Alaska to reintroduce wood bison to the wild
Mammals have not roamed in the wild in Alaska for 100 years
Alaskan wildlife officials are looking for input into a plan to release wood bison into the lower Yukon River area.
The state has been studying habitat choices for the animal for almost a decade.
In 2008, they imported 50 bison from Canada. Now, there are more than 100 at the Alaska Conservation Center.
Doug Vincent-Lang, the Director of Wildlife Conservation in the state, said that if the animals can be reintroduced into the wild, and if the population thrives, they can be hunted.
"They would provide subsistence resources for federally qualified and state qualified subsistence users as well as Alaska Natives. Once we meet subsistence needs, anything above and beyond that would be available for sport hunting."
People in Alaska have 60 days to comment on the plan.
Wood bison populations in Alaska vanished from the state in the early 1900s.