Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to remove bison from Montana. The federal agency BLM has proposed revoking previous grazing authorizations and permits granted to the non-profit American Prairie for bison conservation.
Donald Trump’s administration reportedly planning to move 900 bison
In January 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed the Notice of Proposed Decision to revoke bison grazing permits in Phillips County, Montana. If the proposal is approved, the nonprofit organization American Prairie would need to relocate 900 bison from areas previously cleared for grazing. The grazing permits were previously approved during Donald Trump’s first presidency.
American Prairie has vehemently opposed the proposal. They filed a protest in February calling BLM’s Proposed Decision “unlawful, factually incorrect, and procedurally deficient.” They further argued, “If enacted, this Decision would not only cancel American Prairie’s 20-year-old bison grazing permits, it would also compromise bison grazing on federal allotments across the western United States—a practice that has been ongoing for over forty years.”
The CEO of American Prairie, Alison Fox, also weighed in on the proposal. She said it is an “unprecedented reversal of BLM’s own decision-making.” Fox added, “BLM lawfully approved these permits after a thorough environmental review and defended them for years.”
Fox continued, “Abruptly rescinding them now—under political pressure—creates immense uncertainty and sends a chilling signal to Tribes, ranchers, and conservation partners who depend on fair and predictable public land management.”
According to their website, American Prairie is “incrementally purchasing approximately 700,000 acres of private lands that will stitch together existing public lands.” The organization has increased conservation efforts for the “near threatened” and “ecologically extinct” bison.
In addition to American Prairie, the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) has also opposed BLM’s proposal. However, despite the protests by COLT and American Prairie, ranchers, farmers, and politicians have stood in support of BLM.
According to The New York Times, local ranchers and farmers have argued that they need the land for cattle grazing amid surging operational costs.
Originally reported by Namrata Ghosh for Mandatory.
