There is a saying in northeastern Montana that a couple of good rains make every rancher a good grass manager. The converse is that a couple of years of severe drought show who the good grass managers really are. Over the years grazing management has morphed from continuous grazing to incorporating rest periods to facilitate vegetation recovery. Often, during periods of ideal growing conditions, the benefits of rest periods are not readily noticeable. However, they really show up when growing conditions are less than ideal, such as during a drought.
In 1973, the Telegraph Creek Allotment in south Phillips County was converted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to two four pasture rest-rotation systems, "designed to meet the growth requirements of the key grass plant species, the needs of the watershed, and wildlife - primarily waterfowl and upland game birds."
In the early 2000s the American Prairie Foundation/Reserve (APF/APR) acquired the base property of the Telegraph Creek Allotment and applied to the BLM for a change in class of livestock from cattle to bison and for a change in season of use from 4/1-11/30 to 3/1-2/28. The Malta BLM staff produced an Environmental Assessment (EA) (#MT-090-04-026) in 2005. The EA granted both changes and mandated the APF/APR "will follow the rest rotation grazing system already established…"
At the outset the APF/APR maintained their goal was to manage their bison using a minimal intervention grazing strategy. They explained their plans for Telegraph Creek Allotment was an experiment to show that bison grazing year-round with minimum human interference would benefit the vegetation and the resident wildlife. The BLM agreed to year-round grazing but specified a four pasture rest-rotation system so no pasture was overused and one was rested each year. However, the first thing the APR did was to leave all the gates open and ignore the rotation. This experiment then became one of studying the impacts of bison continuously grazing year-round. During the early years with substantial precipitation and fairly low bison numbers (actual numbers were hard to determine because the actual use given to the BLM was totally incomprehensible) the vegetation did quite well. In fact a highly credentialed scientific team from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute did a detailed study and found the bison grazing with minimal management had already improved the native grasses, forbs, and bird species in the allotment. The APR and the BLM used this study as proof the experiment was working. Then came the drought. Too many bison grazing for too long devastated the vegetation on the allotment. It will be interesting to see if the BLM and the APR will admit the range professionals were right that in the long run continuous, year-round grazing by any ungulate will be detrimental to the range.
The resident ranchers and wildlife professionals know the vegetation and animal environments of northeastern Montana periodically experienced boom and bust cycles due to inclement weather. Apparently, the free-ranging bison promoters did not study this past history before making their management decisions. The 2005 EA for Telegraph Creek Allotment stated, "A year-long season does not mean cattle [sic] will be in any pasture for twelve months each year. The existing rest rotation grazing system would continue. Bison would still only be in any one pasture for less than three months per year." (pp. 3). If the current Malta BLM staff had followed these EA guidelines that were established by earlier BLM specialists it may have reduced the habitat destruction caused by the year-round continuous bison grazing during this severe drought. Perhaps the failure of this grazing experiment will result in the BLM returning to proper range management in this allotment.
From the outset the APF/APR apparently had no intention of following the grazing guidelines outlined in the BLM's EAs. This lack of compliance with the BLM's rules and regulations was very well documented by a former BLM range specialist who was totally ignored by the BLM. In fact the BLM Malta Field Manager stated in the RATIONALE section of the BLM's NOTICE OF PROPOSED DECISION (03/29/22), "The permittee is in substantial compliance with the rules and regulations and the terms and conditions in the existing permits…and has a satisfactory record of performance." Nothing could be further from the truth! The BLM's Finding of No Significant Impact now looks pretty ridiculous!
Ron Stoneberg
Hinsdale, MT
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