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Native America Calling: Trump administration takes aim at American buffalo
Monday, May 18, 2026
Trump administration takes aim at American buffalo
The U.S. Department of Interior just canceled grazing leases for hundreds of bison on federal land in Montana.
The action halts the progress of a well-funded private group, American Prairie, that has been buying up land and acquiring leases in an ambitious conservation plan. The group often provides bison to tribes that work to revive bison herds.
The canceled leases also indicate a change in federal policy away from accommodating bison in favor of domesticated cattle to make federal lands more agriculturally productive. Many tribes say such actions jeopardize efforts to restore the animal that is intrinsically associated with Native Americans from the Great Plains.
Guests on Native America Calling
OJ Semans Sr. (Rosebud Sioux), executive director of the Coalition of Large Tribes
Heather Dawn Thompson (Cheyenne River Sioux), vice president of Native Nations Conservation and Food Sovereignty at the World Wildlife Fund
Dallas Gudgell (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes), vice president of the Buffalo Field Campaign
Keegan King (Acoma Pueblo), founder and CEO of the Native Land Institute
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