Comment on FR Doc # 2026-09387

In 2022, the Bureau of Land Management gave permission for bison to graze on the public land in the American Prairie. Then both the Montana North and South Phillips grazing districts, along with the Stockgrowers Association, appealed the decision. After receiving a letter from Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, the Secretary of the Interior reversed the decision. The excuse offered is that, according to the Taylor Grazing Act, the public land must to be used for production-oriented livestock, not wildlife grazing. However, "production-oriented livestock" was not defined. “Production-oriented purposes” is not a term that is defined anywhere in the Taylor Grazing Act or the BLM’s own regulations, and to the best of our knowledge this interpretation has not been previously applied to any other livestock manager on public lands." (American Prairie) Such exclusion from public land grazing has a long history. Ranchers have consistently opposed sharing the land with bison, fearing the bison will transmit brucellosis to their cows, although such transmission has never been documented. As a result, the bison have been virtually confined to a Yellowstone Park "pen." If they accidentally slip over park bounties, they can be killed, hunted, rounded up and sent to slaughter. Bison are still wild animals, not livestock. One purpose of allowing the bison onto public land on the American Prairie was that their presence accorded with the goals of conservation and ecological restoration of the land with the wildlife originally on our prairies. “The Trump administration’s revocation of these bison grazing permits is beyond bizarre because bison evolved with High ⁵ for wildlife, and better for the public than cattle,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project. “Tribes also have bison herds for cultural, ecological, and subsistence purposes, which this permit revocation would threaten if it went through.” (Conservation Group Challenges Trump Administration's Move To Banish Bison From Public Land: Western Watersheds Project, June 8, 2026) Those conservation and ecology goals should be as important to the American Prairie as cattle reproduction and sales. No rule should exclude the bison from public land on the American Prairie because they aren't producing animals for the meat industry. The BLM decisions for the land and the ranch industry seem to be politically driven: "The BLM’s decision to revoke our bison grazing permits is only one in a series of actions by state and federal officials that threaten not only our ability to graze bison, but the future of bison on public lands across the U.S." (American Prairie) What first appeared to be an isolated challenge to our bison grazing permits is now clearly part of a broader, coordinated effort to redefine how your public lands are managed." (American Prairie) The new rule may have consequences we do not foresee and limit options for choices about public lands. The bison will provide benefits to the American Prairie, and the benefits should go to the public as well as the private land. Please do not adopt the new rule for grazing on public land.