GREAT FALLS — Groups representing cattle ranchers in Phillips County are asking for a voice in the federal court fight over American Prairie’s bison grazing permits.
The Montana Stockgrowers Association, working with South Phillips Grazing Districts, filed a motion to intervene in American Prairie’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior.
A motion to intervene asks a court to let an outside group become a party in an existing lawsuit. If approved, the ranching groups could participate in the case and defend the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to revoke the permits.
“Cattle ranchers’ voices must be heard in this case, and we must highlight the importance of lawful public lands management,” said Raylee Honeycutt, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, in a press release. "This is why we have requested to intervene in this case and to advocate for working ranchers, rural communities, and agricultural production.”
The case centers on whether American Prairie’s bison meet the requirements of the Taylor Grazing Act, a federal law governing livestock grazing on public land.
In a written decision issued in May 2026, the agency determined the bison were managed primarily for conservation and ecological restoration rather than livestock production. American Prairie sued in August 2026, arguing in court filings that the law does not require livestock to be managed primarily for production.
On Sept. 4, 2026, a federal judge temporarily blocked the agency from enforcing the permit revocations on three grazing allotments where American Prairie’s bison were already grazing. The ruling meant American Prairie did not have to meet a Sept. 30 deadline to remove more than 900 bison from federal allotments while the lawsuit moves forward.
The judge declined to extend that protection to three other allotments where the bison were not already grazing.
The court must now decide whether the ranching groups can join the case. Though, the broader dispute, which could determine how American Prairie uses federal grazing land in Phillips County, remains unresolved.
