American Prairie challenges Montana’s bison grazing moratorium in court

American Prairie asked Lewis and Clark County District Court to block Montana’s pause on new bison grazing requests on state trust lands, putting a Helena judge at the center of a fight with money, land-use and legal consequences. The nonprofit says the Land Board’s February action was more than a temporary hold and should have gone through formal rulemaking before changing how state lands are managed.

The dispute landed before Judge Chris Abbott after the Montana Board of Land Commissioners, known as the Land Board, discussed the bison issue in executive session during its Feb. 17 meeting in Helena. Minutes from that meeting show all five members were present: Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras, Superintendent Susie Hedalen, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen. American Prairie argues the board’s directive to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation amounted to a new policy in practice, not just an administrative pause.

That argument gained more weight after DNRC announced a 30-day scoping period on April 24 for a proposed Production Livestock Policy. DNRC said the Land Board’s February motion directed the agency to develop a policy favoring grazing leases to production livestock operations over non-production operations, and the board approved public scoping at its April 20 meeting. State attorneys pushed back, arguing the board acted reasonably because no clear rule existed for bison grazing requests and that the old custom of treating bison like cattle may itself have conflicted with state requirements.

The financial stakes reach beyond a single herd. State trust lands generate revenue for trust beneficiaries, and the question in Helena is whether those leases should tilt toward traditional production livestock operators or remain open to a conservation-focused herd like American Prairie’s. The group says it manages about 940 bison in Phillips County and that the federal government gave final approval in 2022 for bison grazing across 63,500 acres of public land there. Opponents say bison have a greater impact on grazing lands than cattle and should not occupy leases meant for production herds.

Gov. Greg Gianforte amplified that pressure on Jan. 16, when he praised a federal proposal to cancel American Prairie’s BLM permits and called it a win for ranchers, agricultural producers and the rule of law. The BLM notice said the Secretary of the Interior assumed jurisdiction over the appeal on Dec. 9, 2025, and remanded it six days later. The federal case involved seven Phillips County allotments: Telegraph Creek, Box Elder, Flat Creek, Whiterock Coulee, East Dry Fork, French Coulee and Garey Coulee.

The current fight follows a 2021 10-year deal involving American Prairie, the Phillips County Conservation District and the Montana Livestock Association. In Helena, the court case could set the rule for future use of state lands: whether a board motion is enough to shift grazing policy, or whether Montana law requires a formal process before those decisions affect leases, beneficiaries and the ranching economy.