An ongoing attempt is being made to expand the herd to include areas in the mountains of the Book Cliffs which are farther north.
They were released not into the mountains, but the arid desert of Robbers Roost, approximately 50 miles northeast of their eventual home.
That same year, the herd moved to the comparatively verdant grassland of the Henrys and across the Dirty Devil River to the Burr Desert at the north end of the mountain range.
This has created the potential for conflict between cattle ranchers and sportsmen who consider the Henry Mountains prime bison hunting country.
[4] A population objective of 325 bison by 2012 was set by Utah wildlife biologists for the Henry Mountain herd.
To achieve this objective, and increase overall genetic diversity, breeding animals are being transplanted to other locations from the herd.
[5] The new group joined 14 animals previously released in 2008 from a private herd on the nearby Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation.
[6] The Henry Mountains have some areas of Alpine meadows and grass prairie and this provides a nearly optimum environment for American bison.
American bison can run up to 35 miles per hour and are surprisingly agile, in addition to their notable strength and irritable temperament.
Each year in late autumn, a small number of bison hunting permits are issued by the state of Utah.
The Antelope Island bison herd, also managed by the state of Utah, has some cattle genes present.
[7] This 2015 study also showed that the Henry Mountains bison herd is free of brucellosis, a bacterial disease that was imported with non-native domestic cattle to North America.
With the advent of nuclear microsatellite DNA testing, the number of herds that contained cattle genes has increased.
"DNA from domestic cattle (Bos taurus) has been detected in nearly all bison herds examined to date.
There remain various questions and concerns regarding future management of the Henry Mountain bison herd.
Several private groups, as well as governmental entities in the United States and Canada are making efforts to return bison to much of their previous natural range.