ObservanceSunday, November 7, 2027
National Bison Day
- Date
- Recurs
- Every year on November 7
- Category
- Nature
National Bison Day falls on the first Saturday of November — November 7 in 2026, the fifteenth annual observance. It marks the animal Congress adopted as the national mammal of the United States in 2016, and it exists because of a durable alliance between a tribal organization, a conservation society and a trade group for bison ranchers. It reads less as a celebration than as a conservation anniversary: by the late 1800s only a few hundred bison were left in the country.
History
"Since 2012, the United States Senate has annually designated the first Saturday in November as National Bison Day," according to the National Bison Association, one of three organizations behind the original resolution alongside the InterTribal Buffalo Council and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The designation is not standing law. Each year's observance is a separate Senate resolution naming one specific date: the 113th Congress designated November 1, 2014 as the third annual National Bison Day, and the resolution texts submitted in 2017 and 2023 each designated November 4, describing it in the operative clause as "the first Saturday of November." The 2026 resolution passed the Senate on September 30, sponsored by Senators John Hoeven and Martin Heinrich.
The same three organizations campaigned for the National Bison Legacy Act, approved May 9, 2016 as Public Law 114-152. Its operative sentence is a single line: "The mammal commonly known as the ``North American bison'' is adopted as the national mammal of the United States." The Act names no date, and it carries a rule of construction stating that nothing in it may be used as a reason to alter any federal plan, policy, management decision or regulation. It is a designation, not a management change.
What the day commemorates is a near-miss. The Department of the Interior puts it plainly: millions of bison once roamed North America, and "by the late 1800s, there were only a few hundred bison left in the United States." Congress's own findings credit "a small group of ranchers" with saving the species. The organized recovery began on December 8, 1905, when William Hornaday, Theodore Roosevelt and others formed the American Bison Society; on October 11, 1907 the Society shipped 15 captive-bred bison from the New York Zoological Park to the first big game refuge in the United States, now the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
Timeline
- December 8, 1905 — William Hornaday, Theodore Roosevelt and others form the American Bison Society.
- October 11, 1907 — The Society sends 15 captive-bred bison from the New York Zoological Park to the first big game refuge in the United States, now the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
- 1912 — A bison appears on the official seal of the Department of the Interior, where it has remained ever since.
- 2005 — The American Bison Society is reestablished.
- 2012 — The Senate designates the first National Bison Day.
- May 9, 2016 — The National Bison Legacy Act is approved, adopting the North American bison as the national mammal of the United States.
How to observe
Go and look at one. Interior reports that the public lands it manages support 17 bison herds — roughly 10,000 animals — across 12 states including Alaska, about a third of all wild bison in North America. Yellowstone's herd, estimated at 5,450 in 2021, is the largest on public lands, which makes it both the obvious destination and the most crowded one.
Read the findings section of Public Law 114-152. It runs about a page and is the clearest short account of the bison's collapse and recovery available anywhere, carrying the dates and figures Congress chose to put on the record.
Learn who actually holds the herds. The InterTribal Buffalo Council had approximately 82 member tribes as of the 2023 resolution text, with a combined herd of almost 25,000 bison on more than a million acres of tribal land across 22 states. And if you eat meat, buy bison: the Department of Agriculture estimated 182,780 head under the stewardship of private producers as of 2017, which makes commercial ranching part of this conservation story rather than a counterweight to it.
Frequently asked questions
When is National Bison Day?
The first Saturday of November. That is November 7 in 2026, November 6 in 2027 and November 4 in 2028 — the date moves with the calendar, so a fixed November date is wrong in most years.
Is the bison really the national mammal of the United States?
Yes. The National Bison Legacy Act, Public Law 114-152, approved May 9, 2016, adopts the North American bison as the national mammal. The same Act states that it changes no federal plan, policy, management decision or regulation.
Is National Bison Day a federal holiday?
No. Each year's observance comes from a Senate resolution that encourages the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. Nothing closes and no one gets the day off.
How close did bison come to extinction?
The Department of the Interior reports that millions once roamed North America and that only a few hundred were left in the United States by the late 1800s.
Where can I see wild bison?
Interior-managed public lands support 17 herds and approximately 10,000 bison across 12 states, including Alaska — about one-third of North America's wild bison. Yellowstone's population, estimated at 5,450 in 2021, is the largest on public lands.
When is National Bison Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | November 7 | Sunday |
| 2028 | November 7 | Tuesday |
| 2029 | November 7 | Wednesday |
| 2030 | November 7 | Thursday |
| 2031 | November 7 | Friday |
Sources
- National Bison Association, 2026 National Bison Day — Saturday, November 7 — https://nationalbison.org/2026-national-bison-day-saturday-november-7/ → the first-Saturday-of-November rule; annual Senate designation since 2012; 2026 as the fifteenth annual observance; the InterTribal Buffalo Council, Wildlife Conservation Society and National Bison Association collaboration behind the resolution and the 2016 legislation; Senate passage on September 30; Hoeven and Heinrich as sponsors.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, National Bison Legacy Act, Public Law 114-152 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-114publ152/html/PLAW-114publ152.htm → approval on May 9, 2016; the sentence adopting the North American bison as the national mammal; the rule of construction; the American Bison Society formed December 8, 1905; the October 11, 1907 shipment of 15 captive-bred bison from the New York Zoological Park; "a small group of ranchers" credited with saving the species in the late 1800s; the November 1, 2014 third annual designation; the stated commitment to continuing annually on the first Saturday of November; the bison on the Department of the Interior seal since 1912.
- U.S. Senate, resolution text designating November 4, 2017 as National Bison Day (submitted text, Senator Hoeven) — https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/MAZ17147.pdf → the operative clause naming one specific date and describing it as "the first Saturday of November"; the clause encouraging the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities; the 2005 reestablishment of the American Bison Society.
- U.S. Senate, resolution text designating November 4, 2023 as National Bison Day (submitted text, Senator Heinrich) — https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/national_bison_day.pdf → approximately 82 tribes participating in the InterTribal Buffalo Council; a combined herd of almost 25,000 bison on more than 1,000,000 acres of Tribal land in 22 States; the Department of Agriculture estimate of 182,780 head under the stewardship of private producers as of 2017; the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge as the 1907 destination.
- U.S. Department of the Interior, 15 Facts About Our National Mammal: The American Bison — https://www.doi.gov/blog/15-facts-about-our-national-mammal-american-bison → millions of bison in prehistoric North America; only a few hundred left in the United States by the late 1800s; 17 herds and approximately 10,000 bison on Interior-managed public lands across 12 States including Alaska, about one-third of all wild bison in North America; Yellowstone's population estimated at 5,450 in 2021 as the largest on public lands. The page is archived and dated November 3, 2022, so its figures are read as of that date.
- Note on the two Senate PDFs: both are submitted resolution texts carrying a blank resolution number ("S. RES. ll"), so they are cited for the wording Senators submitted, not as proof of the form in which either was adopted. The congress.gov record of the adopted resolutions could not be retrieved while this page was written.
- Rejected as sources: nationaltoday, nationaldaycalendar, checkiday and timeanddate.
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