The headline said "BLM kicks bison off the land."
But once you slow the story down, the facts tell a very different — and far more complicated — story.
In this Yanasa TV investigative report, Charlie Rankin breaks down what actually happened between the Bureau of Land Management and American Prairie in northeastern Montana. This isn't a story about banning bison or attacking conservation. It's a story about land use, grazing law, production, scale, and how conservation narratives change when they meet federal statutes and real numbers.
We look at:
• What the BLM decision actually says — and what it doesn't
• How much land American Prairie owns vs. manages vs. actually uses for bison
• Why cattle grazing dominates most of the landscape
• The role of grazing leases and lease income
• Whether American Prairie produces bison meat — and at what scale
• Why the State of Montana got involved
• How access, land ownership, and perception fuel public controversy
This episode is not an attack on American Prairie. It's an attempt to understand why the story sounds one way in headlines — and another way when you read the law, the financials, and the land-use data.
If you care about bison, public lands, food production, or the future of conservation in the West, this is a conversation worth having.