Blackfeet Nation Buffalo Program

06/18/2026

Groups file to appeal federal government’s decision to terminate bison grazing leases on Bureau of Land Management parcels in Montana.

06/18/2026

Notice!! Upcoming 1st batch deadline to close July 6th, 2026, for ITBC Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

For more information on eligible conservation practices and available technical assistance, contact:

Cassie Powell
Northern Great Plains RCPP Project Director for Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 605-394-9730

Paige Schmidt
Southeast RCPP Project Director for Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Florida.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 605-394-9730

Beth Baragary
Southwest RCPP Project Director for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 816-725-8278

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Regional Conservation Partnership Program Supplemental Agreement numbers 3454, 3503, 4154. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

06/18/2026

The National Bison Association brings together stakeholders to celebrate the heritage of American bison, to educate, and to create a sustainable future for our industry.

06/18/2026

UPDATE (6/8/2026 3:12pm): One of the NWS cases reported on the morning of June 8 has been reclassified as the first confirmed case in New Mexico. According to APHIS, "While the veterinarian who reported the case is located in Texas, the dog resides at a household in Lea County, New Mexico. Therefore, the location of the case will be reclassified to be the first case detected in New Mexico."

Details continue to emerge, and this post may become outdated.

On June 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) confirmed the presence of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Zavala County, Texas, approximately 50 miles north of the Mexico border. As of June 8, 2026, APHIS has confirmed a total of four cases of NWS, all located in southern Texas.

The New World screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a parasite whose larvae can cause significant harm to warm-blooded animals. The female fly lays eggs in open wounds, body openings, and mucous membranes. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the skin, consuming and tearing flesh with their sharp mouth hooks.

NWS flies are identifiable by their metallic blue or green body, orange eyes, and three dark stripes on their backs. Stay alert for maggots or white egg masses in wounds, body openings, or mucous membranes, as well as enlarging wounds, signs of pain or discomfort, and foul odors in warm-blooded animals. Currently, NWS has not been detected outside of southern Texas; however, it is crucial for residents across the larger southern United States to remain vigilant in order to protect wildlife, humans, pets, and livestock.

NWS is a reportable disease. If you observe any suspicious wounds or suspect a case of NWS, please contact a local accredited veterinarian or your state veterinarian.

You can monitor NWS presence, reports, and updates at screwworm.gov.

Read the full APHIS press release here: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-announcements/usda-confirms-two-additional-cases-new-world-screwworm-united-states

06/18/2026

Biggest Megafauna Comeback
BLACKFEET INDIAN RESERVATION, MONTANA, AND BEYOND

To the Blackfeet people, or Niitsitapi, bison are known as iinnii, a word that suggests more than just wildlife—also relatives, teachers, providers. The tribe’s first iinnii were transferred from a Canadian national park a decade ago, descendants of a wild herd once captured in Blackfeet territory. The vision was not only to maintain a herd as a sacred resource, for meat and hides, but also to release a small number, helping restore a wild population.

It’s a plan few other tribes have the land to support, says Ervin Carlson, director of the Blackfeet Buffalo Program. The tribe also negotiated agreements permitting bison to range beyond reservation boundaries and into Glacier and Canada’s neighboring Waterton Lakes National Park. But upon their initial release in 2023, several animals quickly wandered onto private ranchlands, sparking ranchers’ concerns about competition with grazing cattle, so the free-roaming iinnii were rounded up and re-penned.

More: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/wonders-america-250-united-states

Image: https://blackfeetbison.com/

05/29/2026

Last week, our President Ervin Carlson (Blackfeet Nation) stood before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs to testify in support of HR 7954 the Don Young Doug LaMalfa Indian Buffalo Management Act.

For thousands of years, buffalo sustained our people by providing food, shelter, clothing, and spiritual connection. Their near-extinction was no accident. It was a deliberate strategy to erase our way of life. But we never stopped dreaming of them and their return.

Today, the InterTribal Buffalo Council represents 90 federally recognized Tribes across 23 states and nearly 60 buffalo herds - and we are just getting started!

HR 7954 would formalize the Federal government's commitment to buffalo restoration, and help Tribes build self-sustaining herds that feed our communities, create jobs, and restore our culture.

The buffalo are coming home. 🦬 Stand with us.

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

🦬 Iinnii Days in Blackfeet Country! 🦬
We're thrilled to share that ITBC team members Bo, CeCe, and Mikiya are in Blackfeet Country this week to celebrate and support the Blackfeet Nation at Iinnii Days!
Iinnii — the Blackfoot word for buffalo — holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for the Blackfoot Confederacy. In 2009, leaders of the four nations that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Blackfeet Nation, Kainai Nation, Piikani Nation, and Siksika Nation, launched the Iinnii Initiative to conserve traditional lands, protect Blackfeet culture, and create a home for the buffalo to return to.
Through remarkable dedication and powerful partnerships with the Oakland Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council, Blackfeet Community College, and the American Bison Society, 88 Iinnii were reintroduced to Blackfeet lands in 2016, a historic moment for the Blackfoot people and for buffalo restoration across Turtle Island.
This celebration is a testament to what's possible when Indigenous nations lead the way. We are honored to stand alongside the Blackfeet Nation and witness the continued homecoming of the Iinnii.

05/09/2026

Governor Greg Gianforte today praised the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final decision to cancel grazing permits authorizing bison grazing previously issued to the American Prairie Reserve (APR).  “This final decision is a victory for the rule of law and the generations of Montanans who h...