GREAT FALLS — A conservation group is appealing the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to cancel bison grazing permits on seven public-land allotments in Phillips County.
Western Watersheds Project, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, filed the appeal on June 6, 2026, after BLM issued its final decision on May 8, 2026. The appeal asks for a stay, meaning the group wants the decision paused while the case is reviewed.
(WATCH: Conservation group challenges federal decision on Montana bison grazing permits)
“We are appealing the decision by Secretary Burgum to revoke the bison permits of American Prairie and convert them to cattle permits,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project.
The appeal involves seven BLM grazing allotments tied to American Prairie: Telegraph Creek, Box Elder, Flat Creek, White Rock Coulee, East Dry Fork, French Coulee and Garey Coulee.
The case centers on how federal grazing laws apply to American Prairie’s bison herd.
In its decision, BLM said the issue was not whether bison can ever be considered livestock. Instead, the agency said the question was whether American Prairie’s specific bison herd is managed as domestic livestock under federal grazing laws.
BLM found the herd is managed more as wildlife and for conservation and restoration purposes than for livestock production.
Western Watersheds disagrees with that interpretation. The group argues BLM created a new “production-oriented” standard that does not appear in the Taylor Grazing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Public Rangelands Improvement Act or BLM’s grazing regulations.
“Secretary Burgum’s decision to kick the bison off public lands is arbitrary and capricious,” Molvar said. “And he is functionally reversing more than a decade of Department of Interior decision-making that bison are perfectly legal on federal grazing allotments.”
The appeal also points to the history of the permits.
According to the appeal, BLM first authorized American Prairie to graze bison on the Telegraph Creek allotment in 2005. In 2008, BLM expanded that authorization to the Box Elder allotment.
In 2019, American Prairie applied to graze bison on five additional allotments. After an environmental review, BLM approved bison grazing across all seven allotments in 2022.
(RELATED: American Prairie lawsuit over bison grazing on Montana state lands heard in court)
The appeal says American Prairie has grazed bison on some of the public lands for about two decades and argues BLM’s new decision reverses earlier approvals without the legal and environmental review Western Watersheds says is required.
Western Watersheds also argues the decision could have implications beyond American Prairie.
“It doesn’t just threaten American Prairie’s operation,” Molvar said. “It also threatens a number of other operations where bison are livestock on public lands.”
He said that includes other parts of the West where bison are grazed on public lands, including some tribal bison restoration programs connected to federal grazing allotments.
BLM’s decision gives American Prairie until Sept. 30 to remove bison from the affected allotments. Western Watersheds is asking that the bison be allowed to stay while the appeal moves forward.
Molvar said the group is watching to see whether the stay is granted and said the case could eventually move to federal court.
MTN will continue following the appeal process.
