US agency to look at bringing back bison on Montana refuge

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials say they will consider in coming years whether to reintroduce wild bison to a million-acre federal wildlife refuge in central Montana.

Such a move would be at odds with Republicans in the state who have sought to limit where bison can roam.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans beginning in July “to engage Tribes and stakeholders on the topics of bison and bighorn sheep reintroductions” on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.

The remote landscape of badlands and prairie is bisected by the Missouri River.

Bison historically roamed the area but were wiped out by overhunting across most of North America in the late 19th century.