Bison, an icon of the Great Plains, once dominated the North American landscape, with herds stretching from Canada’s northern territories deep into the Mexican grasslands. However, their population declined steeply in the 1800s due to a variety of factors tied to European settlement. By the end of the 19th century, the species had been brought to the brink of extinction, with only a few hundred bison remaining.

Decades later, the struggling bison population would find an unlikely ally in the prominent businessman and billionaire, Ted Turner. Turner, who began amassing bison in the mid-1970s, has played a vital role over the past 50 years in the revitalization of the bison population in the United States.

This pioneering work accounts for 30% of all agricultural bison in the United States against a backdrop where upfront costs to purchasing bison can be nearly three times higher than that of cattle.

With nearly 50,000 bison across his many properties, one reserve serves as the home to one of the most important bison herds in the world. The Castle Rock herd is a nearly genetically pure group of wild bison that possesses almost no evidence of breeding with cattle. These bison serve as a lifeline for the vast ecosystems that comprise the largest piece of privately owned land in the United States: the Vermejo Reserve.

Learn more by clicking on the video above!

Editor’s Note: This series was made possible with the generous support of Turner Reserves and contributions by the Turner family. All editorial content is published independently. 

Planet Forward’s Environmental Media Lab led this expedition to teach the power of visual storytelling in wild spaces to convey the beauty and bounty of our planet.