A New Take on Regenerative Ranching at North Bridger Bison
North Bridger Bison herd grazing with the Crazy Mountains in the background.
In the Shields Valley, tucked up against the North Bridger Mountains, there is a family-run bison ranch that produces regenerative, humanely field-harvested bison. Here’s how North Bridger Bison explain the operation on their website:
Bison. A native herbivore. An icon of the West. Bison belong on the landscape out here, and we take great pride in raising bison and providing meat that is healthy for both you and the land.
Life at the North Bridger Bison Ranch is pretty simple. Nature is in charge here. It provides sunshine and water, which grows grass, which bison eat. That's the founding principle of North Bridger Bison.
Our ranch also provides habitat for a wide variety of birds and wildlife, including sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, sandhill cranes, coyotes, mule deer, wolves, moose, mountain lions, elk, black bears, waterfowl, songbirds, and many other wild critters.
The Skoglund family on their bison ranch. Pictured from left to right: Matt, Otto, Sarah, and Greta.
Matt and Sarah Skoglund started North Bridger Bison in 2018. Through management practices, which are rooted in Holistic Management and Regenerative Agriculture principles, the bison help build soil, improve soil quality, increase soil water retention, increase the amount and diversity of the grasses, forbs, and wildflowers on the landscape, and help reduce climate change through carbon storage in the soil.
In addition to the ecological impact of returning this keystone species to its native habitat, Matt is fully conscious of the cultural and spiritual importance of bison to the Indigenous tribes of North America. He has even had the honor of hosting tribal elders and groups from MSU’s Native American Studies program on the ranch for bison harvests. In eloquent and emotive prose, Matt shares his thoughts on these impacts, often personal and deeply moving, in his Muddy Creek Road Meanderings Journal on the NBB website.
With a strong belief in community, Matt is a board member of the Western Sustainability Exchange and the Bozeman Community Food Co-op, and former Vice President of the Montana Bison Association. Sarah worked for years for the Cancer Support Community in Bozeman and is currently a board member at Gallatin Valley Land Trust.
To learn more about North Bridger Bison visit their website at www.northbridgerbison.com.
PCCF is grateful to have spent an evening at North Bridger Bison’s ranch for a special donor appreciation event at the end of July. Thank you, North Bridger Bison, for your partnership with us as a venue sponsor and for a truly unforgettable evening. See some photos from that event below.
