The American Prairie Reserve (APR), a private nonprofit, is working to create the largest nature reserve in the contiguous United States by connecting 3.5 million acres of public and private lands in north-central Montana. Their goal is to remove all domestic cattle and reintroduce 10,000 free-roaming bison to restore a fully functioning prairie ecosystem—one of the last remaining temperate grasslands on Earth.

​

The vision is bold and ecologically ambitious, but it has stirred deep resistance among ranching families who have lived and worked this land for over a century. Many see the project as a threat to their livelihoods and heritage, and worry that their rural way of life is being pushed aside by outside interests.

​

Just beyond the boundary of the reserve lies the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, home to the Aaniiih and Nakoda Nations. The Werk family, members of the Aaniiih tribe, share a layered perspective. They are moved by the return of the bison, a sacred animal nearly eradicated in the colonization of this land. Yet they also share their neighbors’ concerns about displacement and exclusion. As Toby Werk says, “We know firsthand what it’s like to be taken off the land and destroyed.”

​

This project—and the reactions to it—offer a glimpse into the complex, often uncomfortable intersections of conservation, history, land, and identity in the American West.