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Community Impact

American Prairie seeks to be a good neighbor to those who call our seven-county project region home.

We have many neighbors on the prairie. Indigenous communities, whose roots on the land go back for millennia, continue to live on and steward nearby lands and local wildlife. Ranching communities and families also have deep connections to this place, and live and work throughout the region. We strive to be additive and collaborative with all the people on the prairie, sharing the land and its stories, while having a positive economic and cultural impact. Our goal is to work with neighbors to foster an appreciation of the land and its wildlife, and to help visitors understand the region's cultural heritage.

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American Prairie acknowledges that the landscape we now steward was originally cared for, used, and called home by generations of Indigenous people, including the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre), the Niitsitapi / Pikuni (Blackfeet), the Nakoda / Nakona (Assiniboine), the Lakota / Dakota (Sioux), Apsáalooke (Crow), Ojibwe / Annishinabe / Ne-i-yah-wahk (Chippewa Cree), and Métis (Little Shell Chippewa).

We are grateful for the past and present stewardship of these Indigenous communities, and we honor their spiritual and cultural connection to the land. We recognize that the modern history of this region has led to much dispossession and displacement of Indigenous communities from their traditional lands. With history in mind, we commit to a way forward that listens to and learns from our Indigenous neighbors, and respects and shares their deep cultural heritage with generations now and to come.

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We actively work to make a positive contribution to the communities around us by purchasing and hiring locally, building meaningful relationships with local groups and leaders, providing educational opportunities, honoring the region’s rich heritage, and finding innovative ways to contribute to the economic bottom line of ranching neighbors that match our goals for wildlife.  

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Wild Sky is a program created by American Prairie that works with neighboring ranches to encourage wildlife-friendly practices around our boundaries. 

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A Partnership for Montana Students
The Great Falls Public Schools Foundation just awarded their first “Dream Big” grant to a coalition of local teachers that will bring 9th grade students to American Prairie.