Mackenzie Bison Working Group

The Mackenzie Bison Working Group is comprised of members from communities that harvest Mackenzie Ejıe (Wood Bison), agencies that have management authority for the population, and those whose land-use areas include part of its range. The working group began meeting in 2011 and drafted the Mackenzie Bison Management Plan. This Plan’s goal is to manage the Mackenzie Ejıe population to sustain its long-term viability while providing for social, economic, and cultural connections to people. The Working Group typically meets twice a year: once in Yellowknife and once in Fort Providence.

In 2022, the Mackenzie Bison Working Group recommended opening of harvest year-round for bulls, and if harvest would ever become open to cows in the future, their harvest would be open only from September 1 – March 31. The WRRB approved regulation changes for the all-year harvest of male bison in June 2023, with these changes taking effect on July 12, 2024.