Get up close and personal with a rare herd of genetically pure bison

If you give a bison a treat, it’s going to come back for more.

Dr. Jennifer Barfield knows that better than anyone. The director of Colorado State University's bison reproduction program makes the 30-some-mile trek to Soapstone Prairie Natural Area near the Colorado-Wyoming border once a week to check on Northern Colorado’s only genetically pure bison herd.

She usually comes stocked with protein-packed range cubes, so the naturally curious and ever-peckish bison have learned to greet her white Mazda with enthusiasm.

On a recent Coloradoan visit to check out the bison at Soapstone, Barfield’s car was surrounded in minutes — once we managed to track down the herd among the 1,000 acres of prairie, that is.

More than a year and a half after the release of 10 bison onto a fenced pasture in the city-managed Soapstone Natural Area and connecting county-managed Red Mountain Open Space, the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd has grown to 33 members. Fourteen of the new additions were calves from natural mating, while others joined the herd by way of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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The herd also lost a few members. One bull moved to Minnesota, and one cow died after a fall.

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And soon, the herd could have more room to grow. The herd’s size depends largely on how much land it has to roam, said Barfield, who is the lead scientist for the project. The project partners are on the cusp of adding about 1,500 fenced acres to the current area.

They’re taking donations to fund fencing around the new area, which is north of the current pasture and south of the Cheyenne Rim Trail. Barfield is hoping that acreage will be added in the next year.

In the meantime, bison-watchers can camp out on Rawhide Flats Road about 4.5 miles north of Larimer County Road 15 in hopes of spotting the herd. Barfield is hesitant to pinpoint how likely you are to actually see bison at Soapstone because the animals are pretty unpredictable.

“When we’re working with them, we always say we can get the bison to do whatever they want to do, and that’s it,” she said, laughing.

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About the herd

The Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd is the culmination of a partnership between CSU, USDA, Fort Collins and Larimer County to reintroduce genetically pure bison to Northern Colorado. Many bison have been interbred with cattle, so genetically pure bison are rare.

The largest genetically pure herd is in Yellowstone National Park, but those bison carry the contagious disease brucellosis. CSU researchers teamed up with USDA use genes from quarantined Yellowstone bison to create disease-free, genetically pure bison.

The team employed tactics such as embryo transfer and artificial insemination to create the herd, which will serve as a seed herd for future species conservation efforts.

How to see the bison

Where: Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, 25 miles north of Fort Collins

How to get there: From Fort Collins, take U.S. Highway 1 (Terry Lake Road) to County Road 15 North. Then turn north on Rawhide Flats Road and continue on that road until you reach the entrance station. You can view the bison from Rawhide Flats Road.

From Interstate 25, take Exit 288 to Buckeye Road and head west to County Road 15 North. Then follow the directions above.

When: Dawn to dusk, March 1 through Nov. 30.