[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2032 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2032

    To adopt the bison as the national mammal of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 15, 2015

  Mr. Hoeven (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To adopt the bison as the national mammal of the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Bison Legacy Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) bison are considered a historical symbol of the United 
        States;
            (2) bison were integrally linked with the economic and 
        spiritual lives of many Indian tribes through trade and sacred 
        ceremonies;
            (3) there are more than 60 Indian tribes participating in 
        the Intertribal Buffalo Council;
            (4) numerous members of Indian tribes are involved in bison 
        restoration on tribal land;
            (5) members of Indian tribes have a combined herd on more 
        than 1,000,000 acres of tribal land;
            (6) the Intertribal Buffalo Council is a tribal 
        organization incorporated pursuant to section 17 of the Act of 
        June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the ``Indian Reorganization 
        Act'') (25 U.S.C. 477);
            (7) bison can play an important role in improving the types 
        of grasses found in landscapes to the benefit of grasslands;
            (8) a small group of ranchers helped save bison from 
        extinction in the late 1800s by gathering the remnants of the 
        decimated herds;
            (9) bison hold significant economic value for private 
        producers and rural communities;
            (10) according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture of the 
        Department of Agriculture, as of 2012, 162,110 head of bison 
        were under the stewardship of private producers, creating jobs 
        and providing a sustainable and healthy meat source 
        contributing to the food security of the United States;
            (11) on December 8, 1905, William Hornaday, Theodore 
        Roosevelt, and others formed the American Bison Society in 
        response to the near extinction of bison in the United States;
            (12) on October 11, 1907, the American Bison Society sent 
        15 captive-bred bison from the New York Zoological Park, now 
        known as the ``Bronx Zoo'', to the first wildlife refuge in the 
        United States, which was known as the ``Wichita Mountains 
        Wildlife Refuge'', resulting in the first successful 
        reintroduction of a mammal species on the brink of extinction 
        back into the natural habitat of the species;
            (13) in 2005, the American Bison Society was reestablished, 
        bringing together bison ranchers, managers from Indian tribes, 
        Federal and State agencies, conservation organizations, and 
        natural and social scientists from the United States, Canada, 
        and Mexico to create a vision for the North American bison in 
        the 21st century;
            (14) there are bison herds in National Wildlife Refuges and 
        National Parks;
            (15) there are bison in State-managed herds across 11 
        States;
            (16) there is a growing effort to celebrate and officially 
        recognize the historical, cultural, and economic significance 
        of the North American bison to the heritage of the United 
        States;
            (17) a bison is portrayed on 2 State flags;
            (18) the bison has been adopted by 3 States as the official 
        mammal or animal of those States;
            (19) a bison has been depicted on the official seal of the 
        Department of the Interior since 1912;
            (20) the buffalo nickel played an important role in 
        modernizing the currency of the United States;
            (21) several sports teams have the bison as a mascot, which 
        highlights the iconic significance of bison in the United 
        States;
            (22) in the 2nd session of the 113th Congress, 22 Senators 
        led a successful effort to enact a resolution to designate 
        November 1, 2014, as the second annual National Bison Day; and
            (23) members of Indian tribes, bison producers, 
        conservationists, sportsmen, educators, and other public and 
        private partners have participated in the annual National Bison 
        Day celebration at several events across the United States and 
        are committed to continuing this tradition annually on the 
        first Saturday of November.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADOPTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN BISON AS THE 
              NATIONAL MAMMAL.

    The mammal commonly known as the ``North American bison'' is 
adopted as the national mammal of the United States.
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