Montana Farm Bureau urges Secretary of the Interior to take swift action regarding bison allotments
The Montana Farm Bureau contacted Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in support of a letter sent by Governor Gianforte, Senator Daines and Senator Sheehy and members of Congress regarding a Bureau of Land Management decision on the change of use for grazing allotments by a non-agricultural organization. The letter explained that during Biden Administration, BLM issued a decision to grant the requested permits on a number of BLM grazing allotments in eastern Montana.
The State of Montana, grazing districts, and livestock industry groups all appealed BLM’s decision, as it violated federal laws like the Taylor Grazing Act and National Environmental Policy Act. Those appeals have been working through the administrative hearings process at the U.S. Department of the Interior since 2022.
The governor and Montana Congressional Delegation expressed their strong convictions about the heritage of Montana’s farms and ranches, the harm of taking land out of agricultural production and its detrimental effect on rural communities if grazing lands are moved to “rewilding.”
“Our members have long been concerned, and even alarmed by, actions requested and granted by the American Prairie Reserve regarding their Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allotments. This is why MFBF is a party to the lawsuit referred to in the letter. We joined the appeal of BLM’s decision, as it violates federal laws like the Taylor Grazing Act and National Environmental Policy Act,” MFBF President Cyndi Johnson told Secretary Burgum. She explained that farmer and rancher members are concerned about the outcome of the decisions because it allows permits to be issued for “rewilding”; in this case, permits for bison to graze on lands once occupied by cattle and other traditional livestock.
The bison, which are considered livestock in Montana, are being treated as a conservation species in an effort to create a refuge for “free roaming” bison, a concept that has been strongly opposed by Farm Bureau members since the concept emerged in the 2010s.
“Converting large swathes of traditional Montana farm and ranch land to a non-productive use removes families from the community, takes kids out of the schools, reduces commerce in already struggling small towns, and will result in the continued hollowing out of these rural areas,” Johnson said.
Johnson, who urged Burgum’s agency to take swift action, said that the final decision in the court case violated the Taylor Grazing Act and processes put forth in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“The practice of removing cattle and sheep AUMs from BLM lands in favor of a non-preferred species sets a dangerous precedent for more livestock AUM removals. Agriculture is still the number-one industry in our state and the removal of livestock from the landscape will be devastating to individual farmers and ranchers. This economic harm will trickle through the rest of the state’s economy,” Johnson concluded.
-Montana Farm Bureau
