The northern great plains NGP have changed dramatically with the conversion of 44 million acres to largely permanent and semipermanent cropland agriculture

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $150,000 Cooperative Agreement under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program (CFDA 15.631) to the World Wildlife Fund, Inc. (WWF) to support grassland restoration and bison habitat expansion on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. The funding will be used to construct 7 miles of wildlife-friendly bison fencing, which will add 5,462 acres of intact grassland to the bison grazing habitat. Over the next 5 years, the project will also work to restore approximately 10,000 acres of cropland to native grassland, and install additional fencing and water infrastructure to improve grazing management on 7,000 acres of idle pasture. This effort aims to support the Fort Belknap Indian Community's goals of sustainable bison herd management and grassland conservation.

The conversion occurred at an average rate of 500000 acres of grass per year 20152020 USDA nass WWF plowprint 2022 report. This conversion has significantly impacted wildlife but this context has also impacted rural and native communities and the ways in which land managers operate. Because more than 70% of the intact land in the NGP is privately and indigenously owned the best approach for world wildlife fund WWF to achieve success in conserving grasslands is to work with the owners and caretakers of the land ranchers and native nations to implement enduring conservation solutions that recover or sustain livelihoods while maintaining intact grasslands and wildlife habitat.over the past decade world wildlife fund WWF has partnered with native nations bringing over 8 million in investment to support their goals to restore bison for the benefit of their people the land and the wildlife. However deep strategic investment remains necessary to achieve the visions of native nations for bison. To address this conservation goal in montana WWF is working with a longtime partner and a leader in tribal bison restoration since the 1970S fort belknap indian community fbic in north central montana to restore grasslands and expand bison habitat. Collaborating on this project will support fbic to achieve their goal of sustainable management of their herd and expansion of the land dedicated to bison.initial funding will support the construction of 7 miles of wildlifefriendly bison fence that will eventually add 5462 acres of intact grassland to the grazing habitat available for bison on the snake butte buffalo pasture at fbic. Over the next five years this project will work with fbic to restore cropland to native grassland and enhance native pastures to support growth of and good stewardship by the fbic buffalo program. If successful approximately 10000 acres of cropland will be seeded back to native grassland and included in the buffalo program. In addition fence and water infrastructure to improve grazing management will be installed on those seeded acres as well as an additional 7000 acres of currently idle pasture.