Things are getting western in north-central Montana. American Prairie is pushing back after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management proposed yanking grazing permits that help sustain its bison herd. The move reverses a 2022 decision that allowed bison to graze on 63,000 acres of public land—and flips more than 40 years of BLM practice treating bison as eligible livestock. With just a 15-day protest window, legal heavyweights Earthjustice and Cochenour Law jumped in, arguing the reversal clashes with longstanding policy and Montana law.
But this isn’t just about one herd. Tribal groups—including the Coalition of Large Tribes—and several conservation organizations say the ripple effects could stretch far beyond Montana, potentially sidelining tribal bison herds nationwide and undermining treaty rights and food sovereignty. For decades, the BLM has issued 10-year grazing permits for bison across multiple western states. Critics say changing course now injects uncertainty into public land management and threatens dozens of existing permits. Supporters of the protest want the agency to hit pause, stick with precedent, and keep bison on the landscape where they’ve legally grazed for generations.
Read the full article by Earth Justice here.
Photo credit: GoodJuJu from pixabay
