Amy Toensing

Visual Journalist

American Prairie Reserve

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School: Ohio University, School of Communication

The Werk family moves cattle to...conservation project.

1 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

The Werk family moves cattle to summer pastures on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in central Montana. The Werk family’s ranch neighbors the American Prairie Reserve conservation project.

Thirteen-year-old Carter Ness h...s along local rivers.

2 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Thirteen-year-old Carter Ness hunts with his father for wood duck on APR land along the Judith River near Winifred, Montana. APR welcomes hunters and hikers on its properties, which opens new access to points to public lands along local rivers.

Wayne French castrates a calf a...population decreases.

3 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Wayne French castrates a calf at a community branding on a ranch in the middle of the American Prairie Reserve (APR) conservation project area. Brandings are cooperative affairs: Local families move from ranch to ranch, rounding up and branding neighbors’ cattle. “If you’re within 80 miles,” says rancher Jesse Blunt, “you’re a neighbor.” The French family and their neighbors worry the structure of their ranching community will be destroyed as APR buys up the land and the ranching population decreases.

Kassy Perez takes a break from ...ly practices on their property.

4 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Kassy Perez takes a break from moving cattle at the Blue Heaven Ranch on the edge of the American Prairie Reserve conservation project. “People are here because they love the land,” says ranch owner Toby Werk who has participated in an APR program that pays incentives for ranchers to adopt wildlife-friendly practices on their property.

For over a century locals have ...mmunities.”

5 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

For over a century locals have gathered at the Phillips County fair in Dodson, Montana. “People here have strong ties,” says rancher Taylor French, whose husband’s family homesteaded in the area more than a century ago. “There’s that sense of belonging you don’t get in larger communities.”

A view through the windshield o... of years.”

6 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

A view through the windshield of a 4-wheeler used to reach the American Prairie Reserve (APR) bison herd and tranquilize a bison with a broken location collar. Effective wildlife management strategies are essential for carrying out this conservation project. If the reserve is fully realized, thousands of these animals will once again range across the northern plains. “When we’re done with it,” says APR co-founder Sean Gerrity, “it’s going to last hundreds of years.”

CJ Mount corrals a car full of ...and public ownership.

7 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

CJ Mount corrals a car full of kids including: his nieces, nephews, his friend’s kids, and his own, to ride in the annual Hays Community Powwow parade on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in central Montana. The reservation is home to both Aaniiih and Nakota tribes. Most land their ancestors ranged is now divided among ranchers, conservationists, and public ownership.

Brandon Hamond checks...e Reserve conservation project.

8 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Brandon Hamond checks on cattle while helping the Werk family move their herd to a summer pasture on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in central Montana. The Werk family’s ranch neighbors the American Prairie Reserve conservation project.

Robert Barchum, 15 years old an...em in the transition.

9 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Robert Barchum, 15 years old and member of the Lodge Pole Express Indian Relay team waits on his horse for races to begin. Indian Relay is a popular sport with Native American communities across the Rocky Mountain West. The athletes ride full gallop and bareback around a track and trade off to the next rider and then another rider without fully stopping. Riders often tape their shoes on to avoid losing them in the transition.

4H kids Courtney Merriman and S...business from stores.

10 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

4H kids Courtney Merriman and Steeler Blunt play near Blunt’s pig, Hot Ham, at the Phillips County Fair. American Prairie Reserve (APR) neighbors worry that each ranch APR acquires is one lost to the community, draining taxes from county coffers, children from schools, and business from stores.

Wayne French on his horse as th... one year old steers.

11 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Wayne French on his horse as the sun rises, waiting to round up his cattle for shipping and selling the family's one year old steers.

Paul Collins field dresses a bi... management strategy.

12 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Paul Collins field dresses a bison during a public hunt on the American Prairie Reserve (APR). Each year APR determines a number of animals to cull to regulate the herd’s stress on the land. Hunting is an essential tool for carrying out the organization’s wildlife management strategy.

Long solstice evenings provide ...ve buying up ranches.

13 of 13 © 2024 Amy Toensing

Long solstice evenings provide plenty of trampoline time in the Werk family’s backyard in Hays, Montana on the Belknap Indian Reservation. The Werks, who belong to the Aaniiih tribe, work with American Prairie Reserve, but also share their neighbors’ concerns about the reserve buying up ranches.

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Public Project

American Prairie Reserve

Copyright Amy Toensing 2024

Updated May 2022

Location Montana

Topics Spotlight

Summary

The American Prairie Reserve (APR), a private, nonprofit organization, is working to create the largest nature reserve in the lower 48 by stitching together 3.5 million acres of private and public lands in north-central Montana. APR’s goal is to remove all the cattle and replace them with 10,000 free roaming bison and allow this temperate grassland, one of the four left on our planet, to thrive and be forever protected. However, most ranching families see this as a threat to their way of life – some have been working this land for over 125 years.

The American Prairie Reserve (APR), a private, nonprofit organization, is working to create the largest nature reserve in the lower 48 by stitching together 3.5 million acres of private and public lands in north-central Montana. APR’s goal is to remove all the cattle and replace them with 10,000 free roaming bison and allow this temperate grassland, one of the four left on our planet, to thrive and be forever protected. However, most ranching families see this as a threat to their way of life – some have been working this land for over 125 years. For tens of thousands of years Native Americans controlled this landscape until they were forcibly removed and relocated to reservations. The Werk family, who belong to the Aaniiih tribe and live on the border of the conservation project in the Belknap Indian Reservation, are thankful to see the return of the bison but also share their neighbors’ concerns. Says Toby Werk, “We know firsthand what it’s like to be taken off the land and destroyed.”

This ambitious conservation project offers a glimpse into some of the complex and challenging issues around modern day conservation as human populations increase and wild spaces become more scarce.

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