Buffalo roundup impacts city of Custer

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Lauren Yehley hasn’t seen a buffalo roundup at Custer State Park but she feels like she has.

“I feel like I’ve been there because I hear all about it,” Yehley said. Yehley works at Baker’s Bakery and Cafe in Custer.

The annual roundup at the state park draws visitors from around the U.S. Several of them stop at bakery and cafe.

“We definitely see the tourists who get to see buffalo the for the first time,” Yehley said. They want to talk about the experience and share photos, which is why Yehley feels like she’s watched the roundup.

This year’s roundup is on Friday. The roundup drew a record number 22,590 visitors last year.

“There’s quite a bit of impact when you have (20,000) people come into an area,” said Dawn Murray, the executive director of the Custer Chamber of Commerce.

“A lot come in on Monday,” Murray said of visitors. “Some are here as early as last Friday.”

Visitors come for the roundup but also for the multiple outdoor and indoor activities in the area.

“There’s a lot to see and do here and the weather has been amazing,” Murray said.

Attendance at the roundup has been growing since then Gov. Dennis Daugaard said in 2014 the event draws about 14,000 visitors a year.

Before the 2023 record attendance, a crowd of 22,023, for the roundup of 2015 set the record for the annual event. The roundup celebrated its 50th year in 2015.

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department said the 2019 attendance was more than 19,000. Gov. Kristi Noem said attendance was about 20,000 in 2020 and 2022.

The roundup draws in-person attendees but it is also broadcast via streaming on South Dakota Public TV. In 2004, the GFP said 100 TV broadcasts of the event from Oct. 4 -7 drew 3.2 million viewers

While visitors are in Custer, Yehley said they will ask about the roundup.

“They ask about what it entails, what time to be there,” Yehley said.

Although Custer does promote the buffalo roundup, Murray said, it’s not a large dollar investment as word has spread over 58 years.

Still, “People have come and didn’t know the roundup was going on,” Murray said. They get excited when they learn they have the chance to watch it, she said.

On the opposite end are visitors who attend yearly or almost every year or make their lodging reservations a year in advance, Murray said.

Murray got her own sneak preview of the roundup during a preview day geared to media and similar. The tour including riding in vehicles in the midst of the herd and information about the purpose of the roundup.

Seeing the buffalo close up and getting a better understand of the size of Custer State Park was fascinating, she said. So was learning why the roundup is done each year, Murray said.

“Even if (20,000) people didn’t come they’d still do it to manage the herd and vaccinate,” Murray said.

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