The calves are being moved.
The huge buffalo herds and the Native people who hunted and used them were observations made by early European explorers.
James A. Bailey wrote an article in the journal.
In 1824, the crows were reported to kill upwards of a thousand bison in a day, while in 1832, 500 Shoshone tribal members were slaughtered in one day.
Two of the state's top officials, along with heads of several key state agencies, want to put a stop to a private nonprofit organization's attempt at placing small bison herds.
American Prairie, formerly known as the American Prairie Reserve, has purchased thousands of acres throughout Montana and has had grazing leases for years. The organization wasn't expecting the furor that came from state leaders when renewing those leases through the Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM's own assessment determined that no significant harm would come from the leases, but that didn't sit well with the leaders of the state's department of agriculture and the Wildlife, Fish and Parks as well as Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Knudsen held his own public comment meeting and rejected an offer from American Prairie to meet, leading to an ongoing cold war in which the same leaders criticized the nonprofit also refused to meet.
Neither office responded to requests for interviews after they were contacted for the story.
The case of science and politics.
The release of the BLM's findings of no negative impacts for the grazing leases set in motion a concerted effort by state leaders to get the federal government to reconsider. There is a contention that federal law did not allow for bison, instead only animals raised for commercial ranching, like cattle and sheep. For decades, bison have been raised in Montana for commercial production.
Outside of the legal process, ranchers opposed to American Prairie worry about the spread of disease. Scientists who study bison say that the question has been largely decided in favor of the two animal species living together without harming each other.
The state may not be able to stop the federal permits, but it could make it more difficult to manage them.
State lands are mixed with federal public lands. State governments often defer to the federal Bureau of Land Management to manage lands that they technically own on behalf of the state, but are surrounded by a sea of federal public land. That makes sense because animals don't just eat according to land boundaries.
If the BLM doesn't take more input, the state of Montana will consider separate management. It would take thousands of dollars in fencing to separate the public lands from the private ones in Montana, and that would not even pay for itself in the first 20 years of the lease. The state would have to decide how to manage its portion of the land.
This is the first time that American Prairie has been included in some of the leases.
Bovine vs. bison.
The science about bison and American Prairie is no longer in doubt, even though the conversation has mostly boiled down to bison conservativism.
Sam Fuhlendorf is the regents professor and Groendyke chair at Oklahoma State University. He studies both animals and works with both ranching and conservativism.
He admits it is difficult to compare them because they are very similar. They both use the same food. One of the biggest differences is that of thermal stressors. Cattle are stressed by high heat and cold.
Fuhlendorf said, "Bison show extreme thermal tolerance."
The summer sun of the Montana prairie isn't as threatening to bison as the winter cold is.
Both can coexist. Both can be found on the same land.
Both of them are big, bulk roughage eaters.
Managing bison versus managing cattle is a matter of managing, according to Fuhlendorf. Cattle range operators are just as bad as bison range managers. When a bison wallows in dust, people tend to view it as a spiritual experience, but when a cow does it, it is dirty. He said that there is nothing inherently bad or good about either, just small differences that depend on the management.
When we are talking about management, we are talking about the middle. We want to make sure nothing is too small.
He said bison can get a reputation of being harder to handle because they haven't been domesticated like cattle.
There is nothing good or bad about bison. The most important decision is how many animals are out there. If a bison can get out, it will. The key is not making them want to leave.
The politics of bison in Montana has not been studied for decades, so he has no idea what to think. There is a sign in central and northern Montana that says, "Save the Cowboy, Stop the APR."
Most of it is a herring. The cattle and bison are in the same pasture all the time and the ranchers are not troubled by the connection. In a few other states, ranchers don't have a problem.
Ranchers are conservative. They understand the rights of others because of private property.
Follow the law.
One thing both sides agree on is that the other side is not following the law.
The BLM does not have the authority to issue a permit for domestic indigenous animals, according to the letter. The governor argues that using the permits for non-production oriented, wildlife management would rob other ranchers of economic opportunities.
The BLM held a public hearing in the middle of a summer afternoon when most of the people affected were trying to wrest their livelihoods from a devastating dry spell, according to a September letter from the congressman.
Pete Geddes told the Daily Montanan that he was still surprised by the amount of criticism they had received. There is a public campaign with yard signs and banners that advocates ending the program. American Prairie bought their own private property for bison. He's still confused by the opposition from Lewistown legislator Dan Bartels who was unsuccessful in an attempt to pass legislation that would have prohibited nonprofits from acquiring land.
The National Discovery Center will be built in Lewistown and will create jobs. I think he would be interested in employees and private land.
The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation objected during the federal open commenting period because it has 5,000 acres of BLM and private land in question. Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks division added a three-page letter of concerns, including concerns about transmitting disease and whether cattle and bison can co-exist. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Livestock submitted two more letters, bringing the total number of pages opposing American Prairie to more than 30.
AG Knudsen accuses the BLM of creating a new term not found in the Taylor Grazing Act.
Knudsen said that they have conjured a new classification and insist that bison fit inside. The law requires more than linguistic re-jiggering. The legal brain suggested that we only need to stop calling bison non-livestock and call them indigenous livestock.
He said the BLM's analysis failed to recognize the negative impacts on ranchers and farmers when it calculated the cost of allowing American Prairie bison to grazed on federal and state lands.
Knudsen said that the mission of the organization was to replace Northeastern Montana's livestock industry with a large outdoor zoo. The my-way-or-the-highway approach is nothing more than a threat to subject other permits to burdensome administrative protests and is to be polite, unneighborly. The local opposition to the efforts of the APR is intense.
Being neighborly, American Prairie says that is a two-way street. They invited both Knudsen and Gianforte to see their operations, to ask questions and to communicate. They said that neither has ever been invited.
Geddes said that the governor is interested in public access and economic development. We would like to believe we are partners. We have created high-paying jobs. More area has been opened for engaging in Montana's outdoors. He has an invitation to visit.
The Daily Montanan sent several requests to the governor and the attorney general about their actions in the American Prairie case. Neither office responded.
According to Geddes, when American Prairie first set up operations, it had good-neighbor agreements with the owners of the land surrounding it, so they could not shoot an escaped animal. He said that they try to respond immediately and have on-site managers.
He said it was important to know that those who border American Prairie were not concerned with the permit.
Geddes said that people in the neighborhood are not a concern. We are not leaving. Our intent is to be a really good neighbor, and we are a Montana-based operation.
The BLM fulfilled its obligation for public comment, but Knudsen claimed that it was dominated by out-of-state interests. Knudsen was surprised that no one from the group showed up to the meeting.
The nonprofit organization sent a four-page letter outlining their position five days before the meeting, but the officials at APR said they were not invited to the meeting. The Bureau of Land Management can issue grazing permits or lease and modify existing permits to substitute many different types of livestock for cattle, including bison, according to the letter. It has done this for a long time in the West.
John D. Leshy and Justin Pidot were hired by American Prairie to look at the legal issues and concerns raised by the state.
Leshy was a law professor at the University of California when he was the Solicitor General of the Department of the Interior. He wrote the book on public land law, "Federal Public Land and Resources Law," which has been through seven editions.
Leshy and Pidot, a law professor at the University of Arizona, concluded that current laws don't define the animals that may or may not qualify for a permit, and that the mixed-use nature of the BLM means that some land should be used for grazing.
Montana and Knudsen have used old or overturned court decisions.
The analysis said that the Secretary of the Interior has been made the landlord of the public range. The public lands have many uses and values, including a range or livestock grazed is one of them.
Leshy and Pidot argue that Montana law defines stock to include bison.
They point out thatbison in private ownership are considered livestock in the final environmental impact statement.
The two legal scholars wrote that the primary test in making the distinction was whether or not the animal qualifies as an application under the requirements of the grazing regulations. The regulations apply to all qualified applicants regardless of class of livestock.
The Daily Montanan is a news outlet that covers politics and policy in Montana. States Newsroom is a national nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors.
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The article was originally published on the Great Falls Tribune.
