More than 900 bison owned by American Prairie are at the center of a national debate. The Bureau of Land Management wants them off of federal grazing allotments in northeast Montana. A judge says they can stay temporarily. MTPR's Caroline Weiss sat down with Montana PBS reporter Matt Standal to learn more.
Caroline Weiss So Matt, can you walk me through what's been happening with the bison?
Matt Standal Yeah, Caroline, the latest in the story of American Prairie is a complicated fight. We have ranchers, conservationists and the federal government all coming together to really try to regulate where bison can and cannot graze on federal grasslands – so, leased lands that have been traditionally used for cattle. The whole issue turns on this relatively obscure piece of legislation passed in 1934 called the Taylor Grazing Act. Back in those days, bison really weren't considered a stock animal. You fast-forward the clock and many people do run bison. There's hundreds of private bison ranching operations. However, almost no one grazes bison on public grasslands and that's exactly what American Prairie is trying to do.
Caroline Weiss And tell me about your reporting. Where will you take us in this story?
Matt Standal So, I spent about three months this summer, conducting interviews, research, and I traveled to Phillips County, Montana, which is one of the bases or centers of education for American Prairie. It's also where their biggest bison herd is running. And I saw so many incredible animals, not just bison, just the full suite of prairie animals from ospreys and prairie chickens to elk and deer. But the bison are really the big draw here and that's essentially what American Prairie wants to promote, is a future where many of these grasslands are home to free-roaming bison herds. And their neighbors, they don't exactly agree with that.
Caroline Weiss Could you tell me a little bit more about what those neighbors think?
Matt Standal Yeah, well most of the ranchers I've spoken with in Phillips County say they don't really have a problem with the day-to-day activities of American Prairie employees, but what ranchers like Perry Jacobs say they do have a problems with is the leadership of American Prairie, who they suspect are trying to squeeze ranchers out by buying these huge tracts of land and transforming cattle leases into bison leases.
"I look at it as trying to steal something from us. So yeah, I'm a bit contentious when it comes to American Prairie," Jacobs says.
Matt Standal That's the heart of the issue here.
Caroline Weiss Any surprises or challenges that you came across?
Matt Standal One of the biggest challenges that I had was actually getting critics of American Prairie, some of the local ranchers who don't support their mission, to talk with me publicly. But I was able to talk with a lot of folks on the phone and off the record. And there really is just a huge undercurrent of opposition to American Prairie's mission, at least in these rural parts of Montana. Now you contrast that with what American Prairie says, and they'll tell you that they've received thousands or tens of thousands of positive comments on their mission statement and grazing these bison. Those comments are typically from people who may not reside in these counties that American Prairie is running the bison on.
Caroline Weiss Why has this herd become so controversial? What other dynamics are at play here?
Matt Standal I think you just really have this very diverse amount of viewpoints and they're from a lot of different places. And you've got folks who reside in the county who maybe aren't exactly on board with what American Prairie is doing. And then you have folks who are across, you know, the United States and they are looking at this from their living room or a different angle and they say, well, we think this is pretty interesting, we'd like to see these bison roam free.
Caroline Weiss While all of that is going on, what does it look like on the ground?
Matt Standal American Prairie was given essentially an eviction notice for their bison back in January. They submitted a number of appeals. So when I went up to check on these bison, they were roaming free on the plains with their little calves, nursing, it was really an inspiring sight for me. But the folks at American Prairie were nervous. They're thinking, 'okay, how are we going to move 900 bison and really do we have to move them?' That question was answered on September 4th when the federal judge ruled the bison can stay put for now. He suspects that American Prairie has a very strong case. And if I was going to make a prediction about where this goes in the future, I'd say it's headed back to federal court and this whole issue will continue to be litigated into the future. And for now, it looks like those bison still have a pretty nice home out there in Phillips County.
Caroline Weiss Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
Matt Standal Okay, thank you.
Watch Matt's full episode of Montana PBS Reports: Impact.
MTPR receives financial support from American Prairie, but our newsroom is editorially independent.
