integration

Aridification, overgrazing, and intensified drought/flood
patterns are the most significant challenges to the resilience of
western working lands. This project aims to research the efficacy
of virtual fencing for bison, which could make possible the
replacement of detrimental free-range cattle grazing with
rotationally-grazed bison on degraded public rangelands.
Rangeland restoration is a significant need across the West,
where native perennial grasslands are heavily eroded and
overgrazed, yet have the potential to sequester significant
atmospheric carbon if restored to fertility. As crop failures and
food shortages become more commonplace, models of ecological
restoration that can also provide more resilient regional food
security are increasingly needed, and partnering with local
ecosystems to meet human needs builds resilient regional
economies. 

This project also seeks to demonstrate the efficacy of locally
sourced compost, biochar, and mulch as rangeland restoration
tools in combination with strategically timed rotational grazing.
Compost, biochar, and mulch are all byproducts of other
agricultural processes - food waste, forest thinning, and crop
harvest - which can be locally produced and used to restore
fertility on rangelands. In early-stage research trials by the
Quivira Coalition, plots treated with compost have been shown to
hold onto snow significantly longer into the Spring, and produce
measurably more above-ground and below-ground biomass after just
one year.

This project has arisen from a request by native bison ranchers
to trial virtual fencing, and the results of this trial will be
widely shared with stakeholders and the public through ongoing
meetings, seasonal field visits, regional conferences, working
lands and soil health working groups, and the development of a
collaborative rangeland stewardship network for New
Mexico. In New Mexico we are
much in need of local collaborative working groups and
partnerships to ground federal and state agency money in
meaningful, place-based ways for economic development and
community resilience.

1. Research the efficacy of virtually fencing bison for
containment, behavioral training, and rotational/adaptive grazing
management. Initial research is currently underway at a partner
project run by The Nature Conservancy at the Silver Mountain
Preserve in Colorado, but further behavioral research is needed,
and there has not yet been any research on the ecological effects
of bison managed using virtual fencing (Vence is the manufacturer
of the virtual fencing currently being trialed and would support
this project with their research findings, but NoFence would
provide discounted collars and technical support for this trial,
and is more cost-effective for smaller herds).

2. Undertake an initial 3-year research trial of different
combinations of several different approaches to restoring
brittle, degraded rangeland in the Southwest: the application of
organic amendments (biochar, BEAM compost, and standard compost),
mulching, juniper removal by bison, and rotational/adaptive
grazing management. This project will study the effects of
applying a fungally-dominated compost made using a Johnson-Su
Bioreactor on the growth of perennial bunchgrasses (Studies by
Dr. Johnson at NMSU show a 25-fold increase in active soil fungal
biomass and an annual average capture and storage of 10.27 metric
tons soil carbon/hectare/year (approximately 38,000 pounds of
CO2/acre/year) when combining the application of BEAM compost
with intensive rotational grazing in a 4.5 year agricultural
field study). Prior SARE grant research has already demonstrated
the efficacy of these restoration techniques on drylands, but
demonstration using bison and virtual fencing combined with
organic amendments has never been undertaken, and low-cost,
accessible models of rangeland restoration are greatly needed in
northern New Mexico. 

3. Research the efficacy of these restoration techniques for
improving ecological function and mitigating extreme weather
events (drought and flash flooding) using the Point Blue
Conservation Science Rangeland Monitoring Network protocols for
sampling soil, vegetation, and wildlife on rangelands. Samples
will measure water infiltration, soil compaction (bulk density),
soil organic carbon, bacterial and fungal composition, above and
below-ground vegetative biomass, percentage of soil cover, forage
availability, and overall biodiversity (species richness and
species composition).

4. Research whether through thick application of mulch the spring
snowmelt can be better infiltrated into the ground, and be more
reliably timed to the germination of native seeds.

5. Involve local middle school, high school, and college students
in the collection and interpretation of research data.

6. Outreach to local ranchers, tribes, land managers, wildlife
refuges, conservation groups, and governmental agencies to share
outcomes of trial, and build a regional network of best practices
for bison and rangeland restoration.

7. Maintain current working relationships with other bison
restoration stakeholders (Valles Caldera National Preserve,
Sandia Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo, Pojoaque Pueblo, the Coalmine
Canyon Chapter of the Navajo Nation, American Prairie Reserve,
the Northern NM Wildlife Refuge Complex, the Vermejo Park Turner
Reserve, WildEarth Guardians, the Quivira Coalition, the NM
Coalition to Enhance Working Lands, the NM Healthy Soils Working
Group, Silver Mountain Preserve, Zapata Ranch, and The Nature
Conservancy) to share research findings and develop a network of
best practice around bison reintroduction and rangeland
restoration.

8. Demonstrate that bison restoration to degraded rangelands can
enhance regional food security and land-based economic prosperity
in New Mexico and the West.