While that is true, this is a different issue. American Prairie’s mission is connect a bunch of land in central Montana and use it to restore short grass prairie ecosystems. Part of that goal is restoring native large grazers (bison) that were largely killed off in the 1800s. Bison were historically very abundant, and had a huge effect on shaping and maintaining prairie ecosystems. Today, technically, the bison are considered “livestock” with regard to BLM grazing, but American Prairie is trying to manage the bison as wild herds and restore their ecosystem function. And lobbying for updated classification for the bison, which are neither livestock but not truly “wildlife” yet.
The pushback to American Prairie’s mission is pretty political in MT, as you might imagine…
Gotcha…misinterpreted your first comment! And hi, fellow Montanan!