In late June, a Montana district court judge granted American Prairie a preliminary injunction against a Montana Land Board directive to halt approval of new or pending bison grazing requests.
The case is separate from the organization’s ongoing battle with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding federal grazing permits. This latest development focuses on whether the Montana Land Board followed proper procedures before pausing bison grazing requests on state trust lands.
Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Christopher Abbott on June 26 granted the environmental group’s preliminary injunction. The move will temporarily pause a February directive from the Montana Land Board to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to halt the review of bison leases until a rulemaking is completed.
At the Montana Land Board’s April 20 monthly meeting, the DNRC requested approval to initiate a rulemaking regarding grazing lease stocking rates and the absence of bison from existing provisions.
American Prairie filed a motion for preliminary injunction against the action after already having filed suit against the agency earlier in March.
“The Court should set these agency actions aside because they were made in violation of rulemaking procedures, are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action, and in violation of Land Board’s Constitutional duties,” the group wrote in its lawsuit.
Judge ruling
Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown told the Daily Montanan that he disagreed with the judge’s decision to grant an injunction. Brown is the commissioner who made the unanimously approved motion to develop a rulemaking on the bison grazing issue.
“It’s curious to me how a judge can determine that a directive to the DNRC to do rulemaking is in itself rulemaking,” Brown told the news outlet. “Either as a matter of common sense or as a legal matter.”
In his ruling, Abbott said the motion did not pertain strictly to the American Prairie’s proposal and instead created a broad standard, equivalent to a new rule, according to the Daily Montanan.
“By any measure, the Land Board’s February 17, 2026, action will likely be found to be a rule,” Abbott wrote. “The notice of its action, which consisted solely of an agenda item labeled ‘Bison Grazing Proposals,’ does not appear to comply with the notice and public comment requirements” found in state law.
Separately, on the same day the injunction was granted, the DNRC released a proposal to process American Prairie’s September 2019 request to modify state grazing leases across approximately 5,000 acres of state lease land in Phillips County. The proposal would allow the group to construct, reconstruct, modify and remove fencing and change the class of livestock for five allotments near Malta, MT. The request also includes seasonal and year-long continuous bison grazing.
A public scoping period was open for 14 days through July 10.
BLM case continues
In May, the BLM rescinded American Prairie’s bison grazing permits on seven Phillips County allotments, giving the group until September to remove nearly 1,000 head of bison. The agency ruled that the group’s conservation bison herd does not meet the definition of “production-oriented livestock” as required under the Taylor Grazing Act.
American Prairie appealed the decision in early June. Western Watersheds Project and Defenders of Wildlife also independently appealed the ruling.
In late June, the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) filed a motion to intervene in the groups’ appeals.
“The decision being appealed reinforced the importance of lawful public lands management and ensured federal grazing policies remain aligned with the original intent of supporting working ranchers, rural communities, and agricultural production,” said MSGA Executive Vice President Raylee Honeycutt in a statement.
MSGA is inviting ranchers interested in supporting the group’s efforts to intervene in the American Prairie case to visit tinyurl.com/32m5sa7e and select “BLM Appeal” on the donation form.
“MSGA remains committed to defending ranching families, protecting multiple-use public lands, and ensuring federal agencies follow established law in land management decisions,” the group said. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
