bison belong here
rekindling the land. bringing the bison home.
bringing
the bison home
Not long ago, this land in Kentucky was slated for a prison. Rows of cells and walls, a place designed to hold pain. The land had other plans and so did we.
Now we’re building something rooted in care: a pasture where bison can roam. Once native to this region, their presence shaped the land and the lives of the Indigenous peoples who lived here. By restoring bison to these mountains, we are restoring a relationship interrupted by colonization—a living act of rematriation, ecological healing, and cultural memory rekindled.
What was once intended to divide will now be a place of reconnection, restoration, and return. This land holds a future shaped by kinship, not captivity.
help us restore bison to these mountains
we have the opportunity to bring bison to our Kentucky land
but first we must fence their new home.
Bringing the bison back to Kentucky is a way of tending to old relationships, of honoring the memory held in soil, trail, and salt spring. For centuries, buffalo moved through these hills and hollers, shaping the land and sustaining the people who lived in kinship with it. Their return would mark a turning point—where extraction gives way to care and where a place once marked for erasure becomes a sanctuary for renewal.
To see buffalo grazing again in Eastern Kentucky is to witness a story come full circle: the land remembers and so do we.
our project
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
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They are often called buffalo, though they are in fact bison—a distinct species native to North America. The name “buffalo” is technically a misnomer, originally given by early European explorers and colonizers. These travelers had previously encountered African Cape buffalo and Asian water buffalo during expeditions and colonial ventures in Africa, India, and East Asia. When they arrived in the Americas and saw the massive, horned animals, they called them “buffalo” out of resemblance to those familiar species.
Scientifically, true buffalo belong to the genus Syncerus (Cape buffalo) or Bubalus (water buffalo), while American bison are in the genus Bison—they are only distantly related. Still, the word “buffalo” took hold in the English language, deeply rooted in North American history, place names, and cultural memory.
Today, we use “buffalo” and “bison” interchangeably.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.
Be Part of the Rekindling.
Your donations directly fund essential needs including contributing to the building costs, land stewardship expenses, and daily operations
One-time gifts can be made through our land tax portal by selecting the "one-time" option
For those preferring traditional methods, checks can be made payable to our fiscal sponsor, the Appalachian Community Fund, with a clear notation that the donation is intended for The Appalachian Rekindling Project.
