(The Center Square) – A trio of conservation groups are backing a Montana ranch’s “market-based” grazing plan that they hope will reduce conflicts with grizzlies.
Under the plan, the J Bar L Ranch would purchase a 25,000 acre lease on the West Fork Allotment, in part of the Gravelly Range that’s managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
The groups note that as grizzly populations grow in Greater Yellowstone, so do conflicts with livestock, which can lead to hindered grizzly recovery, financial loss for ranchers, and less recreational opportunities if high-conflict areas are closed off to the public.
“This partnership is helping fund creative practices to support greater biodiversity and a novel approach to make livestock grazing more compatible with area wildlife, including grizzly bears,” the Grizzly Conflict Reduction Grazing Agreement says.
The National Wildlife Federation, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Property and Environment Research Center – the conservation groups supporting the ranch’s plan – say it “recognizes the economic and ecological value of livestock ranching on public lands and aims to support other ranches in the creative adaption of grazing practices.”
The plan to reduce conflicts includes almost doubling the number of cattle that graze on the allotment while cutting in half the amount of time spent grazing, as well as rotating cattle through grazing pastures within the allotment more frequently.
PERC CEO Brian Yablonski in a statement called the plan “an innovative new approach” to conservation on public lands.
“We’re fortunate to have ranching partners stepping up to manage cattle in a way that minimizes conflict with grizzly bears,” he said. “Their innovative vision and collaboration exemplifies the promising future of conservation, where ranchers and conservationists work together to support wildlife and the land we all cherish.”
Kit Fischer, the National Wildlife Federation’s director of wildlife programs for the Northern Rockies, said the agreement “is the culmination of a three-year effort and it highlights the persistence and partnership required to successfully address the prolonged and intractable conflicts that arise between livestock and wildlife.”
