I don’t think what I said contradicts what you said. I live in north central Montana. I just didn’t know the bison were classified as livestock, that’s all :)

What I’ve seen is ranchers pushing for more time and more herd allowance on public lands while western ecologists and native ecologists fight to restore the balance. It’s not just cows that people are fighting over. The ranchers hands also been pushing for beaver culls because they can cause hazards for the cattle. But culling the beavers and increasing the herd sizes has had cascading effects on ecosystems, especially regarding excess nitrogen in our waterways. MSU-N did a multi-year study on Beaver Creek and held a lecture on the results, and they invited the local park council to sit in (hoping they’d learn something). It visibly upset the ranchers, one even tried to argue with the professor that presented the data. To them it’s all an assault on their livelihood.

I’m not even going to go into the effects their grass mixes have been having. It’s all a hot fucking mess, and I think what American Prairie is doing is admirable

There’s actually a ton of conflict regarding livestock grazing on public lands in Montana. I didn’t know the bison were considered livestock, but I have seen first hand the kind of damage cattle have been doing to local ecosystems especially because the herds always seem larger year by year.

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