Richard J Wenning, Wenning Environmental LLC, Portland, Maine, US
Published on JD Supra, 25 February 2026
ABSTRACT:
In December 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum instructed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reevaluate bison grazing authorization on public lands in Montana. The Secretary claimed DOI’s Congressional authority stipulated that grazing on publicly owned federal lands was limited to domestic livestock raised for production-oriented purposes. The legal question at the center of the review was whether bison qualified as “livestock”. In January 2026, the BLM revoked bison grazing on 63,000 acres of federal land in the permit held by the nonprofit western conservation organization American Prairie. BLM concluded the American Prairie bison herd was managed as wildlife, not for production. BLM’s decision affects more than a bison herd in Montana. American Prairie must rethink its vision of a network of bison habitat on millions of acres of restored Great Plains short-grass prairie. And, western North America native American tribes warn that BLM’s decision could effectively bar Tribal bison herds on federal lands nationwide, jeopardizing treaty rights, food sovereignty, and cultural survival. Despite 40 years of 10-year livestock grazing permits for bison, BLM’s reversal of a long-standing interpretation of grazing statutes could threaten 41 current grazing permits for bison ranchers across six western US states.
