Yellowstone Bison News Article 3/25/08

   State and federal government officials called a halt this week to the slaughter of at least some of the bison that wander out of Yellowstone National Park. But only after nearly a thousand of the shaggy beasts were slaughtered in the name of disease control - even though the animals killed were never tested for disease.

   The events of this winter have made one thing clear: The longawaited and much-touted Interagency Bison Management Plan adopted in 2000 isn't working. It's failing because the federal government has failed to provide the funds needed to implement the plan. And it's failing because it hasn't proven up to the challenge of dealing with the park's fluctuating bison population.

   The state of Montana, the National Park Service, the Forest Service and the federal Animal Plant Health Inspection Service developed the plan in the 1990s following public outcry over the wholesale slaughter of these wild animals - a species some consider to be emblematic of the American West.

   The plan called for the 30-year lease of 7,500 acres of winter grazing land for the bison outside the park to the tune of $2.8 million. It also provided for a limited sport hunt that would provide for some population control in a manner that was palatable to the public. And it ensured that bison leaving the park would not pose the risk of infection of domestic livestock of brucellosis - a disease that causes cattle to abort and that was eliminated in Montana some years ago at a significant cost to the state's livestock industry.

   Heavy snowfall this winter has exposed all the weaknesses in this plan. Hunting provided for the harvest of mere 166 animals, not nearly enough to control a park bison population at the end of last summer of some 4,700 animals - well in excess of the park's carrying capacity. And the federal government has failed to come up with its share of the money needed to lease grazing land outside the park.

   All the parties involved need to get together and revisit this plan. Needed is more land outside the park in which to conduct a more extensive hunt along with more money to lease land to accommodate the hunt and ensure bison do not come in contact with livestock.

   Also needed is more of commitment from the Park Service - the source of this problem. Conservation groups have faulted the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service for failing to come up with funds for the grazing leases. But perhaps the Park Service should come up with this money from its wildlife management funds.

   This much is certain: The current bison management plan is not adequate for dealing with park bison migration. The agencies involved need to acknowledge that and go back to the drawing board.

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