Bison

A rare white buffalo currently mounted at the Montana Historical Society will be returned to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

American Prairie, formerly known as American Prairie Reserve, has obtained a permit from the federal Bureau of Land Management to graze bison on more than 63,000 acres in Phillips County.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland joined the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes over the weekend in celebrating the return of a western Montana bison range to tribal hands.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes recently reclaimed management of the land that makes up the National Bison Range in northwest Montana. As the tribes resume their care of the land, they’re correcting inaccuracies at the bison range’s visitor center to better reflect their language and history in bison conservation.

The offer comes after the state asked the park service to throw out all of the potential options it previously put forward.

Yellowstone is proposing increasing its bison population to as many as 8,000 animals. But Montana is asking that the park withdraw – or at least reconsider – the options it's put forward and come up with new ones.

For decades the park has worked to restore its herds, from fewer than 25 animals in the early 1900s, to more than 5,000 today — enough that the park is now expanding a program that transfers live bison to Native American tribes to help restore populations on reservations.

For most of its history, Yellowstone National Park was presented as untouched by humans. But Native Americans had a presence there for thousands of years before it became the world’s first national park on March 1, 1872.

Federal, state and tribal officials typically come to an agreement on Yellowstone bison herd reduction goals by the first of the year.

Montana officials are butting heads over the future of the national mammal. At stake is whether bison should be treated as livestock or as wildlife. New...