In The NoCo

How an unusual CSU program helps restore bison herds across the American West

By In The NoCo,

Ariel Lavery, Erin O'Toole, Brad Turner

Published June 4, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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1 of 3 — Colorado State University bison1

The Colorado State University bison herd at Soapstone Prairie, photographed on July 20, 2022

John Eisele / Colorado State University

A brown bison with a yellow ear tag looks up from grazing on the Soapstone Prairie

2 of 3 — Colorado State University

A bison with a yellow ear tag looks up from grazing on the Soapstone Prairie north of Fort Collins

John Eisele / Colorado State University

3 of 3 — Colorado State University bison2

The Colorado State University bison herd grazes at Soapstone Prairie, photographed on July 20, 2022

John Eisele / Colorado State University

A small herd of bison roams the Soapstone Prairie north of Fort Collins. The herd offers a glimpse of what Colorado’s high plains looked like 200 years ago.

These bison are unique for a few reasons. First, they’re descendants of the herd at Yellowstone National Park. Second, while most bison today carry some cattle DNA, this herd has nearly pure bison genes. That has spiritual significance for many Indigenous tribes.

The breeding project is based at Colorado State University. It's raised hundreds of bison over the last decade and transferred them to tribes and wildlife organizations.

Host Erin O’Toole spoke with Jennifer Barfield, a professor and reproductive physiologist at CSU who has been leading the project for the past 10 years.

Jennifer Barfield, a woman wearing blue jeans and a green buttoned shirt looks at a bison through wire fencing on CSU's Foothills Campus — Colorado State University Bison Reproduction program director Jennifer Barfield looks through a fence at a bison on CSU's Foothills Campus, June 6, 2019.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

See stories by Brad Turner