On our way back to Missoula, we stopped at the National Bison Preserve in the Flathead Reservation. This bison preserve is ~17,000 acres and co-managed by the Salish and Kootenai tribe. This reservation was one of the last bison strongholds after their decimation in the west. When the Flathead Reservation was allotted and opened to white settlers through the Government allotment act, bison habitat and populations plummeted once again. The settlers land practices not only destroyed habitat, but also the livelihoods of the tribes. Water sources were diked, timber harvested, and wild game (elk, bison, grizzly) completely over harvested, leaving little for the tribes and drove them into poverty. Bison were eventually sold off to Canada and no longer roamed the reservation. Not until the early 20th century did the Federal government set aside land for the bison and create what is known today as the National Bison Reserve. Bison from Canada, Texas, and other parts of the country were brought back to the preserve, some of which were the decedents of the original bison that once roamed the reservation. Traditionally, the bison were well managed and cared for by the tribes, but the Federal government determined that they would be better suited to manage it. Currently, they are “partnered” with the Federal government to co-manage the reserve. It is open to the public so that folks can go learn and visit this ecosystem, which is cool. The tribes are still fighting for sovereignty of the preserve, but are faced with a lot of opposition (mostly small, but very loud racist lobbyists).

I’ve never seen bison in their natural habitat before, only read about it, and it actually brought me to tears. There were a few herds of bison moving through the landscape and my mind could only imagine what the west looked like before colonization. In Salish, bison roughly translates to “many blacks” because there once were thousands that roamed the landscape. Today, it’s a very different story. Agriculture, urbanization, and ranching makes this place almost unrecognizable to what it once was. On the preserve, there were also pronghorns, mule deer, and white tailed deer roaming about, but I didn’t get any good pictures. The landscape really reminded me of the the eastern Columbia gorge with it’s rolling hills and sage scrub habitat. Also saw some cool, late blooming wildflowers amongst the grasses that I added below. It was my first time coming across the Rocky Mountain Juniper which is such a beautiful tree, smelled amazing too! Felt so lucky to have had this experience and see this very special, yet impacted ecosystem. To learn more about the Flathead reservation and the history of the bison, I highly recomend visiting this site.

Flathead Reservation, Montana - September 2023

Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge - September 2023

Glacier National Park, Montana - September 2023