A federal judge has ruled that American Prairie can keep its bison on three federal grazing allotments while a lawsuit over the animals' presence works its way through the courts — a significant early win for the conservation nonprofit in a fight that has divided ranchers and conservationists across north-central Montana.
Judge Brian Morris issued the ruling blocking a Bureau of Land Management directive that would have required American Prairie to remove roughly 900 bison from the allotments. The temporary order preserves the status quo as litigation continues, meaning the bison stay on the land for now.
American Prairie, which is working to assemble a large contiguous conservation area across the Missouri Breaks region, has drawn sustained opposition from neighboring livestock producers who argue that bison compete with cattle for forage and pose disease and fence-crossing risks. The BLM rule at the center of the lawsuit would have effectively ended the organization's use of federal grazing permits for bison — a tool the group has used as part of its broader landscape restoration strategy.
The case is ongoing. Judge Morris's order is preliminary, and the underlying legal questions about how federal grazing allotments can be used — and by whom — remain unresolved. A ruling on the merits could have broad implications for how conservation groups interact with the federal grazing system across the Northern Great Plains.