# Governor Gianforte Asks Ninth Circuit to Reverse Injunction Allowing American Prairie Bison on Federal Grazing Allotments

Date: 2 Nov 2026
Released by: Office of Governor Greg Gianforte

## MediaRelease.co Summary

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said the state has filed its opening brief asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse a preliminary injunction that lets American Prairie Foundation keep bison on three federal grazing allotments in Phillips County. The injunction partly blocked the Bureau of Land Management’s May 2026 decision canceling the bison grazing authorizations. The state argues federal grazing laws authorize permits only for domestic livestock.

## Original release

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced the State of Montana has filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, asking the court to reverse a district court’s preliminary injunction that allows American Prairie Foundation (APF) to keep its bison on three federal grazing allotments in Phillips County. “The district court fundamentally misunderstood what Congress authorized in the Taylor Grazing Act,” Gov. Gianforte said. “The Bureau of Land Management made the correct and lawful decision to cancel these permits. Our administration will continue advocating for the generations of Montanans who have stewarded our lands with care.” The preliminary injunction blocked, in part, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) May 2026 final decision, which canceled APF’s bison grazing authorizations and reissued cattle-only permits. The injunction allows bison to remain on the Box Elder, Telegraph, and Whiterock Coulee allotments. The State’s brief argues that the law does not authorize these permits. The Taylor Grazing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Public Rangelands Improvement Act authorize grazing permits for domestic livestock. In the brief, the State also says that the district court accepted APF’s claims of financial and genetic harm without testing them against the record and points out that the 2026 decision reissued APF cattle permits on the same allotments at the same stocking rates when APF reported more than $202 million in assets on its 2024 tax filing. The governor has long opposed BLM’s initial approval of the grazing permits, citing violations of the Taylor Grazing Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The State of Montana, along with local ranching families and organizations, argued that replacing production livestock with non-production bison damaged the local economy and ignored the statutory requirements for federal grazing permits. In 2022, the Gianforte administration appealed the initial BLM decision, arguing that the permits exceeded the agency’s authority and that the federal agency failed to adequately analyze a number of issues, including the economic impacts on local communities, concerns regarding fencing and containment, and impacts to Montana’s state trust lands. The administration pointed out that many state trust lands are fenced “in common” with BLM lands, and that the permits resulted in unauthorized bison on those trust lands. In September 2025, Gov. Gianforte and the entire federal delegation wrote to Secretary Burgum, highlighting the stalled appeals process and explaining how the issuance of grazing permits to “rewilded” conservation bison undermines Montana’s production livestock industry and the law. Following the Secretary’s assumption of jurisdiction in December and remand to BLM, the agency issued the proposed decision to cancel the permits in January 2026.

## Key details

- Issued by: Office of Governor Greg Gianforte
- Published: 2 Nov 2026
- Publisher country: United States
- Subject country/region: Montana (United States)

Original source: https://news.mt.gov/Governors-Office/Governor-Gianforte-Asks-Ninth-Circuit-to-Reverse-Injunction-Allowing-American-Prairie-Bison-on-Federal-Grazing-Allotments
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