Action Alerts

Protect American bison’s right to graze on public lands

What's At Stake

American bison are part of our country’s heritage. The ecology of the Great Plains was once defined by tens of millions of wild bison that roamed the grasslands. They also provided foundation for the lives and cultures of Plains tribes who relied on the animals for food, shelter, and ceremony.  

But white settlers and hunters brought the iconic species to the brink of extinction in the 19th century, and soon Yellowstone National Park hosted the only known wild herd in the United States. 

Thanks to Tribal stewardship, organizational commitments, and improvements in state and federal bison policy that Earthjustice fought for in court, hundreds of bison now thrive in their native Montana range outside Yellowstone, including parts of the Northern shortgrass prairie.  

But now, bison restoration to the prairie is under attack by the Trump administration.

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Earthjustice has defended bison in court for decades, and today we need your help to keep up the fight.  Submit a letter to the Department of the Interior today demanding they protect our national mammal. 

Bison are a keystone species, creating a cascade of environmental conditions that benefit countless other wildlife. As bison graze, they prune and encourage growth of native grasses, fertilize the soils, and improve habitat for a diverse range of wildlife. But to sustain healthy populations that can play this ecological role, bison need more room to roam.  

Under pressure from the State of Montana and the livestock industry, the Trump administration is threatening bison restoration in two ways. 

First, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has evicted 900 bison from federal grasslands in Montana’s northern Great Plains by revoking their grazing permits. The decision would allow grazing on federal lands only for “production-oriented purposes.” That is, for profit — not for conservation.  

Second, the Interior Department is also considering Montana’s demands to weaken bison conservation efforts in Yellowstone National Park. It would do this by dismantling the park’s new management plan that Earthjustice has been defending in court. 

The core of the attacks arises from the broader goal of the administration: the sacrifice of public lands for industry profit. By prioritizing industry over conservation, the administration is rewriting laws that were designed to sustain the health and diversity of our public lands for the benefit of present and future generations. 

Now is our time to show the administration that the public supports bison restoration from the park to the prairie and opposes policies that prioritize profit over conservation on our public lands. Submit a letter to the Department of the Interior today demanding they support bison conservation and our national heritage. 

Bison roam on the American Prairie Reserve, a massive prairie-based nature reserve in northeastern Montana being developed as a private project of the American Prairie Foundation. This independent non-profit organization is creating a wildlife conservation area that will ultimately be over 3 million contiguous acres through a combination of both private and public lands to establish a fully functioning mixed grass prairie ecosystem, complete with migration corridors and native wildlife. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
Bison are a keystone species, creating a cascade of environmental conditions that benefit countless other wildlife. As bison graze, they prune and encourage growth of native grasses, fertilize the soils, and carve out habitat for smaller creatures. The Northern Rockies office has protected bison and their iconic prairie ecosystem for decades. (Ami Vitale for Earthjustice)

Delivery to Department of the Interior

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Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.