Just a few days ago 100 wood bison were flown to the village of Shageluk in western Alaska. In the coming weeks they'll be released from their temporary holding pens and back into the wild, where they've been absent for over 100 years. This summer 30 adult bull wood bison will be barged down the Yukon River to be released with the rest of the herd.
http://www.usnews.com/news/science/n...elease-planned
This has been a huge undertaking that has been more than 20 years in the making. Hopefully it is a success as Alaska has several other areas of prime wood bison habitat that they could also be released. The Yukon Flats, north of Fairbanks, has more suitable habitat than the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary in Canada's NWT, and could easily support a herd of several thousand.
Once they reach sufficient numbers, hunting permits will be allocated. 20% will go to local villages through registration permits, and 80% will be given out via drawing permit, with 90% allocated to Alaska residents.