National Bison Range

The Kootenai traveled east of the Continental Divide for buffalo hunts long before the land became a refuge. That tradition has a more formal continuation now: 18,766 acres at the center of the Flathead Indian Reservation, home to roughly 350 bison. Congress restored the range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in 2020; as of 2022, the CSKT Natural Resource Department runs it. The herd's origins trace to 1909, when 40 bison — purchased and donated — were released here. Elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and black bear share the ground.