Bison country just grew bigger
Ambitious nonprofit American Prairie surpasses half a million acres; aims to host thousands of wild and free-roaming bison across a vast stretch of Montana.
Under Montana’s big sky, where buffalo by the tens of thousands once thundered across temperate grasslands teeming with wildlife like prairie dogs and ferrets, elk and grizzly bears, a nonprofit is pushing forward with its ambitious plan to save one of the last remaining pristine shortgrass prairie ecosystems on the continent.
American Prairie, a nonprofit that buys up ranchland in Montana to connect vast federally protected lands, has surpassed half a million acres in holdings, the organization announced last week.
Ultimately, the group intends to connect 3.2 million acres, equal to the size of the state of Connecticut, or Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks combined. Among its ambitions are to welcome wolves and grow its American bison1 herd to thousands of free-roaming wild animals.
Our mission is to create one of the largest nature reserves in the United States, a refuge for people and wildlife preserved forever as part of America’s heritage.
— American Prairie
Its lands are home to several other iconic animals, many of which are or were threatened with extinction, including:
black-tailed prairie dog
black-footed ferret
pronghorn
sage grouse
swift fox
beavers
To surpass half a million acres, the group recently acquired 52,000 acres adjacent to a national wildlife reserve and a national monument, which will provide a critical corridor for wildlife migration.
“This is outstanding habitat for wildlife and we’re thrilled at the prospect of helping to provide safe passage for more animals between areas that are already federally protected,” said Alison Fox, CEO of American Prairie, in a news release.
With help from private donors, American Prairie has been purchasing land and leasing rights since 2004. Some of the land is pristine, shortgrass prairie.2 Other habitats include sagebrush steppe, the Missouri River breaks, mountains, streams and riverside (riparian) corridors that are often hotspots of wildlife activity.
“The best thing about this is that we don’t have to buy it all. Much of the land that we’re pulling together to be a part of this model already belongs to the public,” said founder Sean Gerrity in a National Geographic video. “What we’re doing is pulling these parcels together with pieces of private land, taking down the fences, bringing all the wildlife back, so we have intact prairie that looks like it has for thousands of years.”
After starting with 16 animals in 2005, the group’s bison herd now numbers around 900 animals. Over the years, they’ve relocated 550 bison to Native American tribes and conservation organizations across the nation to help boost genetic diversity.
A policy of elimination
In the 1800s, American bison were killed off by the millions as part of a strategy to starve Native Americans and enable white settlement.3 As few as 1,000 bison remained after this bloody campaign.
Bison are now farmed as livestock by the hundreds of thousands across the Midwest and Great Plains, but very few genetically pure wild herds remain.4 Meanwhile, 99 percent of prairie habitat has been converted to farmland and the many animals that once created a cohesive ecosystem with bison, such as prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets, have suffered dramatic declines.
Archeological and historical accounts indicate bison once roamed from Alaska to northern Mexico and even Florida. They’re a keystone species that shape their surroundings through grazing, wallowing and even clearing paths through snow during winter, which allows smaller animals to travel and find food more easily.
Bison differ from cattle in many ways:
Bison are hardy beasts that are more cold and heat tolerant. When they graze through snow in winter, they expose pockets of grass to sunlight, spurring growth. In hotter weather, cattle will head toward water sooner than bison, disturbing plant life in sensitive wetland areas.
Bison aren’t as picky as cattle and travel twice as far per day. Bison don’t overgraze as much as cattle. Studies have shown native grasses and wildflowers rebound where bison graze. Where cattle graze, only weeds are left behind.
Bison fur is awesome. Studies have shown birds that use bison fur to insulate their nests are more successful at fledging chicks. Other studies have shown bird diversity increases where bison are present.
In 2001, the World Wildlife Fund helped incubate American Prairie as a separate Montana nonprofit after The Nature Conservancy identified the region as ideal for preserving prairies and their unique biodiversity.
Some envision as many as 50,000 bison in the area, but American Prairie’s website says its goal is 5,000 for now.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the 3.2-million-acre (5,000 square miles) American Prairie vision could support tens of thousands of bison. But that number is likely decades away from being possible.
…
We believe a herd of 5,000 is realistic and possible. A herd of that size is considered the minimal viable population to fulfill its ecological role on the landscape, to be genetically viable, and to survive what the species encounters on the landscape, including disease, fire and starvation due to drought, and extreme winters.
— American Prairie
Not without opposition
Unfortunately, retiring ranchland for wildlife has been controversial in the State of Montana, where the economy relies primarily on ranching. The nonprofit continues to face opposition by agricultural interests who see it as encroaching on their livelihoods and endangering the ability of ranchers to feed Americans. Complaints have emerged that converting the land to nonprofit status erodes the state’s tax base. The opposition promotes slogans such as “Save the Cowboy, stop American Prairie.”
The group has defended itself before the Montana Legislature as well as in Washington, D.C. In 2021, it survived a hotly contested state bill that would have restricted its ability to buy land. It was defeated by property rights proponents on the left and the right.
“Montana's hunting community in particular would have been limited by HB 677. By cutting off certain buyers, this legislation could have accelerated the trend of new landowners purchasing land and closing it off to the public for good,” said CEO Alison Fox in a press release. “We are doing the opposite. In 2020, American Prairie included 64,000 acres of our private deeded land in Montana’s block management program for hunting. We opened up access to more than 3,000 acres of state and federal land that has been inaccessible for decades.”
Public access, not just for hunting but also for camping, hiking, boating, cycling and wildlife viewing, has been a cornerstone of the group’s goals since its inception.
Other challenges include:
Bison are considered livestock in Montana, so they currently must be fenced. Like any rancher, American Prairie pays a fee per head of bison. The group still hopes bison can one day be reclassified as wild animals and that their herd can roam free.
Ranchers have also raised concerns about the disease brucellosis, a bacteria that causes pregnant cows to miscarry. Brucellosis has never been detected in the American Prairie bison herd and there’s never been a documented case of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle. Livestock near Yellowstone first transmitted the disease to wild bison and elk.
American Prairie now partners with willing ranchers through its Wild Sky program. Ranchers are paid to install wildlife-friendly fencing and to host wildlife cameras. Ranchers earn $20 for smaller animals and up to $500 per grizzly or wolf that appears on their trail cams, another example of economic incentives working for wildlife conservation.
Let’s hope wildlife keep those trail cams busy and ranchers sustained. And in the not-too-distant future, thousands of thundering hooves stir billowing clouds of dust and fulfill their long-overdue destiny.
“At once [the buffalo] is a symbol of the tenacity of wilderness and the destruction of wilderness; it's a symbol of Native American culture and the death of Native American culture; it's a symbol of the strength and vitality of America and the pettiness and greed of America; it represents a frontier both forgotten and remembered; it stands for freedom and captivity, extinction and salvation.”
― Steven Rinella, American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon
Earth Hope has no affiliation with American Prairie.
Hopeful headlines
Thanks to reader
for pointing out this story from CBC and leading my wanderings down the American bison path this week:Southwestern Manitoba First Nation welcomes bison back after more than a century
The animals bring much-needed positive energy, Hanska said, showing youth Dakota culture, history and teachings.
“While the overall recovery of bison over the last 130 years is a conservation success story, significant work remains to ensure that bison will remain a viable species,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Our collaborative efforts with Canada and Mexico are an important step forward as we work to restore this majestic species and facilitate the return of bison to Tribally owned and ancestral lands.”
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Autobiographical side note: My first summer out of college, I interned at Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago to support a scientist researching the carbon sequestration abilities of prairies. I spent the first half of the summer chopping up various samples of prairie dirt and preparing it for microscopic examination. The second part of summer I spent looking down the microscope and counting hyphae (mycorrhizal filaments) in these different prairie dirts. Soon after, I abandoned all scientific pursuits and became a journalist. Fun fact: Some prairie grasses have roots that reach 20 feet deep!
About Earth Hope:
Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories from around the globe, because hope is the foundation of progress. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it.
Watch to learn more about American Prairie:
Synonymous with buffalo in America.
Shortgrass prairies grow in drier areas just east of the Rocky Mountains. Tallgrass prairies grow in wetter areas of the Midwest.
Most livestock herds have animals with cattle genes. Check out The Nature Conservancy’s 12 bison herds.
What a powerful quote from Steven Rinella to include in this story of the American bison. I found myself vigorously agreeing with the first description only to find myself fully agreeing with its opposite - a kind of whiplash, appropriate to the experience of the buffalo. Rinella sums up saying the bison stands for freedom and captivity, extinction and salvation.
Inspiring project - love the incentive to encourage ranchers to get involved by paying for animals that appear on their trail cams.