Stoneberg: BLM recinds American Prairie’s grazing permits
We owe a huge THANK YOU to President Donald Trump for selecting individuals with common sense to staff his cabinet. The Department of Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, made the right decision to cancel the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing permits earlier awarded to the American Prairie Reserve to run their conservation bison on federally managed allotments appurtenant to their purchased private land. The Act that spells out the laws under which these lands are utilized is the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. The Act’s stated purpose was not only to control overgrazing and erosion and to improve the vegetation and wildlife, etc., but it was also to help the economic viability of the adjacent production livestock operations and the surrounding rural communities.
How did we get into this predicament? Apparently, various back-to-nature outfits and individuals had been dreaming of removing the cattle and people and rewilding the demographic area known as the Northern Great Plains (NGP). This area runs south from the Canadian border, taking in a western slice of North Dakota and half of South Dakota and the eastern half of both Montana and Wyoming to Nebraska. Apparently, the area caught the attention of two of the biggest, deep pocketed nature organizations in the world. First, The Nature Conservancy bought a large sheep ranch in south Phillips County, Montana, and they are still buying conservation easements, particularly along the Milk River. Then, the World Wildlife Fund paid for a study analyzing all the natural resources in the NGP. They identified three areas to start the rewilding process, one in Nebraska, one in South Dakota, and one in Montana. The Montana site ran from the Missouri River north to the Milk River including the south half of Blaine, Phillips, and Valley Counties.
Surprise, Surprise! The American Prairie Reserve (APR) showed up in Phillips County and started buying up ranches. Their stated plan was to control 3.5 million acres and run 10,000 free-ranging bison with minimum management. The Phillips County BLM office in Malta, Montana, was caught off guard with the APR’s heavy-handed demands and allowed them to change species of use to bison, remove interior fences, and graze year-round on allotments appurtenant to a ranch they had bought. The APR continued buying ranches and were applying to the BLM to change species of use to bison, remove interior fences, and graze yearlong on all their federally managed allotments. There was a lot of opposition from the ranchers and the ranching organizations, but the Malta BLM was siding with APR. In response to this opposition the APR cut their request for changes to 7 allotments. The Phillips County Grazing Districts then hired Karen Budd-Falen to sue the BLM, and other agricultural organizations joined the lawsuit.
Fortunately, a former BLM Range Specialist, Roy Taylor, knew the laws, rules, and mandates that guided the operation of the BLM. He documented many instances where the APR ignored or avoided the BLM regulations and recorded where the Malta BLM staff either looked the other way or made decisions outside their authority. He tried to get people to listen to his concerns without much luck. He then teamed up with Sierra Stoneberg Holt, who edited and organized his notes. Their collaboration produced a very readable document that tied the violations to the laws. They sent out many copies to the bureaucracies and politicians, but nothing much happened until the ranchers’ concerns hit Montana Attorney General Austin Knutson’s desk. He was looking for concrete support for opposition to the BLM’s decisions. Roy’s documents filled that need. Then Montana Governor Greg Gianforte joined the opposition, and the Montana Congressional delegation all followed suit, which led the Secretary of the Interior to announce that he would make the final decision. He made the right one, since the Taylor Grazing Act was meant to benefit production livestock, not an amusement park.
It should be pointed out that the bison themselves were never the issue. Properly managed production bison are great for the environment and for rural economies. The problem was the way they were proposed to be turned loose without any management and designated as “wildlife”. The removal of all production agriculture, including all human constructed improvements, over a huge tract of land to meet some ridiculous, unattainable goal was the main reason for the opposition. Early travelers and army patrols documented the lack of vegetation due to an overpopulation of bison. Yellowstone Park has already done what the APR is promoting and, according to some experts, it is a disaster to the resident wildlife and to the vegetation. It resembles the situation with socialism/communism in that it sounds good on paper, but in practice it does not work!
Ron Stoneberg
Box 37, Hinsdale, Mt. 59241
(406) 367-9314
