What is it about our national mammal, the bison, and why is it considered such a dire threat to the so called, “cowboy way of life?” I asked a friend of mine from Lewistown, home to American Prairie’s Discovery Center, this simple question; his succinct one-word answer spoke volumes, “Change.”
Never mind that change was already happening on the Northern Great Plains, it seems to me folks avoided talking about it until 2001 when they found a convenient scapegoat, the newly established American Prairie conservation project. Yet, during my 25 years of involvement with American Prairie, or as my friend Dorothy Bradley calls their efforts, “the implementation of the Impossible dream,” I witnessed the proving up of that dream, as big as it was outlandish. In addition to raising funds, and buying land, it involved the engaging of far-flung communities and tribal entities and the removing of barriers to all kinds of experiences, on and adjacent to, our greatest natural resource; the public lands.
In my 35 years of experience as a guide in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, I tell visitors that this landscape is their birthright, and I can testify to the power of this landscape and its history to enthrall and entertain people of all ages. Seeing the Milky Way for the first time, hearing an elk bugling, a prairie dog barking or watching a bison herd move across the prairie, you could be a time traveler or an explorer on a safari. It is the kind of experience that is not only memorable but truly priceless.
The basic facts about America Prairie are indisputable. A 167,000-acre landscape and world class wildlife conservation project which aims to link together, for the benefit of the entire ecosystem, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. To be clear, American Prairie broke no laws in obtaining the grazing rights on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and they pay property taxes on the land they own, which was purchased legally and without intimidation or unwelcome pressure. Not only do they allow hunting, but they also offer many other options for visitors to hike, bike, camp, bird watch, observe large ungulates, star gaze and sleep in yurts or cabins on the northern great plains. The state of Montana now has a new 109-acre park in the Judith Landing Historic District, thanks to American Prairie, located on one of the most significant sites on the National Lewis and Clark Historic Trail.
It is puzzling to me that our Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergum and our Governor Greg Gianforte seek to revoke the legally permitted grazing rights of American Prairie’s bison herd, after all the BLM itself touts a total of 41 bison permits already under its purview. It seems mercurial, fickle, mean spirited, and above all, unnecessary. Why are they caving to a loud but decidedly small opposition? One look at the latest report from Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics shows that the organization is part of the success in increasing numbers of visitors to the Breaks Monument. Continuing their annual growing numbers of visitors, American Prairie boasts an 8% increase in reservations from 2024, not only from Montana, but 43 other states and several from across the pond as well. People are hungering for a chance to see wildlife in their habitat and to visit the “middle of nowhere.” Check out American Prairie’s website and reserve your dates for this summer as they fill up quickly.
American Prairie has a stellar record of managing and testing their bison, of being good neighbors, of employing people who want to live in the area and of adding public access opportunities. At least 25 ranching families lease land from American Prairie raising over 8,000 head of cattle on that land. With the purchase of the Anchor ranch, they have unlocked 40,000 acres of the most sought-after hunting areas in the territory. Their Discovery Center in Lewistown is a prime example of the sort of natural and cultural history enterprise any state would be proud to welcome. The kind of attention American Prairie’s world class scientists, partnerships and species recovery programs are garnering seems obviously and precisely the sort of opportunity any governor would celebrate.
Recently four descendants of our most conservation minded president, Theodore Roosevelt, called on the current administration to do more than pay lip service to the legacy of TR. Instead of pretending to care about public lands the secretary and our governor need to cease their opposition to the accepted management practices of large landscape conservation and ask themselves what would Theodore Roosevelt do?
There is nothing scary or culturally threatening about bison. The scary part is when our state and federal leaders act irrationally based on outdated mythological mind sets. If the governor and secretary are as concerned about cattle ranchers as they imply, why aren’t they speaking out against Argentinian beef imports or tariffs which would seem much more threatening than a herd of peacefully grazing bison. Thanks to hard won local support, increasingly there is a wind of cooperation blowing in the Treasure State. The case of the revocation of grazing rights will be settled in court; my money is on Prairie for the win.
Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs is an author, historian and founding board member of American Prairie. She lives in Helena.