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Hundreds of bison could be evicted from federal grasslands in Montana
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is working to move herds of bison from Montana public lands. It’s a plan the nonprofit American Prairie says would disrupt the animals’ habitat. American Prairie, according to its website, has been buying roughly 700,000 acres of private land that would connect with existing public lands. In an effort to increase the bison population, the organization is aiming to have a 3.2 million-acre ecosystem for the animals. However, a Bureau of Land Management proposal released earlier this year would end grazing authorizations and American Prairie’s permits for its herd in north-central Montana. If the federal proposal gets the green light, American Prairie says it would be forced to relocate 900 bison.The nonprofit group calls the proposal “unlawful, factually incorrect, and procedurally deficient,” and in February challenged the BLM proposal. In a February news release, American Prairie said Earthjustice and Helena-based Cochenour Law submitted the protest on its behalf, “arguing that the agency’s decision reverses decades of longstanding practice from BLM on grazing and conflicts with Montana state law.”The nonprofit said protests were also filed by the Coalition of Large Tribes, which “represents more than 50 tribes with the largest land bases and more than half the Native American population, as well as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes, the Tanka Fund, Wild Idea Buffalo Company, Defenders of Wildlife, and Western Watersheds Project.”American Prairie said that those tribes warn this “would effectively bar Tribal bison herds nationwide, undermining treaty rights, food sovereignty, and cultural survival.”“This proposal is an unprecedented reversal of BLM’s own decision-making after more than 40 years of treating bison as eligible livestock under federal grazing law,” Alison Fox, CEO of American Prairie, said in the February release. “BLM lawfully approved these permits after a thorough environmental review and defended them for years. Abruptly rescinding them now—under political pressure—creates immense uncertainty and sends a chilling signal to Tribes, ranchers, and conservation partners who depend on fair and predictable public land management.”
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is working to move herds of bison from Montana public lands. It’s a plan the nonprofit American Prairie says would disrupt the animals’ habitat.
American Prairie, according to its website, has been buying roughly 700,000 acres of private land that would connect with existing public lands. In an effort to increase the bison population, the organization is aiming to have a 3.2 million-acre ecosystem for the animals. However, a Bureau of Land Management proposal released earlier this year would end grazing authorizations and American Prairie’s permits for its herd in north-central Montana.
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If the federal proposal gets the green light, American Prairie says it would be forced to relocate 900 bison.
The nonprofit group calls the proposal “unlawful, factually incorrect, and procedurally deficient,” and in February challenged the BLM proposal. In a February news release, American Prairie said Earthjustice and Helena-based Cochenour Law submitted the protest on its behalf, “arguing that the agency’s decision reverses decades of longstanding practice from BLM on grazing and conflicts with Montana state law.”
The nonprofit said protests were also filed by the Coalition of Large Tribes, which “represents more than 50 tribes with the largest land bases and more than half the Native American population, as well as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes, the Tanka Fund, Wild Idea Buffalo Company, Defenders of Wildlife, and Western Watersheds Project.”
American Prairie said that those tribes warn this “would effectively bar Tribal bison herds nationwide, undermining treaty rights, food sovereignty, and cultural survival.”
“This proposal is an unprecedented reversal of BLM’s own decision-making after more than 40 years of treating bison as eligible livestock under federal grazing law,” Alison Fox, CEO of American Prairie, said in the February release. “BLM lawfully approved these permits after a thorough environmental review and defended them for years. Abruptly rescinding them now—under political pressure—creates immense uncertainty and sends a chilling signal to Tribes, ranchers, and conservation partners who depend on fair and predictable public land management.”
