“We are very excited to be working with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes looking to bring buffalo back to Boulder County as a lease on one of our open spaces,” Glowacki said at a Boulder County commissioner meeting in September.“Buffalo need a little bit bigger fences than what we use, and they need handling facilities,” […]
“We are very excited to be working with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes looking to bring buffalo back to Boulder County as a lease on one of our open spaces,” Glowacki said at a Boulder County commissioner meeting in September.“Buffalo need a little bit bigger fences than what we use, and they need handling facilities,” Glowacki said.At a Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee meeting in November, Glowacki said that the million would be put toward fencing specific to buffalo needs.In 2012, Ted Turner, founder of CNN, said he wanted to donate a buffalo herd to the city of Boulder to live along U.S. 36 between Davidson Mesa and Boulder. Some people said at the time that they thought the animals would fit in well on the plains along U.S. 36, while others felt the move would turn the city’s open space into a “zoo.”During the meeting, the Parks and Open Space Department presented three final possible locations being considered for the buffalo. The properties appear to total about 5,000 acres generally west of Longmont, based on county planning documents: Imel/Lagerman Reservoir; South Down Indian Mountain/Cemex; and East Rabbit Mountain.It’s not the first time that buffalo herds have been suggested for open space in the region.Boulder County commissioners are exploring the possibility of returning buffalo to open space land and working with members of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes on the reintroduction.Originally Published: The commissioners allocated million for fencing to be used for the potential reintroduction of buffalo on county open space in the county’s 2025 budget. Commissioners adopted the 2025 budget on Dec. 11. The one-time expenditure of million came from the county Open Space Fund. The buffalo would be used for grassland management and would be good for carbon sequestration, according to documents from the county commissioner’s office.“I’m very excited for the buffalo,” Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said at the September meeting.The county hopes to return buffalo to the land by collaborating with members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. The Boulder County Parks and Open Space department would lease county land to Cheyenne and Arapaho individuals to care for the buffalo, according to documents.Members of the tribes expressed an interest in having a renewed presence in Boulder County through the reintroduction of buffalo, according to Therese Glowacki, director of Parks and Open Space. The Boulder City Council ultimately struck down the idea, largely based on concerns about the cost of maintaining fences and the potential impacts of overgrazing.
