An ambitious and privately funded project to create a 5,000-square-mile prairie reserve where buffalo may roam and antelope play in eastern Montana is being stymied by an obtuse new ruling by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The goal of the American Prairie nonprofit is to re-create a prairie ecosystem one-and-a-half times the size of Yellowstone National Park that can eventually support a free-ranging herd of 5,000 bison. Such a reserve would also greatly benefit other prairie species, including elk, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, prairie dogs, and perhaps one day, predators like mountain lions and bears.
Reason reported on this remarkable private conservation project 10 years ago.
