U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced Tuesday he is reintroducing legislation to improve federal support for tribal buffalo herds, an effort he said he hopes will return the buffalo within his lifetime “to the prominent place they once occupied as the keystone species on American shortgrass prairies.”

Co-sponsored with U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.,), the Indian Buffalo Management Act directs the federal Interior Department to work with tribes to develop, protect and grow buffalo herds across the country, authorizing up to $14 million annually. The bill seeks to spur more coordination and consistent investment at the Interior Department, which has provided only “nominal” funds over the last 20 years to tribes that want to start or expand buffalo herds, according to a news release from Heinrich’s office.

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The InterTribal Buffalo Council, which has been pushing to return buffalo to tribal land for more than 30 years, endorsed the legislation. The council has 89 tribal members in 22 states, including at least 10 New Mexico tribes and pueblos, according to a recent membership list. 

“Helping Tribes reestablish herds of buffalo on our reservations is a righteous thing for the Congress to do and will be thoroughly welcomed by Tribes and Indian people across the county,” council leaders, including Delbert Chisholm of Taos Pueblo, said in a statement.

At least 60 million buffalo once roamed throughout much of the United States before European settlers and the United States military destroyed all but a few hundred by the end of the 18th century. Indigenous people relied on the buffalo — “culturally and nutritionally” — for thousands of years, according to the council leaders’ statement.

Versions of the legislation have passed either the House of Representatives or the Senate, but not both, in recent years. Heinrich and Mullin (R-Okla.) also cosponsored the bill last year, and it passed the Senate in December but never received a hearing in the House.

“I’m proud to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation to strengthen federal support for Tribal buffalo programs and continue the growth of Tribal buffalo herds,” Heinrich said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Mullin to strengthen this federal partnership and secure future funding for this initiative.”