AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department plans to give the state's bison herd all of Caprock Canyons State Park to enjoy.

The herd, currently at 78 head, will go from a 320-acre pen to almost 15,300 acres of range to roam.

It will be the answer to many visitor requests to be able to better see the big brown symbols of the West.

"When I first took this job, that's what the higher ups in Austin were talking about," said Donald Beard, Caprock Canyons superintendent. "I'm just lucky enough to be here."

Work has already started on fence improvements for phase one of the plan, which will see the herd's pasture double to include the area making up the entrance to the park so that when guests enter, they will be in the bison enclosure.

"We've got a lot of the fence already up. We'll strengthen the boundary fence a little, add electric fence. Then there's probably a mile of new to put up," Beard said.

"We're in the process of doing all that now."

The park puts the bison through chutes in December for health care and other annual chores.

"At that point, we take the bulls out, so only the cows and calves will be in the new pen," Beard said. "It will be midwinter, a good time to let them get used to it without a lot of people around."

The second step will involve making the whole park, except for historical sites and day-use areas, ready for the bison. That work is not yet funded, but grants may be one way to provide the capital. The park must also get clearance from the Texas Historical Commission.

Genetic research has shown members of the herd are the last of the southern Plains sub-species. They were saved by pioneering cattle rancher Charles Goodnight after hunting decimated their numbers in the late 1800s.

JA Ranch owners Monte Ritchie and Nina Bivins donated the herd that had remained on the ranch Goodnight helped found in the Palo Duro Canyon south of Claude and Clarendon.

The bison arrived at Caprock Canyons in 1998.