With free roaming of Plains Bison occurring shortly in Banff National Park, exactly what their status will be in Alberta has yet to be determined by the Alberta Government.

Currently, the Plains Bison have no wildlife status in the province and are considered no more than domestic livestock

No specific time line has been set to determine exactly what their status will be should they wander on to provincial land, says Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead.

Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead was one of the speakers at a presentation on the reintroduction of the plains bison in Banff National Park at the McDougall Church Mission site, July 21."Minister Phillips and I have already met and have been in close conversation about this and they're looking at various solutions," says Westhead, who head's the province's endangered species conservation committee. "There's a lot of different options available and we're working closely with Parks Canada, Indigenous communities and conservationists to make sure that we make the right decision."

The national park borders on many Alberta public lands and some private land where hunting is permissible but regulated. Still, without wildlife status they are no more than vermin for the taking. While the bison are being released in a remote area of the park, the bison do produce a healthy supply of offspring and in time are likely to wander outside of the park borders.

Westhead recently travelled by helicopter to the site of the reintroduction zone in Banff's Panther Valley with Karsten Heuer, bison reintroduction project manager, and Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager, Banff Field Unit, to examine the bison habitat.

"I wanted to understand the geography of the landscape because I know it's important where the release is happening. The habitat has to be right for the bison to thrive, but we're also conscientious about how far the bison might go once the pens are open, so it was important to tour that area and see it for myself. I was fortunate to have two of the lead specialists as my tour guides."

In February 2017, Parks Canada made history by reintroducing a small herd of plains bison from Elk Island National Park to Banff National Park’s eastern slopes, a remote wilderness area that provides the wide, grassy valleys that bison need to thrive.

Recently the first three "Banff-made" calves were born and another five or six calves are expected in the coming months.

The herd started with 16 members in an enclosed pasture in the Panther Valley and by June 2017 had grown to 26. They are being released within the week to explore the full 1,200 km2 reintroduction zone and will be closely monitored by Parks Canada.

Only free-roaming wood buffalo in large pockets of northern Alberta receive protection through the Wildlife Act. The wood buffalo is considered an At-Risk species by the Alberta Wild Species list and endangered under the Wildlife Act in designated areas in northwestern Alberta.

Westhead shied away from commenting on whether the province will be introducing free-roaming plains bison in Alberta, saying the government is taking it one step at a time. The plains bison had an extensive natural habitat of grassland, shrubland and some wooded areas that includes this area. The size of the herd here was one of the reasons Methodist missionary George McDougall built his mission and Morleyville just 28 km west of what is now Cochrane.

First Nations have been pushing to change the status of plains bison to wildlife for nearly two years and reports indicated Alberta Environment and Parks would be taking action last spring.

Plains bison are classified as wildlife in both British Columbia and Saskatchewan, while Manitoba and Alberta still consider them domestic animals.