The Lamar Buffalo Ranch is a historic livestock ranch created to preserve the last free-roaming American bison herds in the United States. In 1901, following the mass extermination of bison throughout the west during the 1800s, there were only 25 bison numbered in Yellowstone National Park. Congress appropriated $15,000 to purchase bison from local private owners and these bison were fed and bred in Lamar Valley at what became known as the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. Through this and other management efforts, the herd size grew and today numbers in the thousands – a genetic pure breed of bison.

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Today the Lamar Buffalo Ranch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the Yellowstone Forever Institute’s field campus locations. The Yellowstone Forever Institute is the official nonprofit educational and fundraising partner of Yellowstone National Park dedicated to creating opportunities for all people to experience, enhance, and preserve Yellowstone forever.

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To learn more about the Yellowstone Forever Institute and what they do and what they have to offer: https://www.yellowstone.org/experience/yellowstone-forever-institute/