Probing the Project: Part II

As promised, we've put the first of many questions from respected area residents about bison release and grasslands restoration efforts to the American Prairie Reserve. This week's questions come from Glasgow native Leonard Swenson. APR respondents include Betty Holder, Reserve Land Manager, and Damien Austin, Reserve Supervisor.

LEONARD SWENSON: If 10,000 bison on 3.2 million acres in the area is the APR's ultimate goal, how are you going to manage them and maintain the size of the herd? DAMIEN AUSTIN: The reason we are designing a landscape of this size is so that it easily can support that many bison and minimize conflict with outlying areas. We will be utilizing a variety of different population-control measures, ranging from providing animals for other conservation herds to public hunting.

LS: How are you going to control your bison and keep them off other people's property? DA: We have been managing our bison for ten years using a wildlife-friendly, four-wire fence. This fence, equipped with an electric wire, has proven extremely successful in allowing unhindered movement of deer, elk and pronghorn while containing our bison. They've gotten out twice in ten years - once during an extreme winter when the snowdrifts were so tall that they (and everyone's cows) walked right over the fences and once when a gate was left open. They were returned quickly, with no damage done to neighbors' property.

LS: If interior fences are removed, conventional grass conservation practices will become complicated. How do you plan to manage the herd so that land isn't overgrazed and watersheds are protected? DA: The key to rangeland health under any grazing system is the stocking rate. The BLM, who we grant grazing management authority over our private land when operating within a continuous grazing management plan, sets the stocking rate for the entire unit. We must meet rangeland health standards under the BLM management plan.

LS: How will APR control of areas around Fort Peck Lake and the Missouri affect access (particularly river/water access) for sportsmen? DA: APR's mission is to create a vast, publicly-accessible wildlife reserve. Public access is at the heart of this project, so as we continue to build the reserve, that access will only increase.

LS: How do you plan to water 10,000 bison in the area year-round? DA: Water developments exist in large numbers across the region. APR will utilize this readily-available resource for the bison.

LS: As ranchers sell to the APR, what will happen to our public services, like schools, that depend on a reliable (and growing) tax base for funding? BETTY HOLDER: APR pays all of its property taxes, just as the local ranchers do - including taxes on our land/buildings, on bison as livestock, equipment, etc. We have added structures/infrastructure, which has increased some of our properties' taxable value. We also license our vehicles in Phillips County and pay the bed tax on guest accommodations. In 2014, APR was #15 of the top 20 taxpayers in Phillips County.

LS: How will APR match or replace the money spent by farmers and ranchers and their families and extended families at local fuel suppliers, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc.? BH: APR currently employs seven permanent, full-time staff living either on the Reserve, south of Malta or in Malta. We also currently employ 14 seasonal or part-time staff. Most of those employees are people who came into the area because of the Reserve. We expect the number of employees in the local area to continue to grow as our land base and visitation grows. These employees and their families shop locally for groceries, fuel and all the other goods and services. In 2014, APR spent $2.1 million dollars in the local area. This includes wages paid to local employees, payments to contractors, and general purchases. It does not include land purchases. This figure has steadily risen each year since the Reserve was created and we fully expect that trend to continue.

LS: What percentage of your donations (can you please provide a current estimate of that figure?) are from Northeastern Montana? BH: Our donors come from all 50 states and many nations around the world. Seventeen percent of our donors come from Montana, and six percent of those Montana donors live in the Northeastern portion of the state.

LS: If APR's long-term goal is to reintroduce large herds of bison to the area, how are you going to do that with towns, roads, and the other human activity that weren't here before the bison population decreased? DA: Let's be clear on this: APR's goal is to create the largest herd of conservation bison in the world. But our plans today are to have those bison fenced within our deeded and leased lands. As we've stated before, should the State of Montana decide to declare bison as wildlife, we would entertain proposals from the state to turn our herd over to the State as a public resource. But contrary to popular belief, APR is not a bison project - it's a grasslands project. The bison are only one piece of this effort.

LS: Only a small percentage of the population here will ever even see your bison. What will you have accomplished with your plans if they're successful? BH: When we are successful, the Reserve will function similarly to a national park. It will be a place for people from around the world to get a glimpse of and appreciation for a fully-functional prairie ecosystem, with all the native species present and abundant (including bison). It will be a third major destination in Montana, similar to Glacier and Yellowstone.

LS: Do you agree that APR buying land for bison has hurt our communities by driving land prices up and preventing growth in our ranching and farming industries? BH: The price of land is influenced by many complex factors, which can include the general health of the economy, beef and crop prices, long-term weather patterns, etc. Given that, there is no realistic way I could determine how the presence of APR has or has not influenced the prices of land in the local area. I have heard some rumors of what we have reportedly offered on specific parcels and the figures quoted were significantly higher than what we actually offered. Sometimes APR has been the successful high bidder on property and sometimes we have not. If we got every property we bid on, I would be concerned we are paying way over market value, just as if we lost every property I would be concerned we are offering way under. Since neither is the case, I tend to believe we are offering close to market value in our property deals.

LS: As "the Project" grows to include more than 3 million acres of fenced-in land in the region, how will the APR provide access through and across it for sportsmen, residents and visitors to the area? BH: All of our deeded acres are currently open to the public for horseback riding, hiking, biking, and other recreational activities and they will be increasingly so in the future. We currently provide interpretive signs, maps, a campground for $10 a night and a luxury accommodation opportunity on our Sun Prairie land parcel. We also participate in the Block Management Program on several of our land parcels. As the Reserve grows, we expect to provide even more opportunities for public use.

The Courier is soliciting suggestions for questioners from the public for inclusion in future installments of this series. To put names/questions forward, please contact us at [email protected].