Judges Block Federal Grazing Limits in Montana, Oregon

A federal judge in Montana has temporarily allowed American Prairie’s roughly 900 bison to remain on three federal grazing allotments while the organization’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management proceeds. The ruling blocks the BLM’s effort to revoke the herd’s grazing permits and avert a Sept. 30 deadline that could have forced American Prairie to relocate or cull hundreds of animals. The dispute centers on the agency’s attempt to reinterpret the Taylor Grazing Act so that permits apply only to “production-oriented” livestock used for meat, milk or fiber. The judge found that the government’s effort to exclude American Prairie’s bison was unpersuasive and that the organization demonstrated a likelihood of legal success, irreparable harm and a public interest in maintaining the status quo; the injunction does not resolve the case.