The Trump Administration’s Latest Target: This Woolly American Icon

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum proposed canceling federal leases for buffalo grazing on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in north-central Montana in January. This decision, driven by anti-bison sentiment from cattle ranchers and Republican politicians, targets seven federal lease allotments held by the nonprofit American Prairie. If finalized, more than 950 buffalo will be evicted from tens of thousands of acres of federal land, some of which they have grazed for 20 years. The Interior Department's rationale is that the Taylor Grazing Act limits leases to animals used for "production-oriented purposes," arguing American Prairie's bison are not. This move has drawn alarm from the Coalition of Large Tribes, which manages 25,000 buffalo, and non-tribal buffalo ranchers, who fear it sets a troubling precedent for bison grazing on federal lands nationwide.