Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1441944
The APR Has Changed Its Name But Not Its Mission By Dana Darlington The APR Has Changed Its Name But Not Its Mission A "The simplest analogy I can use to explain the difference between ag dollars and tourism dollars is to describe what one piece of machinery sold at the local equipment dealer means to a community. When an ag producer purchases a combine and a new header for $500,000, that money turns over seven times in a local community equaling over $3.3 million. My question is, how many tourists have to visit Winifred, Winnett, and Big Sandy, for example, to replace that $3.3 million?" merican Prairie, recently rebranded from the American Prairie Reserve (APR), has successfully put together 105,378 acres of deeded land and 315,047 of federal land. Unlike American homesteaders who endured inclimate weather, worked long hours, and sacrificed so much, this has all been done by making phone calls and creating a website to collect donations. If you study the American Prairie's website, they talk out of both sides of their mouth. ey tell you how they work with local ranchers, support local communities, and how most ranchers don't leave the area aer the APR purchases property. en, the APR brags about how their land acquisitions have retired 63,777 acres of cale grazing on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR). e APR plans to put together more than 3 million acres of private and federal land, with donors donating money for land they already pay taxes on so the federal government agencies can manage BLM lands. e CMR seems a lile redundant, doesn't it? Why are people buying into this scheme? e APR believes it controls existing BLM-managed lands, including the Upper Missouri River National Monument and the CMR . e monument includes 81,000 acres of private land, and the CMR was initially designed for cale grazing and wildlife to coexist. If the APR wants to purchase land and raise bison on their private land, that is their business—as long as they are managed like any other livestock. e APR counts on the public not knowing or understanding how this land has been productive, preserved, and protected since homesteading days. Instead, they try to convince the public that the only way to save these grasslands is to put them into a preserve and have a scene from Dances with Wolves play out before their farm406 44