Seeing
eye-to-eye on bison?
National, state leaders discuss controversy in Washington
by Carol Hoffmann, West Yellowstone News 03/26/07
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Representative Denny Rehberg
and Josh Osher of the Buffalo Field Campaign testified at
a House subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington
on Tuesday regarding the Yellowstone bison controversy.
Also testifying at the hearing were Mike Soukup, an Associate
Director of the National Park Service, Suzanne Lewis, Yellowstone
Park Superintendent; Robin Nazzaro, the Government Accountability
Office's Director of Natural Resources and Environment; Tim
Stevens of the National Parks Conservation Association; and
Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of
the United States.
Rep. Rehberg, a Republican, defends Montana's current bison
management policy which advocates the capture and killing
of bison that wander out of the Park, along with an annual
hunt of the migrating bison.
The fear of Montana officials is the transmission of brucellosis,
a disease that causes cows to abort, from bison to Montana's
cattle, which could damage the state's cattle industry. Bison
advocates insist there has never been a documented case of
brucellosis transmitted from bison to cattle.
"We in Montana do not intend to lose our brucellosis-free
status," said Gov. Schweitzer, a Democrat, who proposes
either paying ranchers to remove their cattle from areas north
and west of the Park where bison migrate in winter, creating
"buffer zones" where all animals would be tested
for the disease, or attempting to eradicate the disease altogether
by slaughtering all infected animals and vaccinating the rest.
The Governor also suggested the option of allowing bison hunting
inside Yellowstone Park, where it is prohibited.
The following is from a press release dated March 20, 2007
from the Buffalo Field Campaign:
"Advocates for wild bison testified today before the
House Natural Resources Committee that the government is wasting
taxpayer money on a costly plan that threatens America's last
wild bison herd in Yellowstone National Park. Rep. Raúl
Grijalva (D-AZ) chaired the oversight hearing before the Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Rep. Grijalva set the tone for the hearing by stating, 'The
slaughter of bison needs to stop.' His comment was echoed
by Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV) who said, 'Slaughter is not
management, it is the approach of a bygone era.'
Josh Osher of Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) testified before
the committee on the importance of Congressional action to
protect Yellowstone bison.
'In 1872, Congress played an instrumental role in the creation
of Yellowstone National Park and the protection of the American
bison from hunters and poachers,' he said.
'In 2007, Congress can play an equally important role in the
protection of the Yellowstone bison from state and federal
agencies operating under an inherently flawed management plan.'
Since 1985, the state of Montana and Yellowstone National
Park have killed more than 5,000 Yellowstone bison.
In 1999, Congress funded the $13,000,000 acquisition of the
6,770 acre Royal Teton Ranch land deal to 'protect critical
wildlife habitat, particularly ungulate winter ranges and
migration corridors, and improve the flexibility for management
of those species' including wild bison.
Located along the Yellowstone River, the Royal Teton Ranch
is situated in a migration corridor for wild bison to access
vital winter range in the Gardiner Basin, just outside Yellowstone
National Park.
The seven-year-old agreement promised 'a safe haven for the
bison'
but has failed to materialize. The parties involved in the
land deal - Gallatin National Forest and Church Universal
and Triumphant - have failed to reach an agreement on a bison
management plan.
'It's scandalous that so much taxpayer money has been spent
to protect critical wildlife habitat, yet not one wild bison
has benefited,' says Darrell Geist, a member of Buffalo Field
Campaign who also attended the hearing.
The shortcomings of the Interagency Bison Management Plan
and the Royal Teton Ranch land deal led Rep. Maurice Hinchey
(D-NY), Rep. Rahall, and former Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH) to
request an investigation by the General Accounting Office,
which is now underway."
"They have their priorities opposite from what they should
be," said Rep. Rehberg, "This was not something
that was just thrown together to slaughter our bison. This
is where you have to decide, 'are we going to let sound science
manage our parks, or are we going to let political science
manage our parks'."
Rehberg took the park service to task. "Why don't you
fix your herd?" he said, "Don't let diseased herd
walk around the park, because you wouldn't want us, as livestock
herders, to have an infected herd in among your wildlife."
The hearing didn't address any specific legislation but raised
several concerns, congressional complaints against the bureaucracies
and possible solutions. It was the first time for testimony
to Congress from the Buffalo Field Campaign, which advocates
giving buffalo access to all suitable habitat within the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem and managing cattle in the area to keep
them brucellosis-free.
Rep. Grijalva, chairman of the subcommittee hearing, said
legislation on the issue could come in the near future, and
called for citizens to let their representatives know of their
views.
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