National Bison Range

National Bison Range, now formally known as the CSKT Bison Range, is a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, established for the conservation of American bison. It was created as a National Wildlife Refuge on May 23, 1908, and covers approximately 18,524 acres of Montana valley and foothill grassland in Lake and Sanders counties, about an hour north of Missoula near the town of Moiese. In 2022, management of the site was transferred from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, after more than a century of federal management and nearly two decades of negotiations. The range maintains a bison herd of about 350 adult animals, with 50 to 60 calves born each year, and offers a visitor center and two scenic roads for viewing.