Victory for public access: American Prairie unlocks another 70,000 acres in Montana

Conservation group opens gated road and tears down "no trespassing" signs with purchase from Texas billionaire brothers.

Public lands and public access are now constantly under threat in the U.S., but there’s still good news to share.

Ambitious conservation nonprofit American Prairie has secured its second-largest land purchase and leasing arrangement to date, buying up the 70,000-acre Anchor Ranch in Montana, which had been listed for sale for $35 million. The group bought the land from two billionaire Texas brothers who’d kept the public locked out of one of the only western access roads into adjacent public land, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, which totals almost 400,000 acres.

Photo courtesy of American Prairie.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure an important piece of ecologically and culturally significant land,” said American Prairie CEO Alison Fox in a press release. “But this acquisition is equally important as a way to return public access to the people so they can explore, hunt, and recreate on land that’s been off-limits for many years.”

The group shared videos of staff unlocking a gate and tearing down “no trespassing” signs along a 3.8-mile section of Bullwhacker Road, which was the subject of lawsuits for many years. The move was hailed by hunting and recreation groups that had fought to keep the road open but lost their bid in 2011 when a judge ruled the road was private. The move essentially blocked public access to 50,000 acres of the monument.

Building ties with new allies is critical for American Prairie, which has faced decades of distrust in a conservative state run on beef cattle ranching. The state refuses to classify bison as wildlife instead of livestock, meaning they must be fenced.

Undeterred, American Prairie keeps buying up land, tearing down or widening its fences, and growing its 900-head bison herd. Its holdings now total over 600,000 acres.

The group is trying to preserve the last untouched swath of shortgrass prairie on the planet, 3.2 million acres that are home to bison, badgers, black-tailed prairie dog, black-footed ferret, pronghorn, sage grouse, and swift fox, most of which are endangered species.

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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

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American Prairie landholdings map as of September 2025. Anchor Ranch is marked in blue in the top left.

Anchor Ranch lies in a key migration corridor for pronghorn, elk, and deer. Photo of pronghorn doe and calves by Diane Hargreaves, courtesy of American Prairie.

Read more from Earth Hope about American Prairie:

Further reading:

Grist (April 2025): Wildlife, not livestock: Why the Eastern Shoshone in Wyoming are reclassifying buffalo

Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative (August 2025): Northern Arapaho Tribe officially classifies buffalo as wildlife on Wind River Indian Reservation

National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (May, 2025): Colorado grants wild bison legal protection

Earthjustice: In Montana, wild bison are back, and an entire ecosystem is healing (In 2013, bison returned to the Fort Belknap Reservation, which is adjacent to the lands American Prairie is protecting.)

High Country News: Reclaiming the National Bison Range (For 113 years, an 18,000-acre federal wildlife refuge for bison lay like a donut hole inside the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. In 2021, Congress passed legislation to return it to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.)

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HELP SUPPORT SOLUTIONS-BASED JOURNALISM FOR JUST $20. Earth Hope is not affiliated with American Prairie, but all subscription revenues this week (Sept 9-16) will go to American Prairie.

Prairie dog on American Prairie lands. Photo by Dennis Lingohr, courtesy of American Prairie.

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About Earth Hope:

Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories to inspire action. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it. Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories.