In a move widely seen as a loss for ranching, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will allow American Prairie to graze bison across roughly 63,000 acres of BLM-administered lands in Phillips County, MT.
American Prairie, formerly known as American Prairie Reserve (APR), was granted the use of six out of seven requested allotments for bison. One common allotment grazed with another livestock operator will remain in use for cattle-only grazing. The allotments currently provide about 8,000 animal unit months of permitted use.
Four of the allotments are approved for seasonal grazing with pasture rotation, and three allotments are approved for year-round grazing—two of which had been previously authorized for bison grazing.
The final grazing decision is supported by the environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact BLM released in late March.
“The BLM concluded that our grazing proposal will benefit the local wildlife, improve land and water quality, and create a few new local jobs, all without impacting the regional ranching economy,” Alison Fox, APR CEO, said in a statement.
Fox said the decision will allow APR to grow its private conservation herd of bison to 1,000 animals over the next few years. “As we work to restore the rapidly disappearing shortgrass prairie ecosystem, the return of a large population of plains bison is essential to the health of these lands,” she said.
Following the final decision, a 30-day appeal period will take place.
Final decision
In addition to the 63,065 acres of BLM-administered land, the bison project area includes 32,710 acres of private land deeded to APR and 5,830 acres of state land administered by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. The decision only applies to the BLM land.
The final decision authorizes the removal of fencing within certain allotments to create larger pastures, as well as the addition of fencing to separate BLM lands from wildlife refuge lands and deeded lands. The decision also changes the kind of livestock use from just cattle to cattle and/or bison, along with changing the seasons of use.
APR will be given 10-year leases, pursuant to their following of the lease terms and conditions.
In the public commenting period prior to the release of the final decision, industry and livestock groups submitted comments detailing concerns with the eligibility of issuing permits for bison under the Taylor Grazing Act. In response, BLM said permits for privately owned or controlled indigenous animals may be issued at the discretion of the authorized officer and, “The productivity, or non-productivity, of livestock or privately owned or controlled animals is not a factor for issuing grazing permits.”
Reactions
Raylee Honeycutt, Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) director of natural resources, told WLJ the group is disappointed with the decision. MSGA has worked on the APR issue for over a decade, she said, and plans to appeal the decision with the Phillips County Livestock Association.
“We know that bison graze different than cattle, and (we) feel like there wasn’t a full analysis on how those impacts on those allotments will occur,” Honeycutt said. “In addition to that, I would say there’s a socioeconomic impact that we felt was inadequate in the analysis from a larger perspective.”
Honeycutt said APR originally requested 18 grazing allotments but scaled down to seven allotments after facing pushback. “But there is a larger plan for what they like to do on public lands, and we feel like that wasn’t taken into consideration when making the decision on those seven allotments,” she said.
Compared to cattle grazing, bison grazing does not have the same positive effect on the community, Honeycutt added. Ranchers are infusing money into the local economy, putting their kids in small, local schools and supporting local businesses.
“The ripple effect of what a production cattle ranch infuses into a local community versus what a conservation group like APR does is not comparable, and we don’t feel like that was really looked at from an EA standpoint as well,” she said.
Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) raised concerns with the decision. “As we review this decision, we share Montanans’ frustration with the BLM’s woeful and repeated failures to properly engage Montanans and act within the bounds of its authority on this issue,” he wrote in a statement.
“The agency limited public comment to a single, virtual event in the middle of haying season, ignored repeated requests from state officials for full public engagement, and failed to analyze the full range of impacts of its proposal, which it lacks the statutory authority to enact. The state will consider next steps after a thorough review of BLM’s decision.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
