In Response to Stoneberg

Dear Editor,

A recent letter to the editor from Ron Stoneberg contained factually inaccurate information about the work of American Prairie Reserve. I'd like to set the record straight.

Mr. Stoneberg claims APR's goal is to have "10 or 20,000 wild, free-roaming bison on 3.5 million acres."

Using the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge as an anchor, APR's goal is to purchase a total of 500,000 acres which will knit together existing public lands creating a continuous area of about 3 million acres. When complete only 20 percent of the Reserve will be privately owned. The vast majority is already in public ownership.

The Reserve's bison are classified as livestock and subject to rules and regulations of the Montana Department of Livestock. They are private property and used to advance various conservation goals and provide public benefit. Animals in our herd are subject to all applicable state and federal taxes, are free from cattle genes and brucellosis and are contained behind wildlife-friendly perimeter fencing.

APR's bison are not "free roaming" and may never be. If someday the people of Montana decide to reestablish a herd as wildlife in some part of the state, we would support that effort and under the right conditions contribute our animals as a source stock. Until that day we will continue managing our bison behind electrified fencing on our deeded acres and associated grazing allotments consistent with all rules and regulations. The term "free roaming bison" as applied to APR is factually incorrect.

Mr. Stoneberg claims APR's intention is to, "remove all man-made improvements that have been constructed over the last 200 years..."

This is not our stated intention. We carefully weigh the cost and benefits of new construction and removal of existing infrastructure against our goals to improve public access and recreational opportunities and our wildlife restoration goals. APR currently maintains an extensive collection of buildings, shops, and corrals on various management units which provides housing for staff and maintenance facilities for Reserve operations.

Mr. Stoneberg is unaware of APR's current management practices and paints APR's science-based approach to wildlife restoration and management as if the organization is run by a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing Gaia worshipers just back from a Rainbow Family gathering.

In reality, APR has three full time employees with Ph.Ds in wildlife biology, and a number with master's degrees in range and conservation science. We have also sought council from some of the nation's top academic scientists for well over a decade. We regularly conduct sophisticated research and monitoring of our management actions and are entering the third year of collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Biology Institute.

APR has over a decade of experience with year-round bison grazing on our Sun Prairie Unit. Year-round grazing is an established grazing system proven to protect rangeland, soil, and riparian areas when used with low to moderate stocking rates, which APR does. In National Parks and Wildlife Refuges and in State Parks and Preserves, year-long continuous grazing with Bison is done without damaging rangeland or riparian health.

You don't have to take my word for it. A 2016 BLM assessment determined resource health has been maintained and improved, a decade after APR first deployed this grazing strategy. Quoting from the assessment:

"The lower reach has experienced historically severe grazing pressures prior to the current permittee such that several reaches have been unnaturally altered and channelized. Greatly decreased grazing pressures have resulted in improvements in riparian vegetation to include recruitment of woody species and channel stability."

Mr. Stoneberg asserts, "If the APR were successful, their dream of an 'American Serengeti' would probably turn into a nightmare. Not only would the livestock industry and the human population suffer..."

In fact, rather than a threat to local economies, APR is adding revenue through increased tourism, property taxes, job creation and by investing in local communities. Since 2002, the Reserve has contributed nearly $39 million to the area economy, spending $8.6 million in local communities over the last four years. Since 2015 we have paid more than $332,000 in taxes to counties in the project area and last year contributed $42,000 to community charitable organizations.

I invite Mr. Stoneberg (and Courier readers) to come learn about APR's operations by visiting in person. This is a much more productive way to seek understanding than sending misinformed and inaccurate pieces to the paper.

Pete Geddes

Vice President, Chief External Relations Officer

American Prairie Reserve