The National Park Service, in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, seeks skilled volunteers to assist with bison removal on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.

The removal will happen in the fall of 2021, but applications open Monday.

The two agencies are looking for 12 skilled adult volunteers to help remove bison from the North Rim as its population continues to grow.

Kait Thomas with NPS says the Kaibab Plateau bison, which used to move back and forth between the Kaibab National Forest and the Grand Canyon National Park, now almost exclusively range within park boundaries. Thomas says these bison are consequently kept safe from population pressures, such as hunting. 

In the fall of 2020, the two agencies entered into an agreement to reduce the number of bison out of concern for increased impacts on park resources such as water and vegetation. 

Applications opened 12 a.m. MST May 3, 2021, and they close Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. MST May 4, 2021. More information on volunteer applications can be found at www.azbisonstewards.com