Bigger burn aims to boost habitat for Delta bison herd

DONNELLY — The first plains bison were transplanted to the Delta Junction area in 1928. Since then, the bison have captured the attention of hunters, farmers and outdoorsmen throughout Alaska, despite mixed reviews.

Hunters were pleased in the 1950s when there were enough animals to justify a limited hunt. Farmers, who moved into Delta over the ensuing years, were not quite so enthralled when traveling groups of buffalo wreaked havoc with grain fields.

Today, through intensive innovative management, the bison of the Delta Junction area have become a model of success.

It's always a juggling act for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to balance the wants and needs of various user groups when managing a game species or habitat resource, and Delta bison have been a tough challenge.

About 20,000 hunters compete for the 80 to 120 hunting permits issued annually in Alaska's most popular permit hunt, partially due to a success rate that's typically around 70 percent. The only hunt that comes close in popularity is the Nelchina caribou hunt; last year 12,793 Nelchina applications were submitted for 5,000 permits.

Much of the credit goes to Fish and Game managers. Their goal?  Get the bison out of private fields and into a readily accessible hunting area.

During the 1970s and 1980s, most of the bison available during hunting season were found stomping the farmers' barley fields.

Contrary to general belief, bison eat little barley.  By the time most of the buffalo move from the preferred summer range on the Delta River, planted barley has fully matured. But mature grains are not a favored feed for bison — they need grasses before the grasses stem. However, a couple hundred 1,500-pound animals can cause considerable damage just wandering through. Bison also enjoy laying on comfortable barley grass while resting after feeding on sedges and forbs that abound near edges of fields.

In an attempt to mitigate damage, Fish and Game received money from the state to establish a 90,000-acre bison range. Initially, a portion of the area was cleared and several types of feed grasses were planted, with oats and fescue the main menu items.

Maintaining the range has been an ongoing challenge over the ensuing seasons, mostly due to minimal funding. Revenue from hunting permit applicants has been the sole source of range-control money.

Bigger burn

Lack of funding has handicapped range managers, but every dime of allocated funds is squeezed into fertilizer, planting and equipment maintenance.

Over the last couple of decades, there have been several attempts to burn portions of the range. These were small burns, less than 40 acres, designed to improve forage quality in areas that didn't offer much usable habitat.

But last Saturday, a much larger area was targeted to burn — 1,200 acres of the Panoramic Fields, an actively managed portion of the range on its southwest side. The objective was to remove willows overrunning fields and speed growth of planted grasses.

Department of Natural Resources personnel carried out the burn. For the most part, the fields were clear, but plenty of snow remained in the surrounding spruce. A 20-foot perimeter was established along field edges.

By Sunday, a little more than 800 acres of the burn was complete. Most of the fields will be planted with oats and blue grass. Blue grass does not stem and has an advantage over fescue in that it does not have a tendency to lay over, making it easier for bison to graze on. Oats are chosen for their growth rate. Much of the managed area will be fertilized rather than planted, an effective cost-saving measure.

Many bison come off the Delta River in August, reaching the bison range when oat fields are at the perfect stage of maturity for feeding. The past several years, 60 acres of turnips have been planted on a prepared field within the bison range. Turnip greens have become a big favorite, although the animals don't dig the bulbs.

A tough breed

Bison hunting begins in early October.  Many of the bison are on the range feeding at this time and hunters have an excellent chance of encountering one, given that there's good access to the fields from the Alaska Highway.

However, not all area bison are in the bison range. Recent years have found a substantial number of animals wintering on the Delta River, and a few still move into the farmed area on the north side of the Alaska Highway.

Not all bison travel at the same time. This spring, 40 or 50 animals passed our house on their way to the back of Donnelly Dome in late February. Another group moved through just this past week.

The Delta bison population of 350 to 400 animals has remained fairly stable over the years. Hunting pressure changes little. Calf production is constant at 85 to 105 each spring. Predation is a non-factor. A few bison are lost in accidents, and an occasional calf is lost while crossing the Delta River. Several buffalo succumb to motor vehicle collisions each year, too. But bison are tough.

Several years ago, one of Fish and Game's radio-collared cows was discovered with a badly broken front leg during a November survey. The cow was monitored by biologists, who discovered that she spent the winter in the trees just north of the bison range.  She didn't make it to the calving grounds west of the Delta River but instead calved near Jarvis Creek.

A fall checkup found her with a healthy calf on the west side of the Delta River. The cow migrated normally with the herd in the fall.  Her leg has gradually improved and she has resumed her position as a productive member of the herd.

Bison aren't the only beneficiaries of the Fish and Game managed habitat near Delta. The range is home to healthy moose and grouse populations. Ruffed grouse, in particular, benefit from range control, and new willows growing in areas previously cleared or burned attract a large number of moose.

There is little question that given adequate funding, Fish and Game could do more in the Delta area to provide hunting opportunities.  Photographers, tourists and hunters all benefit by having accessible game animals. Communities will see increased revenue from those who come to utilize game resources.

Given that, the management of the Delta Bison Range can stand as a model for habitat enhancement along our highway systems.

John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.