BRETT FRENCH | bfrench@billingsgazette.com
American Prairie has cancelled its annual public lottery that authorizes winning hunters to kill bison, citing the uncertainty created by a Bureau of Land Management directive to remove the animals from 63,500 acres of federal grazing allotments.
American Prairie, which has purchased more than 168,800 deeded acres in northeastern Montana, began offering its bison hunting program in 2016. Those deeded acres are attached to 436,900 acres of public lands where hunting has occurred.
The lottery has proven popular, with more than 25,000 people entering, including more than 5,400 last year. Hunters have killed more than 370 bison that generated over 75,000 pounds of meat, according to American Prairie.
Sale of the hunting permits has generated $79,000 in revenue, the conservation group said, and stopping the hunt will result in a loss of $25,000 in income this year.
Since its founding in 2002, American Prairie claimed it has added $34.1 million to the local economy “including staff wages, tourism, equipment and supply purchases, veterinarian services, and hiring of local fencing contractors.”
Critics counter that the group pays no state or federal income taxes.
American Prairie’s announcement came as the group filed a 40-page document with the Department of Interior’s Appeals Departmental Cases Hearing Division challenging the BLM order to remove the bison.
The Department of Interior has 45 days to consider the appeal. Should that route fail, American Prairie can challenge the BLM’s decision in federal court.